ASCI: Leadership Through Learning
The Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) is an autonomous, non-profit institution established to serve as a think-tank for policy inputs and to enhance the management skills of professionals working in government and business. It is a registered society under the constitution and has a governing body called the Court of Governors, which comprises eminent professionals and industry leaders from various sectors.
The CoG oversees the institution\'s policies and functions, and its members are experts in fields such as agriculture, banking, engineering, economics, judiciary, law, manufacturing, science and technology, and public administration.
Challenges:
ASCI faced significant challenges due to their rudimentary and inadequate internal process management systems:- 1. Inadequate internal process management: The organization lacked a formalized system to manage internal processes, including leave and travel management systems. They relied on Google Drive and WhatsApp for content management, resulting in inefficient knowledge transfer when employees left the organization.
- 2. Donor and partner tracking: The organization did not have a proper system to track donors and partners, resulting in a lack of formalized processes for keeping in touch with their alumni network and seeking partnerships.
- 3. Communication challenges: The absence of a process for sending bulk greetings to stakeholders and the lack of standardized templates for documents resulted in communication inefficiencies.
- 4. Lead tracking: The organization was unable to effectively track its leads, donations, and partnerships.
- 5. Learning management system: The organization\'s learning management system did not meet industry standards and required an upgrade to improve user-friendliness for course participants.
Overall, ASCI was SMART™ level 1 in process streamlining, scaling, and sustaining, and SMART™ level 1 in personnel scaling.
Solutions:
Solutions: To address the challenges outlined in the case study, different solutions were proposed:
- 1. Zoho CRM was proposed as a solution to the donor and partner tracking challenge. This customer relationship management system would allow the organization to effectively track its donors and partners and manage their interactions with them. The system also provides a platform for the organization to communicate with its alumni network and reach out for partnerships in a more formalized manner.
- 2. The LMS by Lil Triangle was suggested as a solution that could provide an integrated and user-friendly platform for course participants to access learning materials and track their progress.
- 3. Finally, the Microsoft 365 platform could address several of the challenges faced by the organization: an integrated solution for content management, communication, and collaboration. The platform\'s various applications, such as OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams, can be used to manage content, track leaves, and enable communication between team members. The platform\'s standardized templates and other features would allow the organization to streamline its internal processes and improve overall efficiency.
Outcomes:
The implementation of these solutions resulted in positive outcomes, such as improved efficiency, better management of repositories, streamlined processes, and improved communication and partnership-building capabilities. The organization was able to reduce time spent on repetitive tasks, and even when employees left the organization, the knowledge transfer process was improved. Overall, the implementation of these solutions allowed the organization to operate more effectively and efficiently.
Up ahead:
There are several improvements up ahead for ASCI: advanced automation tools to improve process management systems, artificial intelligence, and machine learning algorithms, and better learning management system to keep up with the latest industry standards and make the platform more user-friendly for their stakeholders.
Furthermore, the organization can continue to explore ways to leverage technology solutions to improve its communication and partnership-building capabilities. ASCI could consider adopting more advanced CRM tools or integrating its existing CRM with other platforms to enhance its campaign management and lead generation capabilities further. Additionally, they could explore more efficient ways of keeping track of their alumni network and engaging with them effectively. Overall, by continuously looking for ways to improve its internal processes, the organization can continue to grow and achieve its objectives in the future.
Conclusion:
ASCI’s impact story demonstrates the importance of proper systems for managing internal processes in organizations. The challenges faced by the organization highlighted the need for better donor tracking, partner management, learning management, and internal process formalization. However, through the effective implementation of technology solutions such as Zoho CRM, LMS by Lil Triangle, and the Microsoft 365 platform, the organization was able to overcome these challenges, achieve positive outcomes, and take itself to SMART™ level 2 in process streamlining, scaling, and sustaining, and SMART™ level 2 in personnel scaling.
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