Are you satisfied with your agencies growth, success and overall performance?  Is there something - literally right under your nose that is preventing you from running your organization at peak levels, consistently?

Success comes to those organizations that can help enough people improve their outcomes.  To improve your funding and outcomes - you must have good, solid intelligence... aka, data.  You must also have good processes in place to help you manage and understand your data.  A solid case management software platform can help, but is that it?  Can good software solve all of your agencies problems?  No.

Like all good tools, software is only as good as the people that use it.  Actually - good software used properly can make for great processes and systems.  But the tool itself… in the scheme of things, is just a tool.  As quoted in Spiderman the movie – “with great power, comes great responsibility.”  At the end of this post - we have a 15 Point Self-Audit for Human Services Case Management Implementations that can help you "sure up" the right questions to ask when you move forward with a good software platform.

Five "Truth's of Case Management Software
 

1. Training and processes are put in place and expectations have been set.
2. Only clean data is entered into the system
3. Specific data collection forms and assessments are in place, tied to your business processes and work flow that will drive the necessary reporting and outcomes
4. The software is used regularly / consistently / keep records updated
5. You remain vigilant in observing trends and taking action

When all five are optimized effectively - success typically follows.  However, your success is not dependent solely on the right software system.  Your success will ultimately live based on your actions and the actions of your people.  

Is your organization as successful as it can be or are there demons lurking?

Are There Demons Lurking?

The difficult economy has caused many agencies to shut their doors.  For some, the lack of adequate funding has hindered their ability to provide the best service.  For others, it can be as serious as poor management decisions based on inaccurate or unavailable data.  But are there other reasons for those poor decisions?  Were there other issues 'hidden away' that prevented them from getting the funding they needed?   Was there anything they could have done, questions that should have been asked, some action or actions they could have taken, something they could have fixed, etc., that could've prevented disaster?  Are there other demons lurking, such as - behavior issues, lack of attention to detail, things you should know - but don't, turning a blind eye to a potential problem, not having the right checks and balances in place, etc,.

For many entrepreneurs and organizations - it's easy to pretend these demons don't exist. Unfortunately, they cheat themselves by not facing their true thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors and therefore never address what's undermining all of their efforts to succeed.  In fact - without seeing it - you might just be the biggest obstacle that stands in your way of success.  It could be something as easy as asking better questions.  But until you ask the right questions and make the right observations - you really won't know.

Does This Apply To You?
 

More than you could possibly ever imagine.  Our company has been involved in many successful implementations - and have "rolled up our sleeves" and "scratched our head's" as we worked through others that weren't as successful, but in the long run – proved to be so, as the key learning's were huge.  Every day - we continually refine our processes at GVT and strive to create the best experience possible with our clients and our employees.  Sometimes it's easy.  Sometimes it's not.  But we are willing to ask those tough questions of ourselves and make improvements where necessary, when necessary - which is vital to every organization's success.

Pivot Points
 

Ever taken a close look at a door hinge?  This little piece of metal can not only hold a large door - but with a slight turn, have the ability to swing the large door in any direction it chooses.  The easiest and most result certain way to achieve such an important goal is to go after the biggest leverage point. The smallest point of impact that causes the biggest shift in results.  The "small hinge" that swings the "big door".

Just like "hinges"... asking good questions up front can lead to the best outcomes.  Having a Plan A in place, knowing what to expect, keeping a Plan B ready in case you hit a bump along the way - aka... good overall planning - all starts with asking the right questions at the onset.  

New Software Implementations
 

Take a new software implementation, for example.  What if your organization is completely paper-based.  You basically run your operations with written forms and you track all activities using spreadsheets.  And now you’d like to implement a web-based case management solution.  The translation from paper forms to electronic forms may not be that difficult in itself – but where most problems present themselves is at the point of conversion – and not knowing how certain software work flow can change your current business process, saving you a lot of time and money.

With written forms – you may have a process of one person interviewing a client, assessing a situation and then that form is passed to two or three individuals requiring a sign off.  When the last signature is obtained – the form may sit in an inbox on someone's desk until another person picks it up and finalizes the activity.  This is described as “work flow”.  

In a web-based case management system – the process is dramatically reduced to filling out a form online – and clicking a button to auto-email the other users for their review and electronic sign off.  There’s nothing else to do.  The software routes the information to those that you need it to – automatically.  No one has to walk around and pass the form to someone else.  No one has to collect the form when it’s complete.  Something that could potentially take a day to route around to everyone – in a paper-based world, now takes less than an hour from start to finish.  Multiplied by a number of other activities treated the same way – and you’ve just re-captured lost time, lost money and given your productivity a big shot in the arm.

