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MRWA reduced their project planning time by 75% with Birdview

Challenges

Before implementing Birdview, the Maine Rural Water Association (MRWA) faced several operational challenges that hindered its efficiency and project management effectiveness. These challenges stemmed from a reliance on outdated methods and tools for managing projects, tracking progress, and facilitating team collaboration.

Inefficient project tracking

  • Prior to adopting Birdview, MRWA relied heavily on Excel spreadsheets for project management. This method was cumbersome and prone to errors, leading to inefficiencies in tracking project progress and financials.

Complex payroll processing

  • With a diverse range of projects funded by different grants and requiring detailed reporting, MRWA struggled to streamline payroll processing. Manual data entry into multiple systems increased the risk of errors and demanded excessive administrative time.

Limited communication and collaboration tools

  • The association lacked a centralized platform for communication and collaboration, making it challenging to coordinate tasks and share important project documents among team members. Communication among team members was primarily through email and a shared folder on the common drive, sometimes leading to version control issues and data integrity problems.

Inefficient project planning 

  • Project planning was cumbersome and time-intensive, with difficulties in managing repetitive tasks and organizing project-related documents.

Solution

Birdview offered a comprehensive project management solution that addressed MRWA's specific needs. The decision to choose Birdview was influenced by its ability to integrate timecards with project management software, a critical requirement for MRWA.

  • Project tracking

    The software provided robust tools for project initiation, planning, and execution. Birdview helped to reduce project planning time by 75%, thus significantly enhancing MRWA's operational efficiency.

  • Customization

    The Birdview's customization allowed MRWA to tailor the platform to specific project requirements, ensuring a perfect fit for their operational workflow. Custom forms and templates were particularly valuable, enabling the team to streamline project initiation processes and ensure project consistency. This level of customization facilitated the creation of standardized project structures, significantly improving project setup efficiency and reducing the time required to launch new initiatives.

  • Custom reports

    The reporting feature in Birdview provided MRWA with powerful insights into project performance, financials, and resource allocation. Customizable reports enabled the association to quickly determine the status of billed versus unbilled activities, offering a clear view of financial health at any point in time. This feature supported decision-making by providing detailed analytics on project progress, resource utilization, and budget management.

  • Team collaboration

    Birdview facilitated better communication and collaboration among team members. The platform's message boards and file-sharing capabilities ensured that all project-related information was easily accessible, improving team productivity.

  • Time tracking

    Birdview's time tracking allowed for precise monitoring of employees' time spent on various tasks, making payroll processing significantly more efficient. By automating the time tracking process, Birdview eliminated the need for manual time entry, reducing administrative overhead and the potential for human error. This was particularly beneficial for projects funded by federal and state grants, where accurate time reporting is crucial for compliance and further client billing through Paylocity. The ability to generate comprehensive time sheet reports and drill down into specific details further enhanced MRWA's project oversight and financial tracking capabilities.

Results

The introduction of Birdview project management software to the Maine Rural Water Association (MRWA) brought significant changes to how they managed their operations and projects. Notably, the software helped MRWA cut down the time required to kick off projects by 25%.  In moving from spreadsheets to Birdview, all information was kept in the same place. The team no longer needed to keep project documents in different folders for the different projects.  The reporting functions were a tremendous help.  At a glance, managers could see which jobs were getting near budget. The notifications kept everyone involved in each project in the loop as the project progressed. This efficiency gain was also evident in the project planning and execution phases, where the time and effort involved were reduced by 75%. These changes made project workflows smoother and resource management more straightforward, boosting the association’s overall productivity.

The impact of Birdview on MRWA’s project outcomes was substantial. Adopting Birdview instead of spreadsheets played a key role in enhancing the association’s ability to complete projects within budget and on schedule, with improvements of 75% and 90%, respectively. This indicates how Birdview equipped MRWA with the necessary tools for more precise project tracking, budget management, and adherence to timelines, which in turn helped in reducing delays and managing costs more effectively.

Moreover, Birdview contributed to creating a better work environment in terms of collaboration and communication. Its features, like message boards and file-sharing, improved how team members worked together, making it easier to keep everyone on the same page regarding project updates and goals. This improvement in internal communication contributed to reducing project rework by 50%, underlining the software’s role in elevating project quality and team dynamics.

Finally, Birdview’s time tracking and reporting functionalities made a notable difference in MRWA’s financial operations. Automating these processes helped the association to cut down on administrative tasks and potential errors. This efficiency allowed the finance team to spend more time on strategic activities, highlighting Birdview’s effectiveness in supporting MRWA’s commitment to delivering quality water and wastewater services in Maine, albeit in a less overtly promotional tone.

a game-changer for us, simplifying our processes and making our financial management much more efficient

“With Birdview, the time tracking became seamless. Before, I was entering information into three different places, which left too much room for errors. Birdview’s integration meant I could see everything in one place, significantly reducing the chances of mistakes. This was a game-changer for us, simplifying our processes and making our financial management much more efficient.”

Tracey Perkins-Bergstrom

Finance Director

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