APQC CONNECT 2026, APQC’s annual Process & Knowledge Management Conference is taking place in Houston April 22-23. We asked our breakout speakers to talk about different themes and topics they’ll be presenting at this year’s conference for a series of blog posts. Our final blog in this series has speakers discussing successes they’ve had in streamlining.
Can you describe one success your organization has had that involved bridging, streamlining, or flow that changed your organization for the better?
Rob Rowello — Global VP Business Transformation, Magna International:
One of our most important breakthroughs was developing the Magna Process Framework, using the APQC Process Classification Framework as our starting point. For the first time, we put our entire enterprise on a single page with a common process language across all groups and divisions.
That simple act of standardization bridged silos, streamlined how we define ownership and performance, and created flow in how work connects from quote to production. It fundamentally shifted us from fragmented execution to operating as one enterprise.
Lance Bradshaw — Director, HR Workforce Transformation, Intermountain Health: One example is how we approached modernizing talent acquisition through cross-functional collaboration. Rather than treating hiring technology as an HR owned initiative, we partnered with IT, operations, and business leaders to pilot tools like HiredScore and Appcast within a broader process improvement framework.
By bridging functional perspectives, we streamlined recruiting workflows, reduced manual screening, and shortened hiring cycle times. Recruiters shifted their focus from administrative tasks to relationship building and strategic workforce planning. At the same time, leaders gained better visibility into talent pipelines and outcomes.
The result was not just improved efficiency, but improved trust and alignment. Teams felt ownership of the solution because they helped design it, and work began to flow more naturally across roles rather than stall at functional boundaries.
Ellen Crowley and Shashank Agarwal — Sr. Enablement Program Manager, AWS and Sr. Technical Program Manager: AWS Prescriptive Guidance built a scalable publishing lifecycle, empowered subject matter experts, and used data-driven feedback to continuously improve content to accelerate cloud adoption.
Andrea Gilbert — Assistant Superintendent/Converse County School District #1: The most transformative success wasn't a single project or initiative; it was embedding process and knowledge management directly into our 2025-2030 strategic plan, "Implement a sustainable system for district processes and knowledge." That decision fundamentally changed how our entire organization thinks about and values organized knowledge. More importantly, this goal was developed by a wide range of stakeholders.
Making it an explicit strategic goal changes everything. Process and knowledge management are now an organizational commitment with the same weight as improving student learning, fostering community engagement, or ensuring safety. Bridging knowledge not only in our organization, but across our community.
The streamlining comes from how this strategic alignment will eliminate the "convince me" conversations. We no longer spend energy justifying why someone should document a process or update a handbook. It's in the strategic plan. It's tied to specific objectives. It's measured in our quarterly KPI reviews. When knowledge management is woven into the fabric of strategic execution, it stops being a separate thing you do and becomes simply how you accomplish everything else.
Information will flow more freely because the infrastructure is prioritized and maintained. When a principal needs a template, they will know where to find it. When a new director starts, there will be a systematic onboarding process grounded in our repository. When accreditation comes around, evidence doesn't need to be hunted down because the knowledge systems are already built into operations.
Perhaps most importantly, this strategic goal created sustainability. Even as I prepare to retire in June 2026, I know the knowledge management systems will continue because they're not dependent on any individual champion. They're embedded in how the district defines success, measures progress, and allocates resources. That's the kind of organizational transformation that outlasts any single person—and it continues with the simple act of putting PM/KM in the strategic plan where it belonged all along.
Lindsay Brown — Director, Process & Project Management; WECU: Success for us often starts with clarity—and one of the most impactful changes has been introducing process tools like COPIS (also known as SIPOC) in new vendor projects. By mapping processes and defining business requirements upfront, we ensure the solutions we select truly solve the right problems.
This approach keeps us focused on outcomes rather than chasing flashy features. It has improved collaboration between business and IT teams, creating shared understanding and reducing costly rework after implementation.
Brad "Nick" DeWitt — Converse County School District #1: We have created a district wide process and knowledge management repository to allow for departments and areas with accountability and responsibility to document and provide the rest of the district with the proper process in completing tasks. This has allowed the organization to gain a better understanding and awareness of how tasks should be completed. The consistency has reduced the issues that have needed addressed by the constituents.
Neil Hopkins — Department of the Navy: Carrier Team One, within Department of the Navy, has seen many successes over the years. Recently we have inducted new methods of large scale data transformations and digestion. The new ways we are using our data helps understand trends, gaps, and slice through information with rapidity to get to root cause.
Genevieve Caplette — Director of Transformation, Michelin: One of our biggest successes at Michelin Connected Fleet—and a clear example of Bridge. Streamline. Flow. in action—came from simplifying our customer onboarding process. This was a high‑impact area where complexity had built up over time, slowing down our ability to deliver quick, seamless service.
Tyson Simmons — Operations Architect - Pinnacle: One of the first examples that comes to mind was when we had two disparate systems that didn’t talk to each other at all. That disconnect was the gap, and it was clear we needed a "bridge" to connect them.
We built the initial connection and added search capability, but we quickly realized we had underestimated the amount of friction we created. Data integrity issues and rigid search rules resulted in a lot of “traffic” on the bridge, which really limited how useful it was.
From there, the focus shifted to "streamlining". We removed "roadblocks" in the process by improving the search functionality and ensuring it accounted for non-normalized data. Once those changes were in place, information began "flowing" again.
Today, that foundation has allowed us to continue adding new functionality and additional “lanes” to the bridge, creating even better "flow" and value.
Rebecka Isaksson — KnowFlow Value: The use case I will be talking about in my session has numerous examples of how Microsoft Consulting Services' CoPs helped speed up projects, increase quality and customer satisfaction.
These examples show what’s possible when organizations intentionally connect people, processes, and knowledge—creating alignment that drives real results. At APQC CONNECT 2026, you’ll hear directly from these speakers and many others who are putting Bridge. Streamline. Flow. into action across their organizations. Join us in Houston to gain practical insights, learn from real-world successes, and discover how to bring greater clarity, efficiency, and flow to your own work.
Explore the full APQC CONNECT 2026 agenda and register today,