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Thoughts on Workflow

February 18, 2013

Do You Know Your Process?

One of the benefits of working with small businesses who decide to try Steelwool is that we get to see owners think critically about their current process as they whiteboard out the chronology of their work queues and tasks. Rarely do they think their current process is the ideal one. Inevitably Volano plays devil’s advocate as an objective third party, questioning the current order of tasks and associated documentation. It allows us to partner up with clients in a more meaningful way, helping bring visibility and consistency to their process as well as a moment to re-think whether or not that current way of doing things is scalable for their growth. As a business owner, you want to consider when and how you adjust your process to accommodate for added staff and sales volume.

Where We’ve Been

Volano is proud of the progress we’ve made developing Steelwool. New functionalities and enhancements such as the data upload feature and the increased reporting capabilities have helped make it a more relevant tool when tracking work and managing multiple client engagements at once across different departments and people. Ultimately the tool is about how we communicate. The clients who are using Steelwool have continued to provide us with valuable feedback on their experience as users which have helped us continue to improve Steelwool with updates made as recently as last night.

Your Compass

Understanding where you and your team are at in the status of your projects is empowering. That knowledge and real-time awareness enhance the kind of communication that takes place in your organization. If I know exactly where my people are in the status of their projects, I can drill in and get involved in work that requires help or guidance. This is a more efficient way for owners and managers to spend time and will help lead to a better customer service experience for your people. How many times has anxiety due to uncertainty about all of your projects caused you to lose sleep at night?

How We’re Growing Work Management

As Steelwool becomes more well-known in the market, we’ve learned what types of organizations stand to benefit the most from its use and where strategic partnerships can help elevate the brand. Recently we’ve had the pleasure of working with Dominic DiGiacomo with Best Card. These guys handle merchant bank and credit card transaction services for a lot of industries and Dominic has done a fantastic job of learning about the Omaha and Lincoln markets through his networking efforts. Best Card builds relationships with clients like we do at Volano, where it makes sense for their customers and where value can be realized. Sometimes the best way to do business is by recommending your prospective customer head in another direction that makes more sense for their model and goals. Best Card is consultative and does the rare thing; listen. Steelwool likes to be associated with integrity. Our relationship with Grow Nebraska has been much the same and having such valuable partners is empowering. We’ve learned that treating partners like your clients has a fantastic, karmic effect.

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