Pauline and Scott are the co-founders of Emergency Management Logistics (EMLC), based in Alberta, Canada. EMLC is a startup that exists to offer better solutions for logistics within the emergency management industry.
One of the important steps to crisis management is preparation and getting timely access to resources. EMLC provides a platform for to connect organizations to help respond effectively to disaster and emergency situations.
Creating simple yet reliable solutions in preparation for emergencies is essential for avoiding crises. While this is absolutely crucial in the field of emergency management, the same concept applies to daily business structures and their organization.
Because of the work they do, Pauline and Scott know better than anyone that dependable, structured, resources are necessary in order to maintain an organized and efficient workflow - especially when time is of the essence. This is why they chose to enlist my help in creating effective systems to help them stay organized as their business launched and grew.
The Challenge
I had the good fortune of connecting with Pauline and Scott at a Networking Event held by York University, where we quickly bonded over our shared interest in logistics for disaster management. Shortly after, the two contacted me for organizational support for their new venture, EMLC.
As new business owners, Pauline and Scott wanted to establish simple and secure data management and filing systems that could easily keep up with the growth of their business. Their goal in doing so was to avoid any future organizational crises and they knew that the best way to do so was to get ahead of any potential clutter or disorganization. By investing in the development of these systems early on, Pauline and Scott knew that they would save themselves a lot of time that would otherwise be spent sorting through junk in the future, once clutter had already had the opportunity to build and impede on the timeliness of their critical workflow.
The Solution
Since EMLC was still a young brand at the time, my job was focused on making sure all of the data they had accumulated up until that point was neatly and clearly organized. To begin, I helped Pauline and Scott with the organization of the files in their Dropbox account - consisting of fundamental documents like brand vision and strategy guidelines.
The first step was renaming the files, which consisted of developing clear guidelines on how to properly and efficiently title documents with consistency. Next, we created a similar system for folders so that they could organize all files (both existing and new) according to their contents. This would help team members find any file that they may need, quickly.
I worked closely with Pauline and Scott during this process in order to make sure that the folder system felt intuitive to them, and created a tutorial video for any future team members to refer to during onboarding. I consider this step to be a vital part of my process, as it provides my clients with the tools they need to maintain the systems I create for them without needing to rely on me. My goal is to create systems that are simple and instinctual, systems that can operate on their own given the proper resources - not to loops clients into endless contracts with me should they wish to not hire me for maintenance.
The Results
With their help and input, I was able to create a filing system that was intuitive to both Pauline and Scott, as well as their future employees. With the help of my tutorial video, as well as the simplicity of the system itself, new employees were able to adapt to the organization system with ease and efficiency.
The instructional videos that I created for the team contributed to the scalability of the systems I designed for EMLC. As both the brand and team grew, Pauline and Scott were able to refer back to these videos in order to train new staff and expand the folder system on their own.
As a student of Disaster and Emergency Management, I immediately saw the value in EMLC’s mission and was honoured to be able to contribute in any capacity. It was an absolute privilege to support Pauline and Scott with the organization of their files in the early stages of their business. Considering our shared interests, I was able to form a deep and enduring relationship with Pauline and Scott - both professionally and personally - which I am extremely grateful for.
“We had the good fortune of tapping into Samira's supreme organization skills as she helped us develop a new filing system for our start up, EMLCanada.ca. She captured our goals and offered suggestions on how we could organize our documents and activities in a systematic way. She even included an explanation video to take us through it and serve as a resource for future team members to view. She exceeded our expectations and we hope to work with her again!”
- Pauline Mousseau and Scott Cameron, Emergency Management Logistics Canada
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