So it’s one thing to convert a form.  Adding the work flow is just as important, if not more important in some circumstances.  It starts with identifying the form and how it must work and how to report the data later… asking the right questions up front and then laying out a workflow that will ultimately transform how you run your business.  There are all kinds of strategies to do this.

One way is to know what you need to get started and you sign a contract that gets your system in gear and launched on time.  Then you set up future timelines for a detailed review of processes and set up new work orders to implement different work flow rules, accordingly.  This helps you prevent "go live" delays and allows you to roll out a working sysetm so your business can continue.

Another option is to keep running your business off paper or using your old system - until your new system is ready.  Although this may not be a viable solution in all cases, it's something to be considered.  What you cannot afford is any downtime.

Asking those questions, knowing what you need to start and how the software can be leveraged later... is a very good way to start the process.

Here is the scenario.  You have a solid organization.  Things seem to be running smoothly.  Everyone seems to have great attitudes.  You are helping clients to improve their life outcomes.  However, lately you notice that caseloads are falling behind, your work flow could use a tweak or two... and your data isn't up to date.  You do the research and buy a case management software system. 

But then during the implementation process, things fall apart.  Maybe you didn't have a good change management process in place.  Maybe you involved too many people in the decision making process which delayed the delivery of your system or pushed the costs up higher than you anticipated.  Maybe you thought your new system had certain functionality built-in, when it wasn't. 

Maybe... the right questions weren't asked up front by you and your vendor.

And you realize what you thought you knew, you didn't.  What you thought you were ready for, you weren't.  What you knew about your employees, wasn't totally accurate.  And what you thought you needed, wasn't fully explored and mapped against the capabilities of your new system.  Disaster?  Could be.  But it never has to happen.

15 Point Self-Audit

Here's how you prevent that from every happening.  Below is a survival guide - a 15 point audit you must perform before you start.  

1. Is the system you're investing in actually the right system for you?  How do you know?
2. Have you identified your needs and matched those requirements to the vendor's solution?  How was this done?  Have you interviewed your people?  Do you know where the information holes are?  Do you know what you need to do to fix those?  Do you know where your funding holes are?  Do you know where your report deficiencies are?
3. Has the vendor taken time to walk you through their solution and in that demonstration and discussion - been able to satisfy / answer your questions and prove to you that their solution will meet your needs and solve your problems?
4. Has the vendor taken time to map out exactly how they're going to help you eliminate each of your present issues?
5. Is your team ready for new software?  What does "ready" mean?
6. Have you assigned a champion or lead project manager to handle your team's questions, concerns and fears - upfront?  Doing so keeps the avenues of communication clear between your organization and your software partner.
7. Is there a change management process in place?  You will live or die with this process.
8. Does your team know what will be expected of them during the transition?  What is acceptable behavior and what isn't?  The fact is - each person has a role, must be heard, and must understand the parameters for communicating with your champion.
9. Is there a training process in place?  What does that look like?
10. Does your team understand and agree with your decision to invest in a new system?  The fact is - they must rally or the road to implementation can be impaired.
11. Does your champion understand your "must-have" requirements vs "nice to have" requirements?  Must have's are business critical - tied to your decision to get a system in the first place.  Nice to have's are not critical in most cases.  Maybe it's a preference for someone, but not a necessity.  You must be able to deal and handle 'personal preference' and 'comfort' issues.  In fact - in many cases - these issues can be handled through a well-designed training/communication program.
12. Is your champion of the caliber to "push back" and say "no" to non-essential / nice-to-have requests, when necessary?  Have you given them the proper guidance and authority to do so when necessary?  Is there a plan in place to decide what is essential vs. non-essential - for progress to move forward?
13. Are the "must have" needs and requirements clearly labeled?
14. Do you have a contingency plan or parameters in place if your people decide they don't want to use the software?
15. Is your timeline flexible or rigid - and have you asked the right questions and have the right processes in place to aid the vendor in delivering your system on time?

These are just a few of the many pitfalls that can hamper your success, if in fact you take the "assumption" road over "the avenue of truth".  And turmoil can be averted if you first "ask the right questions".  Questions of yourself, your employees and your partners.

Knowing what is in front of you, identifying and confronting behavior issues, addressing checks and balances, establishing a fool-proof plan, knowing what you need to transform... and taking corrective action will ultimately put you in the best position for success in 2011 and beyond.