Building Consensus among Diverse Stakeholders Unique customer service opportunities in capital project delivery General Services Academy VI October 9, 2008

Panelists  Mike Lango, Contra Costa County  Kanon Artiche, Solano County  Gerald Leoper, Alameda County  Mike Wagner, Sonoma County  Moderator: Robert Kambak, Sonoma County

Topics  Defining the Customer  Layers of Approval  Defining the Project  Public vs Private Sector  Measuring Customer Satisfaction

Defining the Customers 1  Depends on who you ask  Client department User groups  Stakeholders CAO “Budgetarians” A lot more stakeholders than customers  Building maintenance and operations

Defining the Customers 2  Public at large  Political interests – public relations  Electorate It all rolls up to the electorate  Consultants  Regulators  Contractor – help them be successful Different motivations

Defining the Customers 3  Everyone is a customer  People that use the building Departments and staff that work in the bldg  Size and complexity of the project has different customer groups  Developer and or brokers

Layers of Approval 1  Funding approval Grants  Client agency/user approval Client’s project manager – single contact Critical involvement  CAO  Feed back from consultants and contractors  CEQA/NEPA

Layers of Approval 2  Regulatory Agencies – outside Some counties are self regulated Building permits  Internal controls and procedures  Risk Management  Not linear/like a maze  Consensus is difficult to pin down

Layers of Approval 3  Every county is unique in how they fund and manage capital projects Whoever has the money gets their project Capital improvement plans vs. funding Capital cost vs. operating costs  Other jurisdictions (cities, etc)

Defining the Project 1  Real asset management plan Total inventory and total life of the project Leased or owned  Design and construction Small part of the overall cost, but major impact on service delivery and life cost  Needs assessment/master planning Space standards  Programming and planning Beware of preconceived solutions

Defining the Project 2  Need to consider the big picture – the entire portfolio and county needs Space assignment and use (CAO drives space utilization)  Needs vs. wants  Sign off by stakeholders at phases

Public vs. Private Sector 1  Organization structure Private sector – investors Public sector – constituents  Private sector – competition for services (customer has a choice)  Public sector – no competition; no choice  Permitting process Varies by county More stringent in public sector

Public vs. Private Sector 2  Project labor agreements  Policy  Private = profit; Public = public service  Public sector = longer life of facilities  Contract award (negotiation vs. bidding)  Perception by the public Image (Taj Mahal)  Different level of scrutiny

Measuring Customer Satisfaction 1  Post project surveys/briefings  Post occupancy assessment  Regular meetings with customers  On budget, ahead of schedule = everyone is happy  Quality of project  How can it be improved  Roof projects – does it leak? quantifiable

Measuring Customer Satisfaction 2  Public wants good services delivered in an efficient manner  Each customer is different  Under promise and over delivery – set realistic expectations  Audit meeting 90 days after completion – customer, contractor, designer Lessons learned Website  Media reports can affect how the project is judged

Wrap Up

Where’s my handout? Completed PowerPoint to be posted on CGSA website (