I had the opportunity and privilege to volunteer this year with Boots on the Ground, a ministry at my church. This ministry builds ramps at houses for those in need to be able to get in and out of their homes, installs grab bars in the homes of elderly, and helps in many other physical ways within our community. After volunteering last year for my Helpers of People Leave with Boots on the Ground, I wanted to reach out this again year and see if I could be of service. They again were pleased and welcomed the opportunity for me to serve in an administrative capacity. My week started by sitting with the BOG staff and watching/listening/learning about the processes and procedures they regularly perform. While going through this, I heard a couple phrases of “it would be nice to…” and “I wish we could…” regarding the workflow. My ears obviously perked up at this as I zeroed in to see how we could improve the efficiency of various processes and help meet their desires. At first, I created a few reporting capabilities that would quickly provide staff with feedback on the status of projects as well as their next steps for to dos, in addition to a quick breakdown of the location of various projects. This seemed to be a big help, but I wanted a bigger project to tackle. As I pressed in more, I learned the process of inputting projects into their tracking system was entirely manual. Since I love efficiency, hearing the words “manual process” generally makes me cringe. So, I spent a good deal of time creating a way to automatically have Excel enter new projects from a raw data dump file into their main project-tracking database. This new process can be run at the user’s desire and only adds new projects to the master list. Previously, this was a manual check to see what new requests for projects needed to be added, then manually typing in the relevant info for the new request in the master list. The new process drastically reduces time required of staff in addition to reducing the possibility for errors. This will allow the staff to spend time in better ways, such as speaking with those in need and getting things in the workflow quicker to solve practical needs in our community. I’m blessed to have worked with Boots on the Ground again this year. It’s incredible to use my giftings and have the opportunity to take time away from work to give back and serve in unique ways that help others (and will continue to for a long time)! I appreciate management for this opportunity as well as my co-workers who picked up the slack so I could be away for this meaningful time. I am truly blessed and thank Jesus for this opportunity and this company who supports such endeavors.
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