Welcome to my first blog! Those of you who know me know that writing a blog doesn’t really seem like something I would do. I’m really more of a programmer. I tend to think in terms of zeros and ones. But I travel and talk to so many wonderful people doing so many great things, people in my office kept telling me I should try to write it all down. So here it goes.
Nien-Ling and Chris Wacker with Martha Rodillas and Debbie Richards, ECS
This is the second year we attended the State of Hawai’i’s Municipal Attorney’s Training Conference in Kona. This year was even more significant because the day we arrived, we found out Laserfiche had been made the standard for the County for document management! It’s good news for us, but I think it really speaks to how the user community has embraced Laserfiche here.
I had chance to catch up with our friends Lincoln Ashida and Martha Rodillas from the County of Hawai’i Office of the Corporation Counsel. They, along with Fatima Hicks, (who was actually back at the office on the other side of the island but there in spirit) have all been very enthusiastic supporters of Laserfiche. In fact, Fatima and Martha both wrote about it earlier this year.
That’s what I love most about Hawai’i: the people. They live and let live. They’re very kind. They’re always very grateful. One thing’s for sure, they feed us very well—lots of delicious homemade Hawaiian food. I can’t remember the names of the dishes exactly; I just kept eating.
Steve Hackney with Martha and the staff of the Office of the Corporation Counsel
I was basically supposed to be at the conference as a participant. Our Steve Hackney was conducting the training. He wrote a really nice post about it here.
In one of the classes I sat next to some attendees from the County of Hawai’i’s Prosecutor’s Office. During one of the breaks we started talking and they shared with me that they were having a hard time figuring out where to start. I suggested that they just do what the Corporation Counsel did. They explained that the Corporation Counsel handled civil cases. The Prosecutor’s Office handles more complicated criminal cases that generate a lot more paperwork because they interact with a lot more people—the police department, various courts, various lawyers. It shows you how much I know about lawyers.
What I was hearing was actually pretty typical of new-users, that trepidation that comes from feeling overwhelmed. It can be paralyzing. I offered a couple of pieces of advice to the Prosecutor’s Office that I’d give to any implementation consultant.
Nien-Ling and Chris with ECS’ Debbie Richards with staff from the Prosecutor’s Office
First, prioritize. Break the implementation down into phases. I told the Prosecutor’s Office, “Right now, don’t get bogged down with how the police department is going to use the system. Maybe you still give them paper for now. Just think about who in your own office is going to use Laserfiche the most. Make their job easier.” That’s really why they got the system in the first place.
Second, you have to be sensitive to the paradigm shift that takes place from the paper world to the digital world. Listen to your new users describe what they’ll need to do, but remember, they’re talking about improving what they already do with paper. You have to anticipate what they will be able to do with all the capabilities of the digital world, because they don’t know yet.
A few weeks later, I received an e-mail from Martha: the Prosecutor’s Office is using Laserfiche to scan all its closed cases to get started. They’ve been talking to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in Eaton County, MI, where Jeffrey Sauter and his staff have been happy to share their experience and success. That’s all I can ask for, for that community spirit.
So thank you for reading my first blog. Next, I’ll be traveling to the Laserfiche International Conference and Training in Lebanon and then to Dubai (which is now actually using Laserfiche itself; you can read about it here). I’ll have a lot of pictures and stories to share soon.
It’s official! Laserfiche founder and CEO Nien-Ling Wacker’s Blog debuted recently. NL’s Corner shares her thoughts and opinions about recent business trips, conferences, and Laserfiche events, and provides a guide to what’s going on in the world of Laserfiche.