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Efficiently Manage EOS® Goals & Rocks with Microsoft 365

We recently interviewed our client Karrie Schwartz, COO and EOS Integrator® at Parallel Technologies. Here’s what Karrie had to say about her company’s challenge, the CTC solution, and the results:

Challenge

Parallel Technologies manages its business following the EOS Model®.

Not familiar with EOS or the associated book Traction? We are big fans. Here is a link to learn more: eosworldwide.com

At Parallel Technologies, we previously managed long-term goals, 90-day Rocks, issues, to-do items, and associated discussions and files using a variety of applications and storage locations. The process was convoluted and inefficient.

We had been using Excel for years, but were having the following issues:

• A lack of good visibility of the information
• A lack of understanding of the status of our Rocks
• The process was time-consuming to manage and report on. I (Karrie, the EOS Integrator) had to reach out to everyone on the team individually in order to collect data.

Because of these limitations, we didn’t know if there were issues with completing our Rocks until the end of the quarter–when it was too late to make adjustments.

We needed a better solution for managing and reporting on our Goals and Rocks. We had looked at other third-party solutions, but didn’t feel they were worth the expense for the value they delivered, especially given the ongoing monthly subscription cost.

Solution:

While Jan was coaching me and looking for ways to increase my productivity, she learned about this time-consuming and inefficient process. Jan suggested that CTC build out a custom solution for us to help mitigate the problem–this is a service that CTC does for many clients.

We hired CTC Productivity to build a solution to manage EOS that met our exact needs for tracking our Goals and Rocks.

This solution would allow us to manage that same information using an integrated and comprehensive solution that lived fully within Microsoft 365. We were already paying for this toolset, so there would be no added ongoing cost. This was a big selling point for us.

With CTC’s help, we determined that the solution was to be scalable so we could expand the EOS solution in the future. This would allow us to manage meeting agendas, meeting information, scorecards, tasks, issues, opportunities, and more using only Microsoft 365. This would be a more robust solution that CTC could also build for us. Additionally, the scalability would include the option of extending the solution to more levels of the organization.

These are the goals we set for this project:

Project Goals:

• Organize EOS Goals and Rocks information in a coherent and efficient manner using Microsoft 365
• Develop a system that eliminates duplicate and siloed information
• Make EOS management information transparent to the appropriate employees, including information that should be communicated to a wider audience of employees
• Make live, up-to-date information available on all devices and on a single interface
• Reduce management’s time finding and maintaining pertinent information
• Eliminate as much navigational effort as possible

Results:

We are very happy with the solution CTC built for us, and we plan to scale the solution as we roll out EOS management to all levels of the organization. Here are some of the benefits we’ve seen since bringing CTC on, and their value to our team.

Benefits we’ve seen:

• Reduced preparation time for Annual, Quarterly, and Weekly Meetings
• Central location for all groups so everyone can be self-sufficient and see the status without the Integrator’s involvement
• No need to use VPN
• Access from anywhere, including from phones
• Better visibility keeps people on track
• Can easily adjust permissions when job responsibilities change
• Everyone can now see progress and are not dependent on the Integrator to share status
• Removed a lot of the excuses for why work was not being completed

Value:

• Reduced management stress
• Faster time to decisions
• Fewer errors and miscommunications
• Improved organizational performance due to better communication of strategy and resolution of issues
• More time and thought directed toward strategy due to less time spent searching for, and managing, information
• Better efficiency moving forward due to increased usage and knowledge of Microsoft 365

ROI:

One-time Cost: $3k

Ongoing Cost: $0

ROI Measurement: The time EOS Integrator spent annually collecting, managing, and reporting data.

Before: 66 hours/yr.

After: 6 hours/yr.

We recently interviewed our client Tim Horsch, President of Pioneer Sales Group. 

Here’s what Tim had to say about his company’s challenge, the CTC solution, and the results:    

Challenge 

One of our key resources, a 17-year veteran, was retiring from our company. We hired someone to learn her job and the current workflow. However, after 18 months on the job, she was still having issues following our systems. In addition to our hire’s individual struggles with our system, things kept falling through the cracks, even with veteran employees on our team. Team members did not have a good system for tracking follow-up work, so our customers periodically had to remind us that they still needed an answer on something. This was not acceptable, and we needed a way of being more proactive.  

Upon further reflection, we decided that we needed a new, more intuitive system. This was largely in part due to the productivity and customer service issues; however, it was also causing incredible frustration among our team members. Making matters worse, because of our employees’ frustrations with the systems and the issues that were arising, our team members assumed that they were not good at their jobs, which was negatively affecting morale.   

In addition, we were, at the time, using a hybrid technical solution that combined tools from Google and Microsoft. Every 3-6 months Microsoft or Google would run updates that caused the two systems to stop functioning together. This added to the team’s frustration and productivity struggles. We knew that unless we did something about it, we were just going to keep fighting this same battle with our technology. We decided that we needed to consolidate our toolset onto one platform.   

Because we had been growing increasingly concerned about security on the Google platform, and because Microsoft 365 came highly recommended by our peers, we opted to make the switch to Microsoft 365.   

We hoped to institute a more effective way of running the business so that new resources could be productive from day one, and we could spend less time and frustration in the training process and beyond. 

Solution: 

After making the decision to switch to Microsoft 365, we knew we needed to leverage experts to help us. We decided to bring in CTC Productivity to guide us in setting up the new system and helping us to solve our workflow issues.   

CTC Productivity’s technical team migrated the entire system from Google to Microsoft 365. Their business application experts identified a better process to manage follow-up and task tracking by leveraging the Microsoft suite of tools.   

Once the system was set up and optimized, CTC Productivity’s team recommended 1:1 training to supplement the group training. The goal here was to help with system adoption and provide a deeper understanding of the tools. This proved to be highly beneficial. It allowed individuals to ask questions about the new system and ensured that each person understood the tools fully and had the necessary confidence to follow the new workflow.   

We originally thought the entire process would take 3 months, but we ended up doing much more than originally planned. For example, we had been having issues with Verizon where live calls would be put on hold as incoming calls were coming in. Verizon could not solve the issue for us.  When we mentioned our frustration to the CTC team, they recommended we migrate to Microsoft 365 Business Voice, which is a cloud-based VoIP phone system. This was not part of the original scope of what we were planning to do, but it was a huge win for our team and saved us a lot of frustration and embarrassment with our customers.  

