Municipality of Norrtälje: From Binders to a Digital Management System

Mapping a constantly changing business was the biggest challenge for the Social Administration in Norrtälje municipality when implementing a Management System. With 2c8 Apps, they have made the Social Administration’s processes visible, streamlined, and anchored.

August 7, 2024

The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare’s regulations and general guidelines on Management Systems for Systematic Quality Work came into force on January 1, 2012. This led to requirements for more structured working methods and continuous improvement work for several operations in Health and Medical Care. Therese Mattsson, Niclas Hanell, and Julia Holmström at Norrtälje municipality were commissioned to investigate the market for a system that could meet the requirements and be suitable for the Social Administration in the municipality.

“We started from the goal image. We wanted more than just a system supplier; we wanted a good business partner, and we found 2c8,” said Niclas Hanell, project manager.

200 Processes to Digitalize

The feasibility study took six months to complete, and the project team has been responsible for building and implementing the Management System, now called The Lighthouse, for four years.

“We started by making an inventory of what we had. There were binders, routine manuals, forms, and templates. The content was structured based on legal text and subject matter, not processes”, says Therese Mattsson, a Lawyer and Qualified Investigator.

Paper management left the organization vulnerable, with multiple versions and classified material stored locally on different computers. The inventory resulted in around 200 processes.

“One requirement was that the software should be able to show handovers between different units to give an overview of how the whole case is handled. This is a critical moment, and it is good that everyone sees their part in the whole process”, says Julia Holmström, workshop leader.

Easily Accessible on the Intranet

“We use the 2c8 Apps server solution so everyone can use the software simultaneously. We generate statistics and look at the usage to see what processes are used, when they are used, etc.”

Visualized Processes with a Clear Division of responsiblities

The aim was to use the Management System to support everyone in the organization. Supervisors and managers should feel supported in leading, following up, and adapting activities, while employees should feel secure in their professional roles. The project managers, therefore, reached out to all departments to engage the right people in the project. Importantly, a plan was put in place for who owns and manages the documents.

“Today, we have visualized processes with clear responsibilities”, says Therese Mattsson.

Building a Management System can be done in a short period of time, but creating processes and getting staff to embrace and actively work with them is not the easiest thing. The project team has worked hard to manage and improve the Management System by introducing different roles and responsibilities, and new employees are continuously trained in the software. This has paid off, and over the past year, they have received 700 suggestions for improvement, clearly showing the engagement from the employees.

“It shows great commitment. Our success is based on the fact that we have had support from management throughout the process, that we have been allocated resources, and that it has taken time”, says Niklas Hanell, who goes on to talk about other success factors.

“The pre-study was very important for us to make the processes visible. Conducting the work in project form, dividing the work into manageable deliveries, doing a pilot project, and continuously evaluating were also important. We also felt that we talked a lot about the project, but it then turned out that everyone wanted more information, so anchor, anchor, anchor”, Niklas points out.

Work on maintaining and developing the Management System continues, and the aim is now to roll out the 2c8 Apps to other administrations.

“The hope is also to make the system customer-oriented so that clients can also participate in how the administration works”, says Therese Mattsson.