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INSIGHT:
Industry Challenges Demand 21st Century Leadership


FORESIGHT:
Changing of the Guard: Planning Ahead Eases Transition


Q & A INTERVIEW
Questions? 311 Has Answers

CUSTOMER STORY
City of Hartford Connects with 311

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INSIGHT
Industry Challenges Demand 21st Century Leadership

Alan Manning
Alan Manning
Chairman of the Board

Utility leaders understand the unique characteristics of our industry and the demanding nature of our business. But in the throes of the day-to-day, it is easy to overlook the critical need for consistent and effective leadership in a risk-filled industry such as our own. This is particularly true today as the water/wastewater industry faces a variety of challenges that require a special brand of leadership to meet the issues at hand.

Challenges? What Challenges?

These are new times for our industry, where a number of serious issues have emerged almost simultaneously to form a “perfect storm” scenario. Each is significant in its own right, but collectively, these issues pose a real threat to the future of your utility if you are not prepared. Issues topping the list include:

  • Infrastructure and Rates. Operating through deficit spending in order to reduce or stabilize rates, many utilities are not investing enough in their infrastructure. Rates are directly affected by the required financial investment. As utilities develop their capital investment programs, CIP budgets are closely scrutinized and often reduced to help maintain stable rates. This directly affects your infrastructure’s long-term viability.
  • Workforce. Your workforce is changing rapidly. Baby Boomers, who possess an invaluable amount of industry knowledge, are retiring. The generation that follows is much smaller, less informed, and holds significantly different values. This places immediate pressure on utilities to find, train, and retain talent.
  • Regulatory Pressures. Regulatory requirements are increasing. In the wastewater industry, we have the pressure of phosphorus and total nitrogen removal as well as the changing landscape regarding biosolids and land disposal. Water utilities face arsenic and many new water quality concerns.
  • Changing Customer Demands. Today’s customers possess a different set of values. They want more, including increased access to data and immediate answers. Also, younger constituents are joining our Boards and asking questions of staff that have not been asked before. These demands place added stress on utility management.

21st Century Leadership

To meet these mounting challenges, leaders not only need to understand these issues, but must also respond effectively both externally (with elected officials and Boards above their organization) and internally (with the staff within their organization). EMA has helped our clients implement leadership models that successfully address the multi-faceted demands of the day — where trust and strong, open communication are essential elements in effective 21st century leadership.

  • Exhibit Courage. Leaders must demonstrate the ongoing ability to make the right decisions for the organization, even if they are unpopular.
  • Be Strategic. Strategic thinking, anticipation, and preparation — it’s all critical. Leaders must be “in the know” on Board issues as well as day-to-day matters, preparing for the next steps, thinking tactically about how it all fits together, and anticipating what is to come.
  • Build Trust. Trust your staff and be trusted by your staff and your Board. Trust is a critical element in the success of your operations.
  • Communicate Openly. Hold back nothing. This openness requires courage but is how trust is developed with your Board and staff. People will come to respect and rely on your honesty.
  • Demonstrate Competence. Leaders who demonstrate competence gain approval and trust of those with whom they interact. This in turn establishes a confidence others are willing to follow.
  • Deliver Results. Leaders need to deliver consistently. Results are the bottom line and prove your efficacy within the organization. If staff and Board members see progress, it speaks volumes, delivering the message that your organization is on top of the issues and heading in the right direction.

This is part one of a two-part series on workforce management. In part two, we will look at 21st Century Leadership In Practice.

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FORESIGHT
workforce development
Changing of the Guard: Planning Ahead Eases Transition

Marcia Isbell
Marcia Isbell
Principal Consultant

It’s no joke. Our workforce is in transition. With the Baby Boomers retiring, a historic workforce turnover is underway. Those retiring comprise a large percentage of key managers in the workplace, and they leave with a vast amount of undocumented organization knowledge.

This imminent mass departure has serious implications for utilities. More than 35 percent of the workforce will be eligible for retirement during the next several years. Additionally, the number of replacement workers to fill these vacancies is only about half the size of the Baby Boomer generation of workers. This leaves utility leaders with the task of documenting the knowledge of those retiring, imparting this information to next-generation workers, and finally, ensuring that remaining associates are engaged in roles that best suit their skills and promote longevity.