This new process and our work with CTC have provided tremendous value to our team. We didn’t realize how much we were in the dark ages, not taking advantage of the available technology. You don’t know what you don’t know until you dive in, and it was well worth it.  

Results:   

The overall investment was larger than we had anticipated as we didn’t account for some of the extra services and features, we could leverage. However, without a doubt, I would do it again. We are very happy with the results we have seen.  

Since rolling out the new system very few balls have dropped! We have happy customers that get their answers on the first call/email and don’t have to follow up with us to check on statuses. Plus, we now have an easy process for leaders to take over quotes when necessary.    

In terms of personnel, we recently onboarded two new people and without the new system, we would have been devastated. Our new technical environment is easy for new and existing employees to understand and follow, and our employees’ stress levels are much improved. We have seen an increase in job satisfaction since the switch.   

We used to frequently have issues getting on Teams calls, but there are now zero issues with our new technical environment.  

Microsoft’s VoIP solution, Business Voice, was also well worth the investment. Not only did it stop the call issues we were having, it costs less than Verizon and we don’t have to buy company phones for some of our employees.  We rely on chat, posts, and video meetings for communication.   

The security concerns we were having with Google also went away when we switched to Microsoft 365. Our Microsoft Secure Score went from 29 to 65. From what I understand, for a company like ours without strict compliance needs, the goal is to reach a score of 60-70. This score is important as it can affect cybersecurity insurance costs and peace of mind.  

We are thrilled with the results we have seen since bringing CTC on to help us streamline our workflow. We plan to bring CTC back for more training in the future to help us continue to leverage Microsoft 365’s suite of tools. 

Project Cost, Timeline, & ROI  

One-Time Project cost $9k

Ongoing cost $0

Project timeline 3 mos

ROI:  Without the new system in place, we would have had to onboard an additional inside sales rep. That would have been an added cost of $60k – $ 100k annually. 

We recently interviewed our client Adam Frericks, Vice President of States Manufacturing. 

Here’s what Adam had to say about his company’s challenge, the CTC solution, and the results:  

Challenge 

Our workflow from sales through engineering was highly inefficient. We had no clear record of what our sales team had committed to customers, we had inefficient tools to do resource planning for our engineering team, and we could not quickly find pertinent information in our tracking system. The project status was also very scattered–we had to look at individual file folders and email inboxes to determine a project’s status, rather than having everything centrally located. We typically have 6 people involved in every project, which also adds a layer of complexity.  

When there was a scope change, our existing process made it extremely difficult to assess and estimate. We had good visibility of individual projects, but there was no supervisor’s portal where we could see all projects together and how to schedule next steps.  

In addition, our ERP offered insufficient reporting, as well as the inability to manipulate data. We needed a project tracking tool and handoff mechanism that was simpler to use, had stronger visibility for the individual steps of each project, afforded us the ability to manipulate all of our data, and that we could easily train our staff to use. We determined that we needed a better system with more efficient tools.  

Solution: 

Upon evaluation, we realized we needed help. You can’t develop the right solution until you uncover the underlying problems, so we decided we needed an expert to dig in and identify the root problems before we could find the solution. We didn’t even know for sure what our pain points were, but we did know something wasn’t working.  

We originally felt we needed help from an expert in our industry, but early on we found that this was actually not important. What we learned we needed was an expert in process improvement and Microsoft 365, so we turned to CTC Productivity. We had a history with the company and had seen value in their services in the past.  

Working with CTC was pivotal to our success. They helped us: 

• Have a fresh perspective. It was critical to bring in outside resources. They would share new ideas and we would try to break them. This was a highly effective and even enjoyable process. 
• Lay out a vision and a plan for how to get there. Often you don’t know what you don’t know until someone presents a new approach for you to consider. 
• Understand how to fully leverage the power of Microsoft 365 with better task management, handoffs between teams, and reporting. 
• Leverage our existing Microsoft tools to keep ongoing costs down as there was no additional upfront or ongoing system cost. 
• Understand SharePoint. We did not have the experience to know what was possible or how to build it out. CTC demonstrated their expertise in this area. 
• By leading the project. No one on our team had time to lead, nor the type of skills necessary. We had project management experience, of course, but not for this type of project. We also would have had to sacrifice a resource to lead the project and we didn’t have the capacity to do so. 
• Reduce the number of emails for communication.  SharePoint allows for better, more streamlined communication between team members. 
• Train our internal resources to be able to manage the tool long-term. We didn’t even think to ask for this at the start of the project and were thankful that CTC suggested it as a smart, long-term strategy to keep costs down. 
• Understand the importance of streamlining the workflow before building the solution. This was critical to the success of the new tools.  
• Identify that we didn’t have all the right roles defined. No other vendors did it this way. This was key. 
• Clarify the roles and responsibilities of our team members. Drafting roles and responsibilities helped us explain to others how they would fit into the long-term solution when we pitched it to the rest of the company. The roadmap of responsibilities was key to see the gaps in our processes. Historically we would assign tasks to a department, but didn’t get as granular as specifying an individual or role within that department, which wasn’t thorough enough to ensure that the workflow was running smoothly. 

Results:   

Managing this process is much easier with our enhanced visibility to staff and department workloads. We can easily see our resource planning, and our schedule is now based on availability and capacity, rather than gut instinct. With two clicks of the mouse, we can see everyone’s availability and how far out they are scheduled.  

 Our Engineers like the new process and software, and they feel empowered to schedule their own time accordingly and have a more accurate schedule. We are more confident that we can meet our deadlines using factual, accurate data to plan, and we now have a proactive versus reactive discussion if our staff feel they can’t meet a deadline.  

 In addition to our management view of availability and in-process projects, our employees now have individual views of their own active projects and tasks as well. This allows them to not feel overwhelmed by data and they now know exactly where they need to focus their time and energy. Our Engineers have their own active project list which alerts them when it is their turn in the process.  

