A modernized workflow for legacy organization
Case study Context:
Modernizing a national music licensing organization’s workflows across multiple offices during a time where technology was emerging, but not yet integrated.
Challenge:
In 2005, technology is emerging but not integrated within large legacy organizations.
Existing workflows at the time still highly manual and paper-driven, including printing, manual processing, physical document handoffs, and microfilming for archival.
Decades-old organizations may be resistant to change for compliance reasons, as systems are deeply interconnected, scale makes risk high, and implementation spans across multiple teams.
Previous attempts to improve the system have not succeeded. Longstanding staff are accustomed to existing processes and resistant to fully digital alternatives.
MY ROLE:
As a part of the team executing the day-to-day workflow, I had a detailed understanding of how the system functioned across roles and steps.
I spearheaded the design, approval, implementation and adoption of a new fully digital approach. I led the coordination and rollout of the updated process across the organization.
What I did:
Understanding the system
Mapped the full workflow from intake through processing, archival, and department handoffs
Identified bottlenecks caused by friction, printing delays, manual handling, and interdepartmental handoffs
Identified time, resource, and budget costs as well as potential improvements in staff capacity
Designing the solution
Honored existing workflow and only focused on high-impact, low-lift changes
Developed a PDF conversion process at a time when technology was not mainstream nor intuitive
Driving adoption
Fast-tracked leadership approval when previous attempts have failed
Sat with long-tenured staff to understand resistance and concerns, ensuring all were addressed in process
Created training manual informed by these interactions, focusing on clarity and visual cues
Led city-wide training as template for nationwide rollout
Outcomes:
Removed delays caused by physical document handling and interdepartmental transfers
Lowered operational costs related to paper, microfilm, and document transport
Improved consistency and traceability through standardized digital formats and timestamped records
Successfully rolled out the new workflow from the New York office to nationwide organizational use
Reflections:
Working inside the system as an entry-level analyst let me see both the inefficiencies and the constraints that had prevented change in the past. It made me value how important it was to include voices from people doing the work when identifying core problems.
This work reinforced how often complex systems are held together by simple, repeated steps — and how simple changes to those steps can have outsized impact.
The solution itself was straightforward, but adoption required understanding the motivations behind resistance to change. It required having a clear end vision, the ability to communicate benefits, collaborating and co-creating with key changemakers, and reimagining bold new ways to do old things.