Copyright 2010 by CH2M HILL, Inc. Company Confidential Getting More Bang for the Buck: Improving Efficiency Approaches and Tools Kristin M. Howlett, PMP Project Manager, Business Process CH2M HILL

Copyright 2010 by CH2M HILL, Inc. Company Confidential Cities and Counties Face Unique Service Delivery Challenges: Disparate constituencies –Citizens, Elected Officials, Administration and Staff Misalignment of strategy with operations and channels causing: –Metrics and data which are poor or inadequate –Inconsistent processes and service levels amongst employees within same department and across departments

Copyright 2010 by CH2M HILL, Inc. Company Confidential Citizens want: An Efficient Government That Results In: More service - lower taxes and Faster service - lower taxes and Higher customer satisfaction - lower taxes

Copyright 2010 by CH2M HILL, Inc. Company Confidential What is Process Improvement? A series of actions taken by a Process Owner to identify, analyze, and improve existing processes within an organization to meet new goals and objectives. These actions often follow a specific methodology or strategy to create successful results.Process Ownerprocesses organizationgoalsmethodologystrategy Source: Wikipedia,

Copyright 2010 by CH2M HILL, Inc. Company Confidential Process Improvement To Improve Service Delivery by Increasing: Accessibility ConsistencyTimeliness Accountability

Copyright 2010 by CH2M HILL, Inc. Company Confidential Why Should We Consider Process Improvement? Because governments and industries tend to work in “silos”. Employees may understand what their individual group does, but not its connection to the overall organizational goals and objectives. Silos create redundancy in work effort, inefficient processes and practices, and fragmented work efforts.

Copyright 2010 by CH2M HILL, Inc. Company Confidential Basic Approach to Process Methodology Identify and Define Need –Directive from Chief Executive –Business Need –Economic Need –Regulatory Need Develop Business Case –Background, Need, Case, Justification, and Recommendation Perform Initial Benefit/Cost and Return on Investment Analysis Validate Assertions Design Implementation Plan, Establish Budget and Project Timeline

Copyright 2010 by CH2M HILL, Inc. Company Confidential Case Study: DeKalb County, GA 311 What is 311? An easy-to-remember three-digit phone number to call when contacting your local government for any “non-public safety emergency” matter. Centralized, consolidated call center to relieve the non-emergency call burden from 911 and to provide excellence in customer service –“ One-stop Shop” for customer service delivery System-wide technology implementation that provided an opportunity for DeKalb to revisit the way the County does business –Streamlined business processes –Eliminated redundant activities –Improved customer-facing business practices –Increased revenue streams

Copyright 2010 by CH2M HILL, Inc. Company Confidential Decentralized Confusion Work Order County Departments Board of Commissioners CEO’s Office Is the problem solved? How is citizen satisfaction measured? What work order? Wrong department?Right number? Who to call? Resolution County Departments Status? Service Request Citizen Call

Copyright 2010 by CH2M HILL, Inc. Company Confidential Case Study: DeKalb County, GA 311 (continued) Some of the benefits of 311 include… Relieving front-end, customer service workload from individual departments across the County, allowing individual departments to better focus on core business functions Assessing County performance –Tracks the quantity and status of service requests to improve accountability and service delivery –Classifies and analyzes service requests to locate problem areas Improving service quality and quantity –Improves how County services are requested, scheduled, and performed (standardization of practices) –Establishes central point of intake and retention of customer information –Increases ability to handle many calls simultaneously with a “live” person –Enhances ability to identify service needs in high call volume areas –Increases the efficiency of administrative activities by eliminating tasks that add no value

Copyright 2010 by CH2M HILL, Inc. Company Confidential 311 Citizen Help Center (CHC) Connecting Citizens to Answers Citizen County Departments Elected Officials CEO’s Office Improving citizen services and cutting costs — while reducing unnecessary calls Help Center MULTI-CHANNEL SATISFACTION CONFIRMATION FOLLOW-UP VIA TELEPHONE, , FAX OR MAIL Resolution County Departments CRM - Service Work Order Closed Loop Communication

Copyright 2010 by CH2M HILL, Inc. Company Confidential How 311 Became a Process Improvement Project

Copyright 2010 by CH2M HILL, Inc. Company Confidential Case Study: DeKalb County 311 All departments are affected by 311 and will have some changes in their customer facing processes and practices At the onset of the project, the scope was actually too limited – the project overlooked dependence on external departmental involvement Call center implementation became process improvement project Basic 311 Call Center Process Flow

Copyright 2010 by CH2M HILL, Inc. Company Confidential Process Enhancements The 311 implementation resulted in an overall 40% decrease in direct customer contact to departments, as calls come in through the centralized call center. –DeKalb County Human Services call volume decreased by 45% after cutover to 311, allowing the department to better focus on the business side of their operations. Optimization of Business License renewal process yielded an additional 1,600 additional renewals and $1M in receivables over 12-month period. Several departmental redesigns increased revenue by $3M and $5M, respectively in less than 1 year for two separate revenue-generating departments. Reduced call volume by 50% for Water/Sewer billing department. A 15% reduction in calls to DeKalb County 911.

Copyright 2010 by CH2M HILL, Inc. Company Confidential Improving the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Business Operations Keys to Change Management Success 1.Have Leadership Presence of Champion for the initiative – Not just a figurehead (must be actively involved). 2.Receive “Buy-in” from Department Leadership and emphasize the Importance of it. 3.Involve End Users in Process (solicit and use their input). 4.Establish Task-Oriented Departmental Process Change. 5.Provide Initial and Ongoing Training (as needed). And Most Importantly: 6.Institutionalize Change

Copyright 2010 by CH2M HILL, Inc. Company Confidential Key Take-Aways Receive Senior Level Directive for Change AND Commitment to Process Map Out Organization as Well as Processes Start with a Pilot Group of Willing Participants Validate Requirements and Processes –Prioritize Assign Responsible Party to EACH Process –Accountability and Implementation Timeline Include Performance Measures and Metrics –Baseline Metrics and “To Be” Measures They may not be the same

Copyright 2010 by CH2M HILL, Inc. Company Confidential Questions?