 We are thrilled with the streamlined project management that comes with using Microsoft 365. We are able to easily see which projects still need a kickoff meeting, we have a tool and quality data for forecasting and future project planning, and we can capture timestamps to understand the length of submittals/projects and use this information for future planning and forecasting. It has also made engineering deliverables and dates more transparent to the other groups (sales and operations). Now everyone knows when we are meeting and the status of various projects. Production can plan more accurately and sales can see each project status and keep customers updated. This has put a stop to constant interruptions, as we are no longer constantly asking each other for the status of projects.  

 As a fast-paced organization, we appreciate the transparency and improved communication that comes with having one central place to find information. The simplified process has reduced the amount of finger-pointing between departments and has saved time and energy, while simultaneously reducing confusion.  

 Our new solution allows our lead engineers to more effectively manage their areas of responsibility. They have the information they need to answer day-to-day questions versus having questions being raised to management. The enhanced calendar view and reporting have also made a huge impact on the efficiency of our team across the board. 

 When we decided to work with CTC Productivity, we didn’t realize we would get a system that is so sophisticated. They shared their knowledge of process improvement, which was a great learning opportunity for all of our team members. We now feel confident that we will know what to do when having process issues in other areas. We saw great value in defining the high-level workflow before building out our processes, as each department had a different opinion about the process. Defining everything from the start ensured that everyone was on the same page.  

 We were pleasantly surprised at how quickly we saw results from the changes CTC made. For example, within one hour of working with our CTC lead, we had completely revamped our Excel quoting tool. With the average annual compensation for engineers being around $100k, leveraging their time more efficiently is completely priceless. 

Project Cost, Timeline, & ROI 

Onetime Project Cost: $58k 

Ongoing cost: $0 

Timeline: 4 mos to fully operational system & trained staff 

ROI: Sales gained an average of 54 days/yr that they can now spend on selling rather than chasing down the status of a project for a customer. This is simply one easily calculated example of the many ways this process improvement has impacted the efficiency at States Manufacturing. 

Recently we had an interview with our client Kaarin Mantz, Administrative Lead YMCA Camps, YMCA of the North.

Here’s what Kaarin had to say about her company’s challenge, the CTC solution and the results:
Challenge:

“I have been with the organization 13 years and have observed the following issues that were affecting our productivity across the entire organization:

• Communication
• Organization
• Internal Project management
• Lost knowledge with staff turnover

As a non-profit we needed a smarter way of working that would streamline the way we communicate and collaborate and ensure we were capturing knowledge in people’s heads.”

Solution:
“I had been attending the CTC Productivity webinars and reading their blog posts. I started to make the connection between how our business challenges could be solved by Microsoft 365. We had invested in Microsoft 365 but were not fully using it to our advantage. Although the IT team knows how it works, they don’t know how to use it on the ground in the day-to-day business operations.

I realized working with someone that knows how to apply it to solve the organization’s business issues was critical. So, we decided to bring in CTC Productivity to guide us.

I just loved their approach. We identified the business problem areas and they explained how 365 could meet our needs. This method made it easier for me to see how we should leverage the tools.

Looking back on the project I didn’t realize what we needed. I thought we needed a communication plan but when working with the CTC team I learned there was a better way to approach it. I had no idea all the ways we could be addressing the issues with 365.

I also learned when working with CTC that this was too big of an endeavor to try and change the entire organization all at once. The CTC team suggested we pilot the new approach before rolling it out to the rest of the organization. We needed to start small with one location and hone in on exactly how we should be using it. This was a critical step before training everyone.

I also learned it was very important to get some momentum going on the project and create a team of champions that were sharing the value of the tool with the rest of the organization before the broader rollout.

Piloting the approach was pivotal. We needed the right team, so we piloted in an area where I have intimate knowledge and was confident the pilot team would be up for the challenge. I knew we picked the right team because they saw the struggle and were willing to invest their time and energy. They understood the issues and were passionate about finding a solution.

The CTC monthly retainer model was perfect. It kept me on task as the Client Project Manager and was a great incentive to ensure we were making steady progress every month. In this busy world it’s easy to let projects slide but this made sure things were progressing and we were getting our full value for the investment.”

Results:
“The pilot was a great success and now other areas of the business who have heard about our success want to know more. Doing a pilot was the trick to ensure full adoption.

Our Learning and Development team has decided to create a handout that will be adopted throughout our organization on best practices on how to use 365 the way we have designed it.

The immediate business benefits are:

• Having a better communication process where we can easily separate work and home life.
• Keeping things organized.
• Going paperless. Paper binders are now a thing of the past.
• A more streamlined approach to onboarding new team members. I’m very excited about this one as it will help make transitions easier. When we have turnover, we will save months of training new people as now all the information is saved and stored in a way that is easy to access.

Now we are primed and ready for busy season this summer!

I am much more knowledgeable about Microsoft 365. I never knew all these tools and options were available. I can’t believe we had been paying for but not leveraging these features to solve our day-to-day issues.

One of my biggest aha moments was learning how to approach a project like this through the help of CTC. I now feel more confident with my project management skills going forward.

I discovered the most effective way to leverage technology to solve our issues is to start with identifying the business problem. Then explore if technology can help and how to configure it correctly. That shift in mindset, the need to focus on the area of improvement first was a different way to look at it and was a great learning opportunity for me.

What is most exciting for me about this project is that we now have a plan on how to fully utilize Microsoft 365. Our organization had no plan prior to this.

I would highly recommend you have CTC Productivity guide you through the process. There is no way we could have done this on our own. I would not have had the time to research everything and figure it out. It was a valuable investment and now that I have been trained, I can train others.”

We recently interviewed our client Wyatt Shallbetter, President of States Manufacturing. 

Here’s what Wyatt had to say about his company’s challenge, the CTC solution, and the results:  

Challenge 

Our production scheduling process was inefficient and had to be done manually, which caused a large number of bottlenecks and left us with ample opportunities for error. We needed to look for ways to automate and streamline the workflow, with our primary focus being the need for a better tool for scheduling, automation, reporting, and visualization.  

We’d previously had great success using Microsoft Planner for machine scheduling because everything can be stored in buckets, so we tried to leverage it for resource planning, but it was too limited in its capabilities. Our information was scattered across multiple systems and tools, which made digital clutter a real issue. Each of our projects has anywhere from five to ten subassemblies used to produce finished goods, and each flows through our production environment in different phases and rates of completion. Therefore, for each step in a project, a production supervisor would have to log into the system to dictate the next step and, potentially track down the paperwork by walking the production floor environment to find the necessary materials and paperwork to help steer it to the next step. It was a full-time job in and of itself.

