Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems like Laserfiche offer municipalities a powerful tool for managing documents, streamlining workflows, and ensuring regulatory compliance. However, Laserfiche's true potential is only realized when deployed across multiple departments rather than siloed within just one or two. As an internal champion for Laserfiche, you play a critical role in driving the organic growth of your ECM deployment, ensuring your municipality reaps the full benefits and maximizes its return on investment (ROI).
Why Enterprise Deployment Matters
When Laserfiche is deployed in just a few departments, its impact is often limited. Departments may enjoy improved document management, information capture through forms, and workflow automation. However, the broader organization needs to be more cohesive from an information management perspective, with other areas relying on outdated, inefficient processes. This siloed approach prevents the municipality from realizing the total value of Laserfiche, including the potential for inter-departmental collaboration, enhanced data sharing, comprehensive records management, and compliance. In contrast, when Laserfiche is deployed across the entire organization, the benefits compound, leading to improved efficiency, reduced costs, and a higher ROI.
Enterprise deployment of Laserfiche is significantly more advantageous than departmental deployments because it allows the entire organization to operate on a unified platform, eliminating silos and fostering seamless collaboration. With an enterprise-wide deployment, metadata and documents are standardized, making sharing information across departments easier, improving transparency, and enhancing decision-making. Additionally, centralized content management ensures consistent compliance with regulatory requirements, reducing the risk of errors and redundancies. The scalability of an enterprise deployment also means that the organization can more easily adapt to growth, incorporate new processes, and achieve a higher overall return on investment (ROI) by maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of all departments collectively.
Becoming an Internal Champion
As an internal champion, your enthusiasm and commitment to Laserfiche are contagious. You can help other departments understand the value of the ECM investment and encourage them to explore its capabilities. Here are some strategies to help you foster interest and drive organic growth:
1. Lead by Example: Demonstrate how Laserfiche has transformed your department’s operations. Share success stories and metrics that showcase efficiency, accuracy, and compliance improvements. When other departments see the tangible benefits, they’ll be more inclined to explore how Laserfiche can work for them.
2. Host Internal Lunch and Learns: Organize informal sessions to introduce Laserfiche to other departments. During these lunches, provide live demonstrations of how Laserfiche can solve common pain points, such as document retrieval, approval workflows, or compliance reporting. For instance, you can show how Laserfiche's search functionality can significantly reduce the time spent on document retrieval. Encourage attendees to ask questions and discuss their unique needs, fostering an environment of collaboration and knowledge sharing.
3. Create Success Case Studies: Document successful Laserfiche deployments within your municipality. Develop case studies that detail how specific departments have leveraged the ECM system to overcome challenges and achieve their goals. You can work with CPS to develop these stories, and once they're ready, share them with department heads and decision-makers to illustrate the potential impact of a broader deployment. These case studies can serve as powerful tools to demonstrate the value of Laserfiche and encourage its adoption across the organization.
4. Building a cross-departmental user group is a powerful way to foster community and shared purpose. By forming a user group with representatives from various departments, you can create a platform for them to discuss their experiences with Laserfiche, share tips and best practices, and collaborate on joint initiatives. This will help ensure that Laserfiche becomes an integral part of the organization’s workflow, making employees feel more connected and engaged.
5. Provide Ongoing Training and Support: Ensure all departments access training resources and support. Offer hands-on workshops, create user guides, and be available to answer questions as departments begin to explore Laserfiche. By making it easy for departments to adopt the ECM system, you’ll help them feel confident and capable of using it to its full potential.
One of our clients initially deployed Laserfiche to a single department. Still, the benefits of the ECM system remained largely untapped because information about the product was kept from the original deployment. As a result, other departments needed to be made aware that Laserfiche was even available and how it could revolutionize their workflows. When CPS stepped in, we conducted a comprehensive demonstration across all departments, showcasing Laserfiche's wide range of capabilities. This sparked interest and enthusiasm, leading to the emergence of an internal champion who has since taken the initiative to advocate for Laserfiche throughout the organization. This champion is now dedicated to maximizing the value and functionality of Laserfiche, ensuring that all departments can benefit from its powerful features and the entire organization can operate more efficiently.
As an internal champion for Laserfiche, you have the unique opportunity to drive the organic growth of your ECM deployment. By engaging other departments, showcasing the system’s benefits, and providing ongoing support, you can help your municipality unlock Laserfiche's total value. With a broad deployment, your organization will experience improved efficiency, collaboration, and ROI, ensuring that Laserfiche becomes a cornerstone of your municipality’s operations.
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