How Kleurrijk Wonen increases self-reliance by centrally securing knowledge

“In practice, we noticed that instructions about processes or systems were very difficult to find,” Jasper begins the conversation. “Information was stored in different locations and the instructions weren't always up to date or were sometimes even from applications that are no longer in use. In addition, we learned that understanding instructions from a Word or PDF file does not always work well, but that learning based on screenshots that click on the right button is much more positively received.”

The importance of good work instructions is growing because the development of systems is accelerating, Jasper continues: “In the past, updates from suppliers did not follow each other so quickly and you decided when to switch to the update. Nowadays, at Kleurrijk Wonen, we have many SaaS applications that are updated monthly. As a result, users have less time to get used to new features. In addition, we will go live with our new CRM system in February, something that is a major change for all employees. Because they all need to be trained in this, it helps that there are instructions that are easy to find as reference books.”

“If such instructions are difficult to find, you quickly find other ways to get to the information you need. To prevent that, we started looking at a way to centrally secure this knowledge within the organization. That's how we ended up with SelfGuide. If it's not there, there's most likely no instruction from it. An additional advantage is that with the SelfGuide browser extension, the instructions come to you when you search for them. This is done based on keywords in your browser. If you have a specific application open, there are the corresponding instructions on the right side of the screen. This increases the findability and self-reliance of employees.”

This way of working makes it easier and better for employees to be included when adopting a new system, says Jasper: “With many new applications, employees are not immediately eager to get started with them. At SelfGuide, employees quickly saw the added value. Of course, you have to invest time here — something we've made room for in close consultation with team leaders — but that pays off at the bottom of the line. For example, many employees had difficulty making secondary purchase orders. There is now an instruction for this and we notice that things are going a lot better. As a result, the employees of the financial administration also spend much less time correcting the purchase orders.”

The self-reliance of employees is now much higher at Kleurrijk Wonen, Jasper concludes: “In an organization that is increasingly digitizing, it is only becoming more important that colleagues can find their way quickly and independently in applications and processes. With SelfGuide, we have a tool that helps employees do that, right when they need it. We now also use standard instructions for Microsoft applications such as Outlook and Teams, which saves us a lot of time. For the future, I mainly see opportunities in further sharing and reusing instructions, together with suppliers and other corporations. The idea that everyone makes the same instructions over and over again, while that knowledge can also be shared, no longer fits the way we want to work together.”

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Source: Corporatie Media