We considered our ERP system, Epicor, as a potential solution to issues, but decided it was not the right solution for these reasons:

• Functionality was limited in its current state. 
• We couldn’t easily manipulate the data. 
• Quality, affordable Epicor consultants were hard to find. 

Solution: 

We had recently hired CTC Productivity to help us streamline our sales-engineering workflow and engineering resource management. First, they lead us through the process of reviewing and streamlining our workflow. Then, they assisted us in building out a technology solution on Microsoft SharePoint, a tool we already owned as part of our Microsoft license, but had never fully explored.

Here is a link to that case study: Engineering Resource Planning

We were very pleased with the results we saw with CTC’s assistance, so we decided to continue leveraging their expertise and building on that solution. We wanted to have one tool for all resource management and take advantage of the power of that platform.

We also wanted to capitalize on Epicor in the areas where it works well – financial planning, material tracking, order entry, job entry, raw material inventory, and purchasing. We decided to build out our scheduling, reporting, automation, and visualization in SharePoint with CTC’s guidance. This had the added benefit of not having all our eggs in one basket, our ERP tool.

Since Epicor sits on a sequel database we could use the data while not having to deal with the complexities of that system–we were able to move data from Epicor to SharePoint. This ended up being a great solution for us and checked all of our boxes, while making it easier to maintain long term. 

As with our engineering project, CTC recommended we identify internal resources to become SharePoint/PowerBi experts to own and maintain the process. CTC would help train our personnel to take over ownership of the system, which is a much more economical approach in the long run. 

Results:   

(This project is still under deployment and implementation, but we have already recognized equivalent or greater efficiency in our project tracking compared to our old methods.) 

By leveraging CTC’s expertise, we were able to simplify our toolset by now having just two places in which we manage production. We greatly streamlined our workflow through automation. Since making this change, we no longer have to rely on manual intervention when a task is complete–now we just need to keep an eye on it. We were able to say goodbye to fact-checking, which has resulted in a speedier and more accurate process. 

In addition to the time saved with inefficiencies, it will also be much easier to onboard and train new staff with this simple-to-use software. All of our resource planning and projects are managed in SharePoint, reducing the amount of time dedicated to training new personnel. 

Our switch to SharePoint has created efficiencies in our process, therefore saving us time, but it also comes with no additional cost to us as a business, as SharePoint is part of our Microsoft 365 license already.

We would highly recommend CTC Productivity for any manufacturer looking to streamline their workflow and manage resources effectively.  

Project Cost, Timeline, & ROI 

One-Time Project Cost: $21K  

Ongoing Cost: $0 

 Timeline: 3 months 

 ROI: In total, Production Supervisors will save 5.7 months a year

We recently interviewed our client Jeremy Cave, Director of Technology for Dions.

Here’s what Jeremy had to say about his company’s Challenge, the CTC Solution, and the Results: 

Challenge:

We needed a new solution. We had aging physical infrastructure and were faced with a myriad of downsides to replacing them.

1) The associated capital expenditures.

2) The difficulties with volume licensing.

3) The time and money, as well as the challenges of managing, securing, and ensuring safe backups of on-premise servers.

I knew what the organization needed. However, technology these days is so complex.  The idea that there is one guy in the basement of every company that knows everything is not the reality anymore. There is no way one small team can do it all. I knew where we needed to go, but the path was unclear.

Solution:

Roll out Microsoft 365 and bring in a partner that knew how to do it right. At the time, we didn’t know the value CTC Productivity would deliver at every step along the way. CTC Productivity guided and assisted us to achieve our vision. From initial set up and planning to the migration of the data, helping us to streamline workflows, change behaviors, and assist with the full adoption of this new way of working.

From an infrastructure standpoint, CTC provided and continues to provide the safety net, safety map, and directions. It’s not a maze but it is complex. I didn’t want to risk unintended consequences. CTC has provided us with a traveling partner and the security of knowing that someone can help us with the challenges (and celebrate with us at the end!).

One of the key decisions we made during the project was to create a better process for managing our KPIs. So, in addition to helping us migrate to the new and improved platform, we prioritized creating a dashboard even before we migrated. The dashboard will handle our top 5 KPIs. There was a huge fear that this house of cards that we had built from multi-nested Excel spreadsheets would break during the migration.  This alone is one of the best decisions we made. The CTC team members building out our dashboard are fantastic.

One piece of advice I would offer other companies is that Power BI a fantastic tool, but it is complex. When professionals that know the settings and how they can be tweaked do the work you can create something on a completely different level of performance. There is a huge difference when it is done perfectly by a professional. It helps make a company vision a reality.

Generally, on IT projects we expect consultants are going to speak over the heads of the end users (and IT staff!). That is one of the key differentiators with CTC. They are brilliant people and understand business and speak at the level of the audience. Going at your pace to ensure you are comfortable, but then speeding up as you adapt.

Once the foundation is in place, we will dive deeper into the Optimization phase of the project. Looking at our processes and how to streamline those workflows. This will be a huge benefit.  Just initial discussions with the CTC business process improvement folks have opened our eyes to what is possible. They are insightful, detail oriented and do excellent analysis on complex workflows.

To be an outsider and be able to quickly understand complex workflow is a powerful skill set. It’s like describing the Mona Lisa to someone. So complex and difficult to even explain. Their ability to understand complex workflow and put it together in 3D in their minds is amazing.

Also, we didn’t directly ask Jan to coach us along the way, but that was another awesome benefit. We didn’t expect it and honestly, I didn’t necessarily realize it was happening along the way until later. Working with her to help manage the whole process was a huge perk. Her experience in coaching and helping people through personal development and professional change is relevant in this space. Each of us needs help at a different level and I felt reassured by our check-ins. When I was unclear, Jan’s coaching and guidance were very valuable.

Results:

The estimated long-term benefits to the company with just the technology migration and changing to the new architecture is that we anticipate spending 5-10% less over the course of a 5-year period. Beyond 5 years we will realize even more savings. Plus, it eliminates the risk of exposure from a catastrophic event.

