Sage Timberline Office News & Tips
Putting Sage Summit Into Practice – What Will You Take Back to the Office with You?

Following last year’s Sage Summit conference, Beth Hansen, CPA and Vice President of Chicago Graystone Realty, attended a Lean Principles – Business Process Mapping session at Sage Summit 2007 and took what she learned back to her office – literally.

Chicago Graystone Realty LLC is an asset and property management company that uses Sage Timberline Office as their accounting and database management software. At Sage Summit, Hansen learned how to use Lean principles to examine existing business processes, map them, and find realistic and practical ways to improve them.

“The instructor’s enthusiasm rubbed off on me, and I came back and got my boss excited about the Lean concept,” explains Hansen. “She is very process oriented, so Lean fits right in to her business philosophy. Based on one Summit session, we started a Lean initiative at Graystone without overburdening employees. I think that is a success in and of itself! We actually have employees volunteering to be on our next process improvement teams.”

Beth and two volunteer “PIT” (Process Improvement Teams) teams took on two distinct processes for improvement: the lease signing process and the work order/maintenance process.

To minimize the impact on employees’ existing workload, the teams used weekly lunch meetings to map current processes and identify improvement opportunities. Each team had a leader and manageable assignments between meetings. PIT teams met with a newly-established LEAN Council to report progress and make recommendations.

“I went to the Lean Principles session because I had a break in my schedule I wanted to fill and the session looked interesting. I would never have been aware of the Lean concept if I hadn’t attended the session,” explains Hansen. “Now, it’s making a real difference in the way Chicago Graystone approaches improvement initiatives.”

Each year, the Sage Construction and Real Estate business unit offers more than 150 sessions focused on Sage Timberline Office and/or Sage Master Builder at Sage Summit. Sage Software also invites industry speakers and covers general business topics designed to help you grow your business. Be sure to check out this year’s Building Business track as a means of supplementing your specific Sage Timberline Office sessions.

What Summit lessons will you take back to your company this year?

Check out the session line-up or register for Sage Summit now!