Provan proves herself as an invaluable asset to Godfrey

Listen to this article

Carey Provan knows what it takes to pull off a successful project.

As project management office and applications manager at Godfrey & Kahn, Provan recently led a once-in-a-generation project to obtain the firm’s practice-management software from a new vendor. The two-year transition touched on nearly every aspect of the firm’s business, including its payroll, new-business-intake and expense-reporting functions.

The project was only the latest for Provan, who joined Godfrey & Kahn in 2017. She came to the firm after holding various roles in health care, helping insurance companies and the state of Minnesota adjust to Obamacare.

Throughout the software transition and other projects she’s taken on during her career, Provan has seen her success come down to her ability to maintain open communications and remain flexible.

“When it comes to these projects, I don’t care what methodology you are using, you can have the smartest people on the team, but you need to have consistent communication, and you need to be flexible and understand how people work,” she said.

Provan said she learned the basics of teamwork growing up playing sports in high school and later playing basketball at Cardinal Stritch University. She said sports taught her to be resilient in the face of adversity and to learn from failure.

“That’s what I love about sports,” she said. “You can be down in the trenches, thinking we’re going to do bad. Then something turns around, and you can win the game.”

Jody Eis-Kraemer, the firm’s central file manager, said Provan’s grace under pressure was indispensable in the firm’s transition to using new software.

“Carey’s exceptional combination of focus, persistence and loyalty really shined during the project,” Ellis-Kraemer said. “Her ability to listen to all stakeholders’ expectations, reservations and hopes and reconcile them within the reality of the software platform itself was incredible.”