But most of the gains are in the improvements in soft costs. Improving the way we collaborate has no price tag. O365 is a solution that will eliminate risk and provide improvements across the board as well as efficiency and how quickly we can share information and make faster decisions. Just getting to the place where we have only one version of a document will have financial benefits by eliminating rework and confusion.

One of the improvements that surprised me the most about this new technology is that the importance of knowing where something is saved goes away. You can get to it in so many ways you don’t need to remember the directory structure to find something. Eliminating this time waster will have a huge impact on everyone’s productivity.

Here is one piece of advice I would give to other businesses. Do it.  Move to 365. The benefit of the cloud is where the future is. You will be glad you did. Also partner with experts that know what they are doing. It doesn’t matter how good your IT group is. They could be spending their time and energy in other areas furthering your business and letting experts that understand Microsoft 365 do what they do best.

My experience with CTC Productivity has been fantastic and I would absolutely recommend them.

Recently we had an interview with our client Jenn Pensa, COO of Ardent Credit Union. 

Here’s what Jenn had to say about her company’s Challenge, the CTC Solution and the Results: 

Challenge      

 “I recently changed jobs and the new company had decided we would stay with the hybrid work model. To do this properly it’s important to provide a work environment that allows everyone to work effectively no matter how many days they’re in or out of the office. It is critical for us to leverage tools like Teams and Microsoft 365 and all the efficiency that comes with improved communication and collaboration as well as reducing email.  Since we installed the Microsoft licensing 2.5 years ago, we had everything we needed – we just weren’t using the software to its capabilities yet.    

We knew it would be painful to do a full rollout on our own because the internal IT team members may not understand how to configure 365 and how all our current systems would connect with 365 as well.    

For companies our size typically, you can’t have all the technology resources in-house to effectively go where you want to go with our long-term technology strategy. You need your in-house IT to be the boots on the ground and have strong outside partners to define the strategy and be subject matter experts on the various technologies you are deploying. That outside voice ensures a smooth and efficient rollout. The in-house team and outside expert approach would allow us to have the best of everything.” 

Solution   

 “I knew immediately that we needed to bring in CTC Productivity to optimize our Microsoft 365 technology because of the quality work they did for us at my last company. CTC has focused subject matter expertise in Microsoft 365, with up-to-the-minute learning. Using subject matter experts allowed us to be educated, innovative and cutting edge without having to hire a new expert for each area. That’s an important solution because we don’t need some of these skills long-term.    

We realized our tech team members (internal and external) had pockets of knowledge on certain aspects of Microsoft 365 (configuration, licensing, Intune) but couldn’t provide the full service that CTC could from migration to optimization.  

Also, when it comes to security and compliance internal team members may not understand the best way to configure the tool and often rely on non-tech people to make decisions outside of their skillset. CTC did the compliance and security assessment and made recommendations on how to optimally configure the environment. This was a huge benefit. CTC really understands client needs and the world of compliance and security – and knows the right security framework to keep our data safe and compliant.”   

Results     

“From the first day we engaged CTC we didn’t stress. CTC guided us through the process. They told us to ‘Trust in the fact that there is an algorithm for this’ and that there is a process that will work every time. It’s agnostic to your business. It doesn’t matter what industry. Trust you can do this with their help.    

I would highly recommend CTC’s 365 Assess/Migration/Optimization Roadmap. It’s critical to get the foundation in place first. Then you can determine how to leverage it across teams. CTC knows what to do, just follow their lead. 

CTC is easy to work with. They listen. It’s a fantastic experience working with them. Their team members are amazing and some of the smartest people I have worked with. It’s nice to work with tech pros that are humble, and client focused.    

I have worked with many Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and technology partners that provide services and scope in different models. CTC has a retainer model that is fantastic because our company gets a lot of bang for our buck. I really appreciated the additional thought leadership hours.  In my opinion, CTC does not charge enough.    

What we got in spades is the one-off questions answered quickly. My team is not wasting time trying to figure out the answers when the CTC team knows them already and can quickly answer our questions and make sure we are not making mistakes. They know how to do it right by laying out the groundwork, so everything is set up correctly the first time.   

Microsoft 365 works so well when it’s done right! Sometimes applications promise a lot and they do not really work. 365 actually works. The integration between desktop and phone is so helpful since we all live on our phone. Using 365 optimally is imperative in this hybrid work model that is here to stay.” 

Challenge   

The CEO knew they were not operating their business optimally, but they were unsure of where the opportunities were to improve. They engaged CTC to help identify the root cause of their issues and propose changes to streamline the way they work.  

Solution  

The CTC team started the discussion by understanding what the main business challenges were in the organization. They then proceeded to walk us through the Microsoft 365 suite of tools and explained how this technology (that we were already paying for by the way!) could help eliminate the issues. Also by sharing the capabilities of the entire suite of tools it allowed them to spot other business issues that could be solved that they would never have known were possible with the software.    

While their IT resources had kept them up to date with the latest software versions, they were lacking in expertise regarding both WHAT they had access to and HOW to leverage the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity apps to make the business more efficient and productive. 

Additionally, while coaching the COO to be a more effective leader and learn delegation strategies Jan realized he didn’t just need soft skill training. Microsoft 365 had some apps and features that would help him manage this area of his work more effectively. They helped him understand how to leverage the Task Management apps within 365 to make delegation and accountability easier for both him and his team members. Tools that helped everyone keep their tasks organized and visible so they could easily prioritize and track their work. 

 As Jan always says, you want to start with the business issues and then decide what technology to rollout. Don’t get distracted by bright shiny objects that don’t add a lot of value to the organization.  

Results  

As one would expect, the results from these items were immense.   

This resulted in at least 60% fewer emails as they gravitated toward more effective and efficient  applications that were available in native Office 365.  

They now use email mostly to exchange information with outside customers and vendors without cluttering their inboxes with basic internal questions and status updates.   

Like many leaders, the CEO used to have a tough time making it home for dinner in the evening and even spent part of his weekends catching up. Since meeting with Jan, the only reason he misses dinner is that he is at a happy hour or another work event. (Which is a different problem 😊 ). He also carved his work week down to where he is hardly ever working on Friday afternoons, which has been a HUGE upgrade for him and his family.  