It’s not easy. However, some utilities are meeting this challenge straight on with a plan that prepares for the impending labor shift and focuses on the next generation.

Tualatin Valley Plans for Their Future

As three key managers planned retirements within a three-year period, Tualatin Valley Water District (TVWD), a domestic water provider west of Portland, OR, took note of its aging workforce. Continuity of the workforce became a key concern. TVWD recognized it needed to identify and develop future leaders in preparation for the coming transition.

Steps

TVWD selected EMA to develop its plan. Working with the District, EMA created a “strengths-based” workforce development program. It is a practical approach to performance improvement, identifying the strengths of individual employees, matching them to the future needs of the District, and creating individualized development programs. The result: a more engaged workforce, greater productivity, increased efficiency, and improved morale. The District’s plan consisted of four significant steps:

step 1Assessment – Assessments provided a better understanding of TVWD’s working environment and culture. In addition to a demographic analysis, cultural assessment, and human resource policy and practice review, the EMA/TVWD team cataloged the work performed.

This process produced valuable feedback, identifying areas of vulnerability for resource and critical knowledge loss, giving greater insight into the District’s current areas of risk.

Step 2Identifying Near-Term Risk Positions – Preparing for impending departures, all “at-risk” positions (jobs held by pending retirees or those with unique institutional knowledge) were evaluated. Through assessments, surveys, and interviews, the team reviewed vulnerable positions, compiling detailed profiles on the talent, knowledge, and skills associated with each job.

Step 3Qualifying Internal Candidates – Using the newly-created position profiles, the team outlined the process to qualify candidates eligible for the workforce development program. For each interested employee, the District created a talent and skill profile, conducted an “interest” interview, and completed a 360 degree leadership assessment.

This process provided a pool of internal candidates desiring to advance within the District. Individualized development plans for selected workforce candidates provided the District with concrete tactics to counter the impending workforce losses.

Step 4Measuring Success – The District is establishing measures to evaluate the
impact of their workforce development program. For example, they will ascertain if there is an increase in the number of internal candidates who qualify for the at-risk positions and evaluate the ability of the trained pool to work in multiple areas of the organization.

A Plan in Hand

Confident its new workforce development program will sustain its future staffing needs, TVWD exemplifies how a well-defined plan can serve a utility’s best interests. Addressing workforce strategies with the same level of focus as their other business strategies supports the success of both the utility and its individual employees.

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Q & A INTERVIEW
Questions? 311 Has Answers

Throughout the country, 311 non-emergency systems are finding their way into local government. 311 has been heralded as the one-call solution to centralize requests for city information. As 311 gains momentum, the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) is completing a national 311 and customer service systems study funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. ICMA Senior Project Manager Cory Fleming, the study’s Project Director, explains that the project will help the industry understand “how customer service technology can help citizens engage with local government better.” Equally important, she adds, is “performance measurement and how government can use the information they’re coming into to improve both their effectiveness and efficiency.” EMA recently spoke with Ms. Fleming about 311.

Why do you think 311 has gained popularity?

A lot of local governments are the first stop when people have problems. And it’s extremely frustrating when they call their local government and get transferred six, seven, eight times to get a service request handled. And on the other side of the equation, that takes a lot of staff time to try to search for an answer to a question or to handle a problem of an irate customer.

If you have centralized CIS, there is someone responsible to make sure a customer request is handled and that there is follow up. You eliminate that waste of time.
It also provides greater accountability. You know what calls are coming in and why they’re coming in. To give an example, in San Antonio [first test site in the ICMA study], we interviewed the Public Works department to take a look at where they needed to do more education. In their case, there were several areas where they were getting calls about large amounts of debris around and in the roads. San Antonio went out to that particular neighborhood and did some special education. By going in and providing a dumpster in these areas and informing people that they could call in and get a dumpster, they were able to eliminate the problem and the calls coming in on this.

