Reflections on an MSI Part 3: Institutional Knowledge & Processes

As the school year winds down, so does my time as treasurer of the School of Information Student Association (SISA).  I've not written much about this (with the exception of last week), but today seems like a good day to do so, since I had my last official SISA meeting.

This year, SISA encountered many situations in which we had to make decisions that may or may not have been made before.  But this year, we decided that documentation and processes were important to this organization - the official organization of SI.

We developed new policies and procedures for many things - student lounge decisions, treasury processes, t-shirt designs, booking rooms, elections - you name it.  We did so as to not allow new members in new years (which happens constantly in a student organization) to have to re-invent the wheel.

This is the lesson learned - not so much as part of the MSI directly - but a lesson learned from being part of a professional school's official organization.  And I can see how this lesson learned will be valuable as I move out of one position at the end of August and into a new one, whenever that happens.

In a large institution (and even in small institutions), there are many people who carry institutional knowledge - many times the same institutional knowledge as others within the organization.  It's very easy for this not to be passed along, or if it is passed along, its done so informally.  This creates a situation where people often deal with the same issues and have to figure these out on their own, when in fact they've been handled before.

This is why documentation and processes - of course always adaptable and editable, are critical.  Having policies and procedures in place allow organizations to move forward with other issues that are current and relevant, instead of focusing on situations that have previously been resolved.

So, this reflection - while prompted by my experience in SISA - is a lesson learned for the future in any organization in which I'm a part.  And I'm thankful for having worked with such a great group of people to help me learn this lesson.