The COO is now in control of his area and able to spend more time on customer relationships and personnel development versus task management.   

Ryan Lamb, Chief Executive Officer, GCATS Telecom & Critical Power Services 

Challenge:  

The CEO of the company knew one of his team leaders was a Rockstar. The problem was neither she nor others saw her in that same light. Her quieter, introverted personality was holding her back from being the leader he knew she could be. The goal was to change her approach and raise her confidence so she would show everyone her real talent.  

Solution:  

Through 1-1 coaching we worked on a few strategic areas. One was elevating her in her department so she would have more time to spend on companywide initiatives. We had her adopt the “Only Do What Only You Can Do” approach and delegate the rest. This allowed her to not only free up time for other strategic work, but it empowered her team, knowing that she trusted them to take on more responsibility.   

We also worked on her communication style to be more proactive and engaged. As an introvert, she seldom spoke up in meetings and often was not asked for her opinion. With this additional time from effectively delegating, she would read up on activities going on outside of her department so she could provide her important perspective in leadership meetings to show others her brilliance.  

She was also leading an important project and because her nature was to only share when she had something important to share, many misread her dedication and drive on the project. By changing her communication strategy and teaching her to proactively communicate, it calmed the concerns of those on the project and helped elevate her leadership in their eyes. For many, silence can be interpreted as no progress. She also learned to be more open and vocal about what she sees and wants for the organization, her department and equally important…for herself.  Thus, giving the CEO more confidence that she is indeed interested in advancement. 

 Results:  

With coaching, she improved her communication, management, and work style. She now better understands she is accountable, but not necessarily responsible, for the output of her department and has stopped being a “doer”.  She has more time to focus on important work like company-wide initiatives, proactive strategies to minimize challenges in the department and coaching her direct reports on their work and career paths. 

 “The biggest thing I learned from the coaching with Jan was to be more vocal – whether that be in meetings or one-on-ones with my supervisor.  What I say does matter!  Jan also encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone, which has been challenging at times but definitely worth it!”

• Time saved each month: 21% + 
• Job satisfaction increase: 81-100% 
• Stress reduction: 81-100% 

 Tammy Larson, Chief Risk Officer, Coulee Bank 

Situation:
After the firm’s Executive Administrator reached out to our team, the managing partner, Doug, hired us for coaching.
Doug is already a whiz at productivity, but he’s just one person.

Despite already being stressed for time, he does his best to help other members of the firm. He simply doesn’t have the time to do his job AND step up as a productivity coach for everyone.

What They Thought the Problem was:
Doug and the team knew that they were spending too much time on tedious tasks like emails. But their big issue was having their billable hours below their goal while everyone was still working long days.

What Had They Tried Already?

• Doug was providing guidance where he could to help with productivity
• Senior attorneys were coaching and training newer members
• They had implemented a new case management system to help with automation

How We Worked With Them
Step one was one-on-one coaching with a handful of the attorneys, including Doug. These were the results:

• We helped assess and address their personal productivity challenges
• We uncovered several issues that Brown and Carlson’s leadership were unaware of
• It became apparent that there was value in examining their entire workflow and handoff between team members

The Solution
Our ability to blend our services allowed for Brown and Carlson to get individualized coaching as well as a full evaluation, and streamlining, of their workflow.

Working with CTC allowed Brown and Carlson to:

• Develop the art of effective delegation, planning, and accountability
• Address individual productivity issues at their source
• Create a new onboarding process that helps the supervising attorneys better understand new hires’ current skill levels and where they needed development
• Accelerate the development of junior attorneys
• Play to each team members’ strengths
• Clarify roles and responsibilities through step-by-step processes and instructions
• Fully leverage all the features in their case management system

What Made This Solution Effective?
Doug fully embraced the concept of creating a culture of productivity. Instead of seeing small pockets of productivity, Brown and Carlson saw an entire overhaul of their inefficiencies.

Doug’s leadership enforced the need for change. Because of that, the entire organization’s processes were improved — permanently. They are still following the processes we put in place to this day.

Years later, during the pandemic, Doug again thanked us. All the work that went into leveraging automation and streamlining workflow allowed the firm to easily pivot to remote work when necessary.

What Were Their Biggest Successes?

• Doug now has 2.5 more hours in his day every day (he’s maintained this for the last seven years)
• The entire firm is now 30% more efficient (they know this because of the increase in their billable hours as a firm)
• Employees are much happier
• Employee engagement has peaked
• They continue to win Best Places to Work because of their drive to improve the lives of their employees

Testimonial from Doug (from early on in CTC’s relationship with him)

“We hired Jan Lehman to assess the workflow across our organization, as well as with each of our lawyers independently. Our ultimate goal was to reduce stress levels and increase productivity. The project is still in process, and I already see improvements in overall efficiencies and job satisfaction. I do not doubt that the changes we are making will directly impact our billable hours. Jan has provided us with practical, valuable advice. Having an outsider with a fresh perspective has helped us understand how we can better manage our time and tools (i.e., email, software). Her ideas will help us expedite the onboarding of new team members while also supporting the development and retention of high performing employees. I highly recommend Jan and CTC Productivity. Money and time well spent!”

 

The Situation
CEO Wendi Breuer saw Jan speak and immediately knew her strategies and tactics were what SeaChange needed to evolve into the highly effective organization she was striving for.

What They Thought Their Problem Was
For Wendi, her biggest problem was an obligation to work longer and longer hours, often late into the night, regularly. She knew that it had to stop for her to be an effective leader and find balance in her life.

What Had They Already Tried?

• Senior members were training new staff and, not being productivity experts, they were unable to properly address the root cause of this issue.
• Individuals were left to help other individuals as best they could

How We Worked With Them
We spent a half-day with the entire team in a one-time training session.

The Solution
Leaders, like Wendi, aren’t always aware of how much inefficiency there is in the way that they work. They find what works for them and keep doing it. Wendi’s team was extremely responsive to CTC, offering simple but powerful ideas around making changes to the way they worked together.

We not only provided ideas on how to increase their personal productivity, but we also showed them how to work more effectively as a team.

What made this solution effective?
Wendi was the spark that made all the difference in their success.

She is a phenomenal leader and was quick to embrace building a culture of productivity with her team. She realized that change needed to start with her.