They wouldn’t know that information unless they were able to map calls with their system. With mapping, they can see where phone calls are coming from and, as another example, they can send someone to a area to take care of all projects in one visit instead of sending out a truck on Monday and then on Tuesday and then again the next week. It saves staff time and wear and tear on resources. It’s just a good way of doing business.

Is 311 a viable option for every city?

A: Cities have to look at what their circumstances and needs are. That’s one of the things that came out from the Los Alamos study [the second test site in the ICMA study].

Because the National Lab is right there, it’s a very tech-savvy group. Eighty-five percent of people have at least a PhD. But one of the interesting things that they found in their market is that these people like face-to-face contact. So they not only have 311, but they also have an information kiosk, and almost 40 percent of their contact is from people coming in.

311 or a CIS can work in a wide variety of sizes. I think it’s really important that the system be designed for the local community. I don’t think that there is one particular package for communities. You have to think of features to meet the specific needs and how you want to report back to the public.

What infrastructure does a city need before embarking on a 311 implementation?

A study definitely needs to be implemented to determine the need. Los Alamos credits their success to spending six months planning. Part of that planning was interviewing different parts of government and recording information in a centralized database so they had consistent answers to provide people when making decisions. I think there was a bit of a push from some to get this up and running quickly – to plug the phone in and get things going. But the staff knew this wasn’t going to work. The first six months were for planning, collecting information, and preparing.

How do you suggest cities begin a 311 project?

Take a look at the local government’s current process for addressing requests and how it is handling the need. Then, look at other 311 systems, and see how those work. Also look at costs and features that you want.

From the time someone brings forth the idea, until you’re seriously looking at a system, you’re probably looking at a year to year and a half. It’s not just a matter of opening a 311 number and negotiating with the local phone company. You have to think through how the system is going to work and how you’re going to capture data. Otherwise, you’re opening yourself up for more complaints. When you start a 311 system you’re essentially saying you’re going to implement an improved customer service system. It had better work. Otherwise, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.

What do cities need to do to ensure 311 implementation is successful?

You need local government staff buy-in, particularly among the department heads, the executive management, and the elected officials. If people aren’t supportive of it, it’s not going to happen.

ICMA logoCory Fleming

As Senior Project Manager at the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), Cory Fleming conducts research on local government practices for community engagement and involvement. She also researches the use of performance measurement/management systems for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of local government operations. Ms. Fleming recently served as editor of The GIS Guide for Local Government Officials, a joint publication produced by ESRI and ICMA (2005). Currently she is Project Director for ICMA’s national study on 311 and customer service systems in local government.

With an extensive background in community development, Ms. Fleming worked with local governments, community groups, and nonprofit organizations on development issues at the Iowa Department of Economic Development. She also conducted research at the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute and taught survey management coursework at George Washington University.


Mayors may be on the front line, but front-door issues, such as pot holes, trash, traffic congestion are what can win and lose elections. Today’s mayors want all constituents treated like top business clients. Response to citizens must be quick. Problems must be solved efficiently and in a timely manner. All cities want 311 for the hundreds of non-emergency calls that come into City Hall everyday. However, the critical component of how 311 will be implemented and managed comes all too often very late in the process when time and resources have been lost.

Too many cities have made the investment in 311 hardware or a software package without proper planning and without a system ensuring that work is completed. Time and valuable resources can be lost due to inadequate planning.

During a 311 workshop at the United States Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting, mayors packed the room only to discover they had different yet similar problems – whether they were just beginning to consider 311, had hardware that didn’t work, couldn’t track responses, or had staff that wasn’t trained. It was clear to all that prior to spending limited city resources the city must strategically determine how the city will use 311.

Software and hardware decisions are important but must go hand-in-hand with the answers to questions such as how will 311 be implemented, who will need to be trained, how problems can be solved quickly, and trends analyzed so that its 311 system is its most valuable management tool.

USCM logo

Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland
Chief Operating Officer
U.S. Mayor Enterprises, Inc.
Wholly-owned Subsidiary of
The United States Conference of Mayors

 

 

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CUSTOMER STORY
City of Hartford Connects with 311

Customer Story
Clockwise from upper left: Elizabeