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Streamlining Communications Efficiency
Topic Started: 9 Jul 2008, 07:55 (37 Views)
Justin Martin
Administrator
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The following is part of an ongoing effort to improve Swim Manitoba's service through the use of new technologies.
It is in draft stage only.
Quote:
 
Streamlining Communications Efficiency
Technology Initiatives and Enhancements

Summary:
New Website
•Modular/Expandable
•Globally Accessible (No local machine copy)
•Ease of Use (No coding required)
•Streamlined Information Portal (Three Click Rule)

Global Contact List
•Globally Accessible
•Secure
•Collaborative Effort (Improves Efficiency)

Swimmb.net Email Accounts
•Globally Accessible
•Reduction of Confusion/Compatibility Issues increase Communications Efficiency
•Transferability reduces “update lag” with member rotation

Swim Manitoba Forums
•Globally Accessible
•Secure
•Customizable to suit needs of Swim Manitoba, Board, and Coaches.
•Expandable, could potentially become “living portal” for Swim Manitoba community.
•Increases productivity by removing most “email tag” message sessions from inboxes.

New Website
The Swim Manitoba website has been redesigned to be modular and easily expandable. The website has been built on an open source collaborative engine, allowing user access and editing capabilities from any internet connection. Whereas the old website was coded in HTML, and required a local ‘master copy’, the new website is based upon “component access” SQL databases and therefore requires no local copy be kept. What this means is that no single ‘webmaster’ is required for the operation/updating of the website, and that the website can be modified quickly, from anywhere. Office staff and other users with access rights can use any computer with an internet connection to add content to the site, allowing for a rapid update schedule.
The layout and structure of the website is still being fine tuned, but the nature of the modular build allows for changes to be made quickly, even to the overall structure and look of the site. The goal is to have all information accessible with three clicks or less, in line with current reports on how to create a successful and efficient information portal. Part of being efficient requires the culling of old and outdated data. Job postings, unless otherwise specified, will now be automatically removed after two months. Club information, including contacts and club description, must be kept up to date, and it is the responsibility of the clubs to ensure that information posted online is correct. The Front Page of the Website is to be kept as ‘clean’ as possible, and all articles/publications released on the website will be expected to meet certain aesthetic requirements. This may include Font Choice, Font Colour, Image Size, and other aesthetic considerations.
With many data sources now being controlled by Swim Canada, such as meet results, national records, best swims, meet packages etc, the role of the Swim Manitoba website is to focus on delivering content that Swim Canada does not, instead of duplicating information available through SNC’s website. The Swim Manitoba website aims to publish stories of Manitoba Athletes’ successes, and other relevant items related to the entire swim community, not simply age group swimming.

Global Contact List
Swim Manitoba is establishing a collaborative contact list for internal use only. This contact list is run through Google Docs which uses 128 bit SSL encryption to ensure security. The list will not hold names of any Athletes. It will however, hold names and contact info required by Swim Manitoba’s office. This includes a listing of board members, club presidents, head coaches, coaches, advertising sponsors, and others. The purpose of the list is to synchronize all office members contacts, so that if required, contact information for a given person is always available to access by any Swim Manitoba office member.
Google Docs allows for collaborative work on documents, allowing permitted users to access/edit entries. Each staff member can therefore add contacts that they do business with, and all other staff members can view them. This reduces time wasted searching for information that perhaps only one staff member has, by making it instantly available to all staff. It also reduces reliance on Outlook contact lists, as Google Docs is browser based and can be accessed through any computer with an active internet connection. Because no local list is stored, the list becomes accessible globally, instead of being tied to a local machine.
Google Docs also allows for the contact list, or parts of it, to be shared. While this has not been implemented yet, in the future, if required, the list could be shared as ‘read only’ to coaches and other people who require access to it.

New Email Strategy
Swim Manitoba’s move to a new hosting company has allowed for a much larger number of email addresses to be managed and hosted. To reduce confusion and compatibility issues, Swim Manitoba will issue an email account to each board member. The accounts will be general, ie president@swimmb.net reducing confusion. This naming scheme also allows accounts to be transferred when new people become members of the board, and reduces the amount of contact updating required both in the Swim Manitoba office, and in the swim community in general.
The accounts are highly adaptable, and can be set to forward mail, to synch with an email manager (Outlook, Thunderbird, etc) or even be accessed through an online web client. This makes the accounts accessible globally, provided there is an active internet connection. Board members, provincial coaches, and others issued these accounts can therefore maintain contact even when away from their local machine.
A new technology policy regarding use of these accounts is being written, to prevent abuse and misuse of the new accounts.

Swim Manitoba Forums
To reduce ‘email tag’, Swim Manitoba has established new online forums. Currently these forums require administrator permission to register and use. Forums are useful, because they can be checked easily, from any computer with an active internet connection. They allow the rapid exchange of information, and provide transparency, allowing all users to stay informed of decisions, and the process behind them. Discussions and debates can be carried out, and the structured nature of forums makes them easily searchable and user friendly.
The key benefit of forums is that they reduce the amount of emails being sent, and therefore email inboxes do not require hour long sessions to check. Emails can therefore be limited to direct personal requests for information, instead of sending out global mailings, or engaging in one line ‘back and forth email tag’ discussions.
Currently the forums are hosted using software from Zeta, but we are examining a move to privately hosted (on Swim Mb’s webspace) phpBB forums, depending upon requirements.


Comments and thoughts are appreciated.
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