Knowledge - Communicate & Collaborate

Knowledge in the cloud!

I am just beginning the set up of Knowledge, another module within Salesforce.com. I'm excited about this as another way of communicating and collaborating within Salesforce -- connecting with information all in one place.

Knowledge gives us a place to create "articles." I think of these articles as similar to many of the reference documents we currently have in our Home Pages in Lotus Notes.

Currently we have a home page for Technology, Design, Sales, Marketing, Green, and so on. We can get the same functionality -- and more -- with Knowledge. We'll be able to create articles categorized by various topics, including links and attachments as we do now. In addition, we'll be able to connect to other information within Salesforce and use various means to communicate.

For example, someone might post a question in Chatter -- maybe something like, "What do you do when this & that happens in Autocad?" For the answer, someone might say, "Take a look at this article," and include a link to the related article in Knowledge.

Knowledge can be a self-serve type of thing where you go in and do a search for whatever information you're trying to find. It can also be a way to have answers suggested to you. Companies can use it for their customer service employees so that as they answer calls and begin a "case" for a particular problem, Knowledge will suggest various articles that may give them the answers they need to solve the problem.

To begin with, I will be working to set things up so we have the active, up-to-date reference documents we need as we leave Lotus Notes and no longer have the home pages. Beyond that, I hope to engage you to build more knowledge. Designers, for example, have a lot of knowledge "living in various brains." :) One designer may know the best way to do something, or perhaps one designer has called support and been given a great tip. With Knowledge, we'll be able to have people submit what they've learned or know, have it reviewed by an expert, and then published for all.

Looking forward to sharing the knowledge!

Wow, bigger than I knew!

Recently I spent a day at Tech Services. I discovered that even though I created Dexter, I didn't know all the ways it is being used. It's actually pretty cool the way people come up with ways to use information beyond what it was originally intended for.

One thing that gets a lot of use is the Dispatch view. I knew that Peggy used that view, of course. She's the one who builds the view, which shows which jobs are scheduled for the day, who the lead, driver and crew are for each job, and, if they are going to more than one job, in what order they will be going from one job to the next.

Another person who uses that view is Dave Aguiar. Peggy prints the view and writes some more information on it pertinent to Dave's needs and then Dave uses that to determine which trucks will be prepared for which driver. He, in turn, prints the view for the drivers and indicates where the trucks are parked so they can find them quickly each morning.

Eduardo is another person using information from Dexter. He receives the work request and equipment list so he can make sure the trucks contain the right equipment for getting the job done. Turns out he really doesn't need the entire list of equipment we currently use. If he's got a clear scope, he knows what equipment is needed. But he does need to know exceptions, such as if there is a field cut, or special protection or equipment needed.

Terry Bash in the shop uses the Dexter information, too, for any shop work that may need to be done, including shims, since he makes those.

It was a good day at Tech. We have hardworking people out there who are trying to make sure the people in the field have everything they need. One constant refrain was their need for a clear scope. I gathered some information on what makes up a clear scope; more on that later.

What do you think makes a clear scope?

Guest blog on ServiceMax site

I was asked to be a guest blogger on ServiceMax's blog site, called SmartVan. They asked me to write about my experience with ServiceMax so far, and possibly to write another blog after we've implemented.

Here's a link to the blog I wrote: http://thesmartvan.com/servicemax/2011/06/01/why-pivot-interiors-chose-servicemax/.

A nerdy dream

So here's my dream. I'd like us to choose a "system of record" for each of our key processes, meaning we would decide what processes are created and maintained in which system, and then we'd synchronize the data as needed from one system to the other.

For example, in my dream, we would decide that ServiceMax (which is also Salesforce) would be the system of record for our projects. This means, when I want to start a project, I do it once, in ServiceMax, which creates a project number automatically. After it's saved, it automatically goes into Khameleon and starts a project there with the same project number.

I'm already discussing this part of my dream with Khameleon.

Also, in my dream, we would decide that Khameleon is the system of record for new quotes and orders. After a new quote or order is created in Khameleon, the header information (such as the order #, desc, pos, request dates, ship dates, all the status stuff) would show up in ServiceMax/Salesforce on the associated project there.

Now we can go to one place -- ServiceMax/Salesforce -- to see everything that's going on. Does that sound like a dream come true or what?!

A Feeling of Incompetence

Today I was talking with my daughter Cori, who is an ER nurse in San Diego. She had told me before about the new computer system their hospital had gotten, and her experience with the training and beginning to use it. I was especially interested to hear about it since we will be experiencing change of the same sort here at Pivot.

Several weeks ago she'd told me about having to go in for extra hours to train on the new system, then she talked about how it seemed harder to use and more complicated. She tried to think positively about it and remind herself that it would be better in the long run and after a while she'd become familiar with it, but still it was frustrating not to know how to do her usual tasks in it.

When the new system was rolled out the software company had techs on site to help with the implementation. Cori told me about one day when she was extremely busy, and stressed about the patients she had to take care of, and when she tried to write up her chart in the new system she couldn't get it to work and she almost lost it. One of the technicians saw her struggling and helped her out, but she told me it was a pretty emotional few minutes there.

Today, looking back on it, Cori said that she thinks one of the main reasons she was so upset was because the new system made her feel incompetent at her job. She said she feels like she works hard to be a good nurse and the new system made her feel like she couldn't do her job well.

Interesting. No one wants to feel incompetent, especially when they are good workers, who care about their jobs and want to excel. Pivot is full of people who care about their jobs and excel at them. Our new systems, ServiceMax and Salesforce, may make some of us experience the same kinds of feelings Cori told me about. I hope not, but it was good to think about it.

As we move forward with these changes, I hope we can all help each other remember that our co-workers are trying to do their jobs excellently, and may need a little extra patience as they learn new processes and ways of working. We may need to tell each other that we know how competent they are, even if they may be experiencing a feeling of incompetence.

And so it begins,...a new adventure

We are going to begin a new adventure -- another move into cloud computing -- ServiceMax. ServiceMax is a cloud-based application that works as part of Salesforce.com to manage field service operations. Here at Pivot, the plan is that ServiceMax will replace Dexter.

Similar to the way that Dexter connected with Contact and Sites, it makes sense that, now that we have replaced Contact and Sites with Salesforce, we would want to have a program that uses the company, contact and location information for managing our projects. ServiceMax will be different than Dexter, but enable us to do what Dexter does --- and beyond.

Our plan is to begin our changeover with a pilot team -- Cathy & Joel and their support team, as well as key individuals at Tech Services. ServiceMax customers are mainly field service providers, so the product is geared towards businesses that service equipment on customer sites. That's a little different than what we do but the concepts and many of the things we do match that model closely. In the next several weeks I will be working with ServiceMax to configure the program to correspond with our way of doing business.

I will keep all of you informed as we figure things out. I'm going to be meeting online with our project manager from ServiceMax on April 14th. We'll start planning how this project will proceed.

I'm excited about this big move forward -- or should I say upward? -- to the cloud. Stay tuned for more details!

Chatter at the Superbowl

Did you notice Chatter was at the Superbowl, too? Kinda cute. Will.i.am was at Dreamforce (Salesforce's annual user conference), too.