The Challenge
The Executive Council of the Forest County Potawatomi tribe in northern Wisconsin was frustrated. While they were proud of the motions they passed to improve services and benefits to tribal members, getting those motions enacted was slow and difficult to manage. Part of the problem was that the process was paper-based, multi-step and labor intensive. A secretary recorded meeting minutes by hand, transcribed them into various summaries and directives and distributed them by hand, mail or email. There was no process to follow-up on progress, which meant too many times that deadlines were missed, responsibilities confused, and improvement projects were delayed. Archiving and retrieval was also complicated and cumbersome. Important documents relevant to a motion could be filed in any one of the tribe's 38 departments, if they were filed at all.
When One Prospect recommended automating tribal government communications, from motions passed in meetings to employees' responsibilities to enact those motions, the only question was, "How soon?"
The One Prospect Solution
Prior to installing Tribal Motions Manager, One Prospect implemented an electronic document management system. We worked cooperatively with the Potawatomi to develop standards for uniform filing and retrieval processes for all departments. We then mapped the workflows necessary to record, distribute and track tribal government initiatives. A critical component of this plan was to ensure everyone could, literally, get on the same page which was achieved by standardizing the email client for all departments and employees.
With those improvements made, implementing Tribal Motions Manager was easy. All Potawatomi Tribal Council meetings are recorded and meeting minutes and directives are distributed and archived in one easy, standardized step. Council members and tribal staff have the ability to monitor progress online. Retrieving important documents take seconds instead of hours. While the savings in dollars and hours are significant, the most appreciated benefit is improved delivery of services to tribal members.
