What is your role at Management Solutions?
“I'm a business intelligence analyst at Management Solutions. We use data to help our clients make the best possible decisions. For example, we take information from a variety of systems that aren't linked or we take data from Excel and put it in a standardized system. The goal is to help our clients make well-informed decisions and analyze their information most efficiently. Many of the clients we work with are looking for a more cohesive way to organize their information. We’ve seen our clients experience significant positives when they start to link information together and have their teams make informed, holistic decisions, rather than in silos.”
What does the process look like when you're assisting these clients with these projects?
“It really depends on what phase we’re in. First, the client will identify the problem they are facing. Then we come in and assess, start planning, and do some process mapping, which is important so we can understand what we are trying to solve and what processes we are trying to standardize with our data. When we start working with a new client, we typically ask them a few key questions. They are:
● What's a pain point for you?
● What do you do on a day-to-day basis with this data?
● What are your resources for your current data?
Once we get these questions answered, we lay a good framework for how we are going to store data and how the client will access it. Then, we start to unpack the advanced analysis our team needs to do—this is when we start executing the real organizational change.”
What drew you to join the Management Solutions team?
“My story is different from many other people at Management Solutions. I met Misty when I was in college at a speed-mentoring session. I was compelled by everything Misty said about the culture she cultivates at Management Solutions and her vision for the company. Back then, there were considerably fewer employees—less than 40 people. I knew from speaking with Misty that I wanted to be in an environment like that.
I reconnected with her later in my college experience and became an intern at Management Solutions. I threw myself into doing anything I could around the company. I didn't start off doing data, rather I did construction management, project management, and scheduling. What I like about Management Solutions is that you can wear a million hats, learn a million different things, and figure out what you like best, especially early in your career.
Over time, I started to realize that a lot of the problems I was solving and the work I was doing that added value for our clients had to do with data. So, we started to streamline my workload towards data, which is where I am now.”
What unique characteristics do you think the Management Solutions team brings to the table?
“I think we provide subject matter expertise in our field while also having the small business determination to solve any problem that we're faced with because we always have a deep understanding of the different technologies, requirements, and restrictions, and we can work within this knowledge to identify the best solution.
I think of Management Solutions right now like a jet ski—we can pivot very quickly into new areas and ideas. Whereas some companies are like giant cruise ships and they are harder to turn or pivot at a moment’s notice, because often there is red tape or bureaucracy that they have to consider.
Management Solutions’ in-house talent and expertise is easily up there with large consulting firms. So, you’re still getting work of the highest quality when you work with our team, you have the same subject matter experts, and to top it off, you get the determination and grit that comes from working with a small business.”
Can you talk about your team’s contributions to a large government clean energy agency contract?
“There are two parts to what I consider our greatest contributions to our large $192M program support contract for the newly stood up DOE Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). One thing we did was develop a project management office (PMO) to set up a tool that streamlines some communication between Management Solutions and the client, particularly around new task requests and full transparency into real-time project status. The system is all automated. Rather than relying on emails and letters, as is standard in our industry, our automated PMO ensures efficient communication across the full project team (Management Solutions as well as the client) and gives all users visibility into all task, program, and portfolio data and enables project tracking in a way that isn’t possible using more traditional methods (closed system, emails, etc.).
On the tactical side of our OCED contract, we've built out three new systems for the government to aggregate their data that comes via different systems for all the applications for the different clean energy areas. The main challenges with using different systems include the potential loss of data and a general lack of a comprehensive understanding of all the data. Management Solutions met with the client to discuss their requirements and pain points; within a few months, we had built and rolled out a system that is almost entirely automated so that the client can view all applicant data in one location and in real-time to ensure it has integrity and is entered by the appropriate people.”
How has the work your team has done with a large government-clean energy client improved their processes?
“I think the best part of our contribution is that now the team knows where they need to go to get information about all their projects. Before, you would have to kind of have to play a game of telephone to get any one piece of information. In addition, now the client has access to version tracking so they can find out who made which changes using the different logs, so the system is auditable.”
Has your team received any feedback from the clean energy client on the program Management Solutions built?
“The new contract administrator said that it was the best system she'd ever seen for running a contract. She has about 15 years of experience in this space, and she relayed that she finds it easy to use and loves working with it.
We also got an email the other day from the client letting us know they’re grateful for our work and everything we've done for them.”
What makes Management Solutions special?
“Management Solutions is an organization that wants to get it right, not be right. Our goal is always to truly listen to a client and provide a solution to their problem. It's a client-focused organization. I've never been in a situation at this firm where I feel like someone has made a decision just because of their ego or their personal agenda. As employees, as long as we’re executing the right plan for our client, we are free to be creative and apply our expertise how we see fit—that's why I like working here.”
How do you add value at Management Solutions?
“I add value at Management Solutions by listening to the client and understanding what their idea of success is instead of just pushing what my idea of success is or what their preconceived notion of success is.”
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