As a Result of Her Leadership, and With Our Guidance:

• Wendi embraced the ideas from our presentation and wove them into her existing culture
• The team prioritized six productivity tips that unite them as a group
• Her entire team is now engaged and more productive

To reinforce the message and importance of this new way of working, they have these six tips branded on mousepads in their company colors and have built their productivity habits directly into their company values.

What Does SeaChange Look Like Now?

• Wendi has invested in individual coaching for many of her leaders
• Wendi is no longer working into the night
• One of their sales reps saw an 80% reduction in their stress level
• The team is happier and much more productive
• Wendi has reduced wasted time by 10 hours per month
• Their COO has reduced wasted time by 35-40 hours a month and used that time to implement long-overdue projects that resulted in cost savings of $30K per month.
• Wendi is saving about $6000 per month thanks to not having to fill a new customer service role

Testimonial from Wendi

“Jan Lehman is a phenomenal speaker and efficiency enthusiast. Our team walked away with many action items we are already implementing to save us time through more efficient use of emails, more effective meetings and increased focus time through time management best practices.” — Wendi Breuer, CEO SeaChange

Challenge  

This recently promoted CEO knew he was responsible for driving business goals and results and he also knew he needed someone to help him map out exactly HOW he was going to meet those goals. He decided to hire Jan for executive coaching. 

Solution

He says, “Jan is a surgeon when it comes to diagnosing and fixing business issues.” During one coaching session they had discussed a specific process flow and he told Jan that he knew there was a bottleneck in the process, but he could not seem to identify where it was.  Jan walked him through the various places to look, and then finally said, “Ryan, if you are certain there is a bottleneck, but you can’t see it, then you are probably it.”   

 After a moment, he sat back and said, “Ack… Jan, you’re right! I am the problem here.” He said it was as much of an ‘ah-ha’ moment as anyone is going to get in a position like his. Jan then talked him through the best way to, really, get out of his own way. Since then that process has run seamlessly. 

Embarking on executive coaching has turned out to be an even better use of time and resources than this CEO originally anticipated. Given his immediate, positive results, he was excited to share his lessons and he invited his Controller to go through the same coaching program. When she saw results also, the  COO was invited to experience the program. One day, the COO was excitedly telling the CEO about his meeting with Jan which then perked the interest of their President as well. 

While they can provide many examples of how Jan’s coaching helped them work together more effectively as a leadership team, the CEO felt that it was a key moment when coaching the Controller that helped him realize the value of having an outside coach. The CEO and Controller had worked with each other for 10 years and have a close personal and professional relationship. The Controller had started as an invoice processor and had grown and matured over her tenure with the company. 

While coaching the Controller, Jan made some interesting observations that the CEO was thankful Jan shared with him.  Jan indicated that the Controller did not feel empowered to make certain decisions that Jan knew the CEO certainly expected the Controller to make as part of her job. See, while the Controller had been promoted, the leadership team had not discussed how to make the Controller feel like she was part of the team and that she had the authority to make significant decisions in her role. The CEO remembers thinking, “So you didn’t read my mind when we gave you this role?” – That was an oops Jan helped him see. 

Every member of the leadership team has had at least one big “ahh moment” in their coaching sessions with Jan. 

Results 

Clarifying the CEO’s expectations of the Controller has made a dramatic difference in their working relationship and the results she delivers. Having Jan coach everyone on the leadership team has been a pivotal move for this business. Not only did it improve their personal productivity, it has shed light on areas where they have blind spots about how to work together effectively. 

Additionally, working with the team collectively helped Jan and her team see opportunities for streamlining workflow across functional areas.  The executive team and CEO are now working more effectively together, and they are accomplishing more as a team than any of them would have thought possible. The CEO says, “Honestly, I believe our communication as a team has improved and the working environment is even better.” 

While I certainly anticipated positive results, the positive impact has surpassed what I originally expected. I certainly intend on utilizing Jan strategically as my business continues to grow.  Jan’s coaching services have been an excellent use of our strategic spend.”  

Ryan Lamb, Chief Executive Officer, GCATS Telecom & Critical Power Services 

Challenge:
Like many situations, we were brought in because the company’s owner felt overwhelmed; he needed to be more organized. Often it feels like our clients aren’t exactly sure what to ask us to help with, they just know they need help because they are drowning in work.

Solution:
Together we worked on revamping his physical space so that it accommodated his personal needs better, and we also worked on his personal workflow and the way he interacted with his team. Many felt he was not the best communicator and so we worked on helping him see ways where he could make very small changes to help make his employees feel more empowered, respected and supported.

Results:
“The owner of our company hired Jan Lehman to work on his personal organization and work flow. Now not only is he less overwhelmed and more in control of his environment, but many of us throughout the organization are seeing the positive benefits as well. Jan helped him understand how his personal style was impacting the productivity of others. He is now more structured and aware of the importance of how he interacts with us. The end result – increased productivity and job satisfaction throughout the organization. The trickle-down effect Jan’s work has had on our company has been amazing!”

Joanne – Finance Manager / HR Coordinator

“I was very impressed by the level of sophistication and insight that Jan provided me about how to improve my organization.”

Owen Engelmann, Vice President, Engelmann Becker Corp

Challenge:
Like many of our client engagements, we started off working for the CEO and ended up being referred from department to department to identify and implement best practices. Initially I was brought in because this fast growing company needed to step it up a notch. The CEO was a highly skilled individual, highly focused and driven. He knew he needed a better way to manage his ever expanding responsibilities. One of his key issues was that his method of managing his tasks/follow-ups involved the use of multiple sticky notes all over his desk along with scattered papers.

He was keenly aware that since they had now become a global company the company image needed improvement. So we initially worked with him to devise a more effective and less cluttered approach to managing his tasks, meeting notes and project tracking.

Solution:
After successfully implementing these solutions and being impressed by our strong analytical and project management skills, he then asked us to evaluate their corporate records. It became evident after rounds of interviews with key stakeholders that the company had outgrown their manual paper processes and needed better version control, workflow tracking and more. After thorough analysis, we recommended a Document Management System for managing the flow of information throughout the company. Since we are not connected to any one software manufacturer he was able to give more weight to our unbiased recommendations without feeling he was being “sold” something.

