woCom is a housing corporation based in Someren, Brabant. By utilizing SelfGuide, they ensure that colleagues have a solid understanding of digital processes.
woCom is a housing corporation based in Someren, Brabant, and is active in six municipalities: Asten, Cranendonck, Heeze-Leende, Helmond, Laarbeek, and Someren. The more than 8,500 customers of woCom are households that either rent a home or are looking for one. With the I&A department as a driving force, woCom aims to ensure that its 100 employees have a solid understanding of digital processes, as digitization is a top priority on their agenda.
he I&A department of woCom primarily focuses on information technology and functional management, placing significant attention on the human aspect. Theo Gerritsen, process coach in I&A, notes that woCom has become more process-oriented in recent years, with responsibilities moving closer to employees rather than remaining solely with managers. This means that all employees at woCom must possess the necessary knowledge to effectively navigate digital processes. Tonny van der Putten, application manager, agrees:
“With our I&A department, we need to ensure that our employees have as much knowledge as possible about the software products we use.”
Since woCom started using ITRIS Viewpoint as its primary software package in 2016, the I&A team has been looking for a solution to easily capture and share knowledge about using the software. An alternative to creating user guides in Word documents was needed.
The functional managers at woCom relied heavily on Word documents to capture and share digital knowledge and processes in ViewPoint with employees. However, the department soon concluded that this approach took (too much) time, that user guides were rarely read, and that they quickly became outdated due to a lack of maintenance. Therefore, Gerritsen and Van der Putten began searching for a solution.
Gerritsen became acquainted with SelfGuide on behalf of woCom and was immediately interested. Van der Putten was also quickly convinced that SelfGuide would provide a suitable solution:
“We were enthusiastic almost right away. It's actually an understatement to say that SelfGuide is simple and user-friendly; it's precisely this that makes the platform very powerful“
Instruction managers can quickly create instructions with the recorder and editor and update them later if necessary. The fact that SelfGuide is not limited to ViewPoint but can be used for all software applications within the organization was a decisive factor for woCom. Van der Putten sees the integration with the service management system TOPdesk as a significant advantage:
“The instructions from SelfGuide can be easily linked to knowledge items in TOPdesk, allowing us to easily reference them when resolving tickets.”
woCom is now making extensive use of SelfGuide, and they notice that users are reaping the benefits as well. Gerritsen and Van der Putten emphasize that, in addition to getting functional managers excited about creating instructions with SelfGuide, it is also crucial for end users to actually utilize them. Fortunately, this is the case due to the user-friendly nature of the tool. Users can view SelfGuide instructions step-by-step and at their own pace in the user-friendly viewer. Van der Putten states:
“You can clearly see that users work easily with it. An instruction speaks more than a thousand words. They are a breath of fresh air, as they show how simple actions can actually be.”
When Van der Putten is asked about the future of SelfGuide within woCom, it becomes clear that the organization is ambitious. Currently, SelfGuide is only used to create and provide instructions for ViewPoint. This year, the project "the modern workplace" is being rolled out, which will upgrade the digital workspace of all employees:
"There is significant added value for SelfGuide in this project. We can create additional instructions for optimizing the use of the new digital workplace”
She emphasizes that while software providers often provide instructions, employees frequently struggle with organization-specific tasks.
“Creating an instruction with SelfGuide quickly pays off. I can put together an instruction in just fifteen minutes!”
This year, it is a key goal for woCom to get as many employees as possible actively using SelfGuide. For Gerritsen, ensuring knowledge of ViewPoint among employees is crucial. Van der Putten adds:
“Effective use of important software applications like ViewPoint results in time savings, higher quality work, and new insights into the capabilities of the software application”
Currently, most functional managers at woCom create work instructions in SelfGuide, with about half of the employees utilizing these instructions. Due to the enthusiasm of employees—not just within the I&A department—the use of SelfGuide is expected to spread like wildfire. Gerritsen notes:
“Thanks to its accessibility and ease of use, we are confident that we will succeed in this effort.”
Thus, woCom has the ambition to have all its employees use SelfGuide and continue to experience its benefits for a long time to come.
