One-on-One with Arthur Lieber from Civitas Associates

Arthur Lieber, Principal & Owner of Civitas Associates

Industry: Civitas Associates is a non-profit organization, offering educational programs for students in public and independant schools.

What type of projects does your company handle?

Programs for high school and middle school students. The range of activities includes model United Nations sessions, conferences on international issues as well as active citizenship, and urban studies using St. Louis, MO as a lab.

What sort of tools have you been using to manage your projects before using Clarizen?

MS Project, Outlook and Word.

What was your experience with MS Project?

We found it to be confusing for people to use. Also, it only allows one person to use it and it's not a collaborative tool.

Why were you not satisfied with Outlook or MS Word?

Only two of five employees were using Microsoft Outlook. Outlook has limited capabilities for collaborative work. We wanted a program in which all employees could comfortably and effectively engage.

What immediate advantages did you gain from using Clarizen to manage your projects?

1. Clarizen provides incentive for vastly improved prior planning.
2. Tracking progress with reminders when tasks become overdue.
3. Involving all workers.

Can you provide us with an example of how Clarizen had a direct effect on your business outcome?

We just completed our Fall high school model United Nations program. By sequencing recruiting efforts through Clarizen, we improved student participation by 30% over last year. 
The actual event went without any hitches because we had completed all necessary prior planning. [We also had an excellent group of students and faculty advisors this year].

How has the process been getting users on board with the product? Challenges?

Even though our organization is theoretically “progressive,” most employees have been resistant to change. I have tried instituting the use of other computer programs without success. 

With Clarizen being web-based and so intuitive, other employees are feeling comfortable with it and increasingly using it. Training will be an on-going process for all of us.

Where do you see getting the most value from our solution?

We have said that one of our mottos is P6; Prior Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance. That motto is now becoming more of a reality because indeed we are engaging in more prior planning.

Clarizen has brought us more accountability for short-term projects and better vision and implementation for long-term projects.