What happens when your internal systems don’t do what your staff want them to?  Any slightly computer literate employee will look for a usable solution.  This can result in all kinds of chaos!

• Some of your staff are using Dropbox to share work; while others are using Googledocs.
• Some people have started using Evernote, while the rest are using OneNote.
• There’s a whole raft of task management systems
• A bunch of different diary booking systems
• Some people still trying to use an intranet messaging system that isn’t up to scratch so smarter employees are now using Slack or even Facebook.

On the surface it may seem not much of a problem if people have different preferences, but using different systems opens up huge communication gaps.

If someone has just spent many hours developing a process, but it’s in the Dropbox collaboration folder – anyone using Googledocs won’t even know it exists – and can spend many more hours reinventing the wheel!

Which diary are people looking at when they want to book an appointment? If you look as though you’re free, how are they to know that you’re using a different system?

Who is missing out on important discussions – because they’re using a different internal communication system?

As your organisation expands it’s important to keep tabs on what’s going on.  It’s not just about a streamlined system, it’s about efficiency and effectiveness.  The problem is that people don’t know what they don’t know.  Unless you have an in-house psychic to ‘know’ when someone has put important information in a particular place, people are operating – if not in the dark – in a deep twilight.

The solution is to have a regular systems audit – ideally every six months.  This can be conducted by your IT support team, whether internal or external.  It gives them (and the senior team) an opportunity to spot opportunities and places where a rethink is needed.  This means that action can be taken to ensure the organisation’s systems remain congruent and streamlined and valuable information isn’t put out of reach of the people who need it.

If you’d like to know more about an audit in your organisation please give us a call on 020 7043 6030.