1. Policy Dissemination & Tracking
Todd Townsend is the Senior Training Specialist for the City of Austin, TX Code Department. He had some valuable insights about communicating despite the extended lockdown.
“PowerDMS is the new vehicle for disseminating new docs and policies. This [pandemic] is going to be a long haul for everyone, and PowerDMS will be a key component in communicating without the need for close contact.
The City of Austin uses PowerDMS to roll out response plans, team tasks, and a variety of policy changes. The traffic on PowerDMS for us will increase exponentially.”
Todd Townsend
Meet Sherianne, the Professional Standards Coordinator for Addison Consolidated Dispatch Center in Illinois. As an avid PowerDMS user, she offered some helpful advice.
“I recommend reissuing policies and creating refresher courses for review and signature regarding evacuation policies, emergency operations procedures, etc…emergency operations are not something handled routinely, and staff may not remember those policies and procedures they signed off on. Preparedness is key. Getting everyone up to speed with emergency procedures is critical in handling this pandemic.”
Sherianne Hermes
Michael is the Accreditation Officer for Cedar Rapids Police Department in Iowa. Learn how his team has used policy software to eliminate the spreading of germs.
“When documents come out requiring confirmation via signature, they are sent out through PowerDMS due to the ease of tracking and to prevent passing a document around to everyone for signature, eliminating a possible medium for a virus to spread.”
Michael Hass
Meet Marisha, the Administrative Assistant at OrthoIllinois Surgery Center. Learn how she replaced face-to-face staff meetings.
“In lieu of staff meetings, for the time being, we are publishing newsletters to PowerDMS and assigning them to staff. Same content, just no catered breakfast and coffee.
We just published an Emerging Infectious Disease policy that goes over new protocols and processes. We always do annual hand hygiene training.”
Marisha Staub
As customers like Todd and Sherianne have discovered, PowerDMS lets you draft, revise, disseminate, and track policies across their entire lifecycle. You can create multiple levels of access and track revisions every step of the way to increase accountability. You will know when employees were notified about a policy, when they opened it, and when they signed it. Interested in learning more?
2. Training Management
As the Principal Secretary at Knoxville Police Department, Marci explained how her team has been using training management software.
“We’ve been using PowerDMS for training that we’d normally have in a classroom setting, to minimize the amount of time or need for face-to-face interaction.
We’ve used it to send out videos created by our Fire Department about Doffing PPE and information to the officers concerning decontamination, if the need arises.”
Marci Ware
Stephanie is the Assistant Accreditation Manager and Training Coordinator for McHenry Police Department in Illinois. She offered some helpful advice.
“Keep the most up to date suggestions for how to combat COVID-19 and your agency’s current state (what is open, who is working from home, etc). Also include reference guides so they are quickly available if an officer or dispatcher comes in contact with someone in need of assistance.
Our dispatch has new protocols for their emergency medical dispatch. This, along with a written directive, were issued through PowerDMS, as were patrols’ written directives.”
Stephanie Erb
Meet Jason, the Administration Sergeant for the Arvada Police Department in Colorado. Maybe you can learn from his experience with training during this pandemic.
“We have published CDC-recommended training videos to our employees through PowerDMS. We also postponed in-service training and tasked instructors with filming a session that can be published online, for those who haven’t completed the training.”
Jason Ammon
Customers like Marci and Stephanie have learned firsthand how effective online training can be. PowerDMS lets you customize digital curriculums, create quizzes to test comprehension, and manage training from one, convenient source. Which means your staff can complete training on their own schedule, on any device. Interested in learning more?
3. Approval Workflows
Ed is the Accreditation Manager for Buckeye Police Department near Phoenix, AZ. He has been using PowerDMS to manage workflows, as well as distributing policies with minimal contact.
“The use of document workflows reduces the need for group discussion. PowerDMS also provides a platform for pushing critical data to stakeholders while reducing direct contact…we have pushed out the CDC COVID-19 updates and any related documents that we want the ability to track. This includes, but is not limited to, changes in procedures and special orders.”
Ed Goodman
Meet Erin, the Policy Analyst for Lethbridge Police Service in Alberta, Canada. Learn how her team has leveraged policy software during the pandemic.
“We’re using PowerDMS workflows and discussion comments instead of holding face to face meetings…we also used it to share our Pandemic Contingency Plan with all of our staff.”
Erin Lix
Customers like Ed and Erin learned the benefits of approval workflows firsthand. With PowerDMS, automated alerts notify employees about coming audits, annual reviews, policy updates, and more. Sometimes policies require review from multiple people before being approved. Made with collaboration in mind, you can automate the review and approval process with approval workflows. Interested in learning more?
4. Remote Access
Kathy is the Accreditation Manager for Cobb County 911 in Georgia. Learn how she’s been able to stay productive remotely.
“Since I am now having to telework, I was able to upload and update some revised policies from home. I am able to do most of my work via PowerDMS. For example, we uploaded a countywide specific policy regarding Limited Operations for COVID-19 response.”
Kathy Strickland
Kathy leveraged PowerDMS as a central repository for their most important documents. You can too. By creating a single source of truth with powerful search capabilities, you can always find what you need, when you need it, wherever you are. With the mobile app, crucial documents are at your fingertips. Get real-time notifications, search for policies online, and E-sign time-sensitive documents. All from your phone. Interested in learning more?
How is Your Organization Responding to the Coronavirus?
These are just a few examples of how customers have used PowerDMS to distribute new policies and procedures, automate workflows, communicate effectively, and keep their staff healthy and safe.
How has your organization responded to this crisis? Do you need a way to create, distribute, and track policies and training, like many of our customers?
In times of crisis, effective risk management tools can get your organization through to the other side. We will come out of this, but only together.
How can we help your organization?