Hermes

from Freemasonry Today - Issue 58 - Summer 2022

The interview

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Will Hermes work for us? Is it easy to use? And does it demonstrate our commitment to the environment? Yes, says Provincial Grand Secretary for Bristol and Hermes Chairman Phil Nicholls MBE. Here’s why…

Some three years ago, we first learned of a new electronic system being planned to aid and speed up our administration and to move, as far as possible, to being a paperless organisation. But how would that be achieved as for centuries Freemasonry has depended upon paper-based records, applications and correspondence. A quick examination of any of our archives or public record offices within any Province has the undisputed evidence there for all to see.

The question was where and how to achieve such an ambitious project. Well, let us not forget that we do have a good, sound and comprehensive database that we use already – the Adelphi2. However, access is limited to a few members only and it is updated by the use of paper forms, whether they be Form P applications, registration of changes of personal details or requests for Grand Lodge certificates. However, it is, in reality, purely a repository of information that someone, somewhere has to input manually from various forms and papers. I accept that Adelphi has a lot of features and data that can be obtained for management information purposes, but it depends on mountains of paper.

It was therefore decided that a system should be developed whereby information is gathered at source, electronically and capable of being updated locally and fulfilling all the administrative tasks Secretaries and Scribes currently undertake. Was this just blue-sky thinking or was it really a possibility?

The first stage was for the newly appointed Hermes team to identify a small number of Provinces and Districts to assist with cataloguing the raft of processes that triggered and influenced the way we work, while simultaneously complying with the requirements of

The Hermes electronic system sped up administration

the Book of Constitutions. The Hermes team held a number of face-to-face meetings to discuss, identify, label, correlate and refine what it is we all do, from receipt of information regarding a prospective candidate, right the way through to initiation of a member, to passing to the Grand Lodge Above.

And so the intricate task of process mapping began. It was an interesting undertaking, as it was quickly identified that working practices and procedures differed within London, Provinces and Districts. My own Province of Bristol, for example – like some others – does things in a unique way or maybe a different order. However, to ensure the new system was compatible and workable for everyone a lot of time, effort was undertaken over 18 months to map the current processes and then create the new functionality and processes for Hermes, which were signed off by to navigate and intuitive in its applications. Those first very important impressions ensured that any fears and trepidations were minimalised and the process of winning hearts and minds was relatively stress-free and easygoing.

The transition process for Bristol began just before Christmas and was a rather hectic period. The tempo increased from the start of the New Year as our go-live date was scheduled for the 1 February 2022, giving us four weeks to get everyone introduced to Hermes, trained on how to use the webinars and allowed the

every Province and District. Once the lengthy but vital mapping process had taken place, it was handed over to the system programmers to develop the system.

In spite of Covid, progress was made and by early September 2021, I, as the Provincial Secretary of Bristol, and my colleague Peter Wills, as Provincial Scribe E, were asked whether Bristol would like to be the first Province to go live once the Hermes System was rolled out. Bristol is a small Province with 38 Craft Lodges and 14 Royal Arch Chapters, so it was an ideal platform to launch Hermes and test its capabilities.

We started the transition process to the new system in December 2021. In preparation, the members of our Provincial pilot team were identified as prospective trainers to be supplemented with a couple of newer members. In total, a team of nine trainers was created to undertake the preliminary training with Nigel Codron and Ed Feist from the UGLE training team, to manage, guide and educate all 52 Secretaries and Scribes in the Province at the same time. The Secretaries of Craft Lodges and Scribes of Royal Arch Chapters were categorised under the RAG System to identify, as far as possible, those who would probably cope with little training and support and those that would need more. Every trainer was allocated responsibility for five or six Lodges and Chapters of varying levels of skill and ability, which made it a manageable number when disseminating the training processes and introduction to the webinars.

The transition training for the trainers was very well presented by way of a mix of Zoom meetings and webinars, introduced by Nigel Codron and Ed Feist. These were well structured and easy to watch and understand, enabling the trainers (and later the Secretaries and Scribes), to quickly absorb the various processes involved prior to using the Hermes system.

There is no doubt that the immediate impressions of all the trainers, Secretaries and Scribes when seeing the system for the first time, as described during the webinars, was that it looked clean, uncluttered, easy

‘The process of winning hearts and minds was relatively stress-free and easygoing’

ability to gain confidence through use of the Sandbox facility (more on this below). That gave us a very tight window to get everyone trained and ready for our go-live date. During those four weeks, two issues quickly came to our notice: 1) Some of the more senior in-service Secretaries felt really uncomfortable about using a new and totally electronic system, as their IT skills and experiences were minimal. I endeavoured to reassure them that if they bought goods online or had online banking, then they would easily cope with Hermes. However, not very many of them had undertaken such bold and modern tasks, so were not convinced.

As a result, with the assistance of both Nigel and Ed, it was agreed that the Lodges concerned nominate a younger Assistant Secretary to collaborate with the Secretary and become the Hermes user for their Lodge or Chapter. This meant the Lodge Secretary/Scribe E working in tandem with the Hermes user and thereby advising and guiding on the intricacies of protocol and the requirements of Book of Constitutions as required. 2) The other aspect that impacted Bristol was the short timeframe we were given to roll out and go live. It meant that Lodges and Chapters meeting in the first two weeks of February would not have the requisite time to produce their pre-meeting reports. As a result, our rollout process was split into two parts: those with meetings from the middle of the month onwards would go live first and those with meetings in the first 14 days would go live from the middle of the month. This worked for us, but it may not be necessary for other Provinces as they will enjoy a much longer lead-in time and online registration forms and pre-meeting reports could be prepared in plenty of time.

One of the aspects of the training regime is the immensely helpful use of the Sandbox facility. This enables users to explore and use the Hermes functionality without corrupting or influencing the main database, enabling them to gain confidence in their use of the system. Although the Sandbox contains a huge amount of information for users to explore, it is purely an aid to learning. From the experience of the Bristol Province, it is suggested that the Sandbox should be shut down once your Lodges and Chapters pass their go-live date, in order to eliminate confusion and unnecessary mistakes by users logging-in to the incorrect part of Hermes.

The Province of Bristol is now a full month into using the Hermes system and although there are the usual minor glitches that one would expect with any new and very complex portal system, these are relatively few. Our experiences will undoubtedly ensure that those glitches and snags are eliminated before other Provinces start to use Hermes and they will enjoy a useful and easy-to-use system that will save time and make life easier for everyone.

In summary, Hermes has been well received in the Province of Bristol. Secretaries and Scribes like using it and all are confident that within two or three meetings, they will feel very confident when using it.

Always remember, if you are unsure about any process or part of a process because you have not undertaken it before or have only once a year, such as preparing the annual returns, the webinars are always there to help you. If there are problems, the help hub will guide you and you will also have your dedicated trainers to assist.

If, however, the problem is a hitch or indeed a technical matter, use the support system and talk to your allotted trainer. If all else fails, the issue can always be elevated up to the Hermes technical team.

Yes, we can reassure you that going from blue-sky thinking to reality, it works.

I am convinced from my own experience that Hermes is easy to use, demonstrates our commitment to the environment by using less paper and is undoubtedly the future of Freemasonry.