We also identified the need for formal information retention policies. Many of the employees were holding on to information that was not necessary because they didn’t know how long the CEO wanted to keep the information, and they didn’t want to bother him. By formalizing this information every employee had clear rules to follow for what to keep, what not to keep and proper disposal recommendations.

Finally, we provided recommendations for revamping the new hire process to ensure new employees were quickly acclimated to the business with timely and accurate information. We had uncovered many issues with the initial set up and education process that not only kept new hires from being productive, but took time away from senior staff who were being called in repeatedly to assist.

Results:
Here is what the CEO had to say:

“It is now 8 months later and not only am I staying organized, but my team has commented that their productivity has improved because of the changes we made to my office. I am impressed with Jan’s capabilities, professionalism, and the results – it’s been a great investment. Jan also assessed our corporate records storage and management. She did an excellent job. I would highly recommend her to any company that is looking for help identifying productivity opportunities in their organization.”

Martin Ambros – President & CEO, Air-Weigh

As a company expands there is a real risk of inefficiency spreading throughout the organization. Reviewing internal operating procedures, job descriptions, best practices, etc. is critical not only for increasing company revenue, but for reducing unnecessary operating costs.

Challenge:
We were brought in by the HR department to work with many of the Deans and Professors at a local college. The idea had come from a Managers Retreat where many of them shared a common concern of feeling overwhelmed with work and feeling stressed by not having the work life balance they desired.

Solution:
We delivered a presentation centered around many of the common productivity challenges, such as optimizing your personal workflow, setting priorities and changing behaviors to ensuring your top priorities receive the focused time and attention they deserve, learning to delegate, saying no, and evaluating when doing something perfectly may not be the best option.

Results:
“Jan is an excellent organization advisor and coach. She is able to help you find a system that accounts for your personal style/habits, and still allows you to have a space that you are proud to share with others. Jan is great at helping during a very stressful process, and provides motivation and encouragement when completing the tasks.”

Shalimar Steinberg, Drafting Instructor

“I thought the presentation was great! Good amount of discussion, good on accountability…engaging. I hired Jan at my office to help me with my complex work flow and also help my admin assistants work with my “remodeled” filing system. Where I feel overwhelmed, Jan feels challenged! I highly recommend her for office organizing. She goes beyond clutter clearing and designs workable systems to keep you organized.”

Sarah, PhD, Dean of Science Lane Community College


When an organization sees a need for improved productivity across many of its divisions or within a department, I can deliver a workshop to share organizing theory with a larger population, combined with hands-on sessions for select groups. This approach reinforces the organization’s belief that process improvement is not about employees working longer hours, but working more effectively in their daily jobs.


The P&G CEO created a council “focused on productivity” because he believes so strongly in the opportunity. What are you doing to identify and instill this smart behavior?

Many times when someone says they need help getting organized they’re actually struggling with time management issues. We often coach individuals on better planning, priority setting, better decision making, etc. We had a busy professional that struggled with many of the same challenges as most busy professionals: balancing home life with work and trying to keep everyone happy, including herself.

Challenge:
One of our clients needed help keeping true to her priorities. She owns and operates her own Real Estate company. She is also a mother who wants to spend quality time with her children.

When she hired us she used the perfect terminology to explain how she felt: “the tail was wagging the dog”, meaning that she was not in control of her time but felt she was pulled toward whatever was the issue of the day.

Solution:
Through periodic meetings over many months (roughly once a month) we evaluated her priorities and potential opportunities for outsourcing, delegating and changing her work behavior to better leverage her time. We worked together to determine the best places for her to focus her time and talents and uncover opportunities to leverage others to help manage her growing responsibilities. Through our efforts, she made many staffing changes, including hiring a personal assistant.

We initially started by evaluating her home office setup and office setup. Over time we were able to evolve to monthly accountability phone calls to keep her focused and on track. We continue to meet periodically for remote coaching and accountability tracking. By having an accountability partner to keep her honest with her priority and time management, she is able to better focus her time in the areas with the largest impact.

Results:
These minor changes were the perfect solution since they allowed her to focus on the more pivotal, revenue generating tasks that would have a much larger impact on her company. By working with us she has been able to better see where she was being pulled in to work on time draining administrative tasks that were better suited for one of her staff.

It is easy to fall into the trap of doing busywork, instead of focusing your energy in the right areas. Responding to others’ requests may make you feel busy and like you are accomplishing something, but these actions typically help keep OTHERS productive, and don’t allow you to focus on your key priority areas. There are better ways to manage your company then in a reactionary mode. As they say, you must work “on” your business, not “in” your business to really grow and be a successful company!

Challenge:
We were hired by a car dealership to look at the effectiveness of their back office processes, assess their space utilization, determine if they should scan years worth of past paperwork, and to outline the steps necessary to prepare them for expansion. Management was looking to improve employee/team productivity and position the company for growth.

Solution:
By interviewing and observing the workflow of the back office team and by speaking with key management personnel we were able to recommend a plan of action to address all their goals. Since their older paperwork (past one year) was rarely retrieved and they did not have space issues I did not recommend taking the time to scan past records. We did, however, recommend additional functionality and features they should investigate in their existing industry-specific software that would position them well for future expansion and begin to leverage technology to create digital versions of their documents going forward.

We also provided recommendations to their sales process to improve cash flow and provide the highest level of customer service. We did this by modifying their sales script to capture all critical client information before the customer walked out the door. This eliminated delays in processing sales transactions, and ensured there was no need to trouble the client after the initial transaction.

Results:
Here is what the CFO had to say.

“Jan was not only able to look at the detailed aspects of our work and identify productivity opportunities for individuals, but she also gained an understanding of the entire work flow and provided recommended changes that will increase alignment, efficiency, and effectiveness across the organization. She has excellent evaluation skills and is able to work successfully both at the executive and line level. By adding a level of accountability with goal setting and tracking achievements her approach ensures long term success.”

Jeffrey A. Lanz – Controller, Sheppard Motors

Scanning historical records can be a laborious task and there should be good business reasons to invest in that endeavor. If there is a need for a digital backup copy, there are space constraints, frequent access is required, or remote access is required, these are all good reasons that it may be worth a company’s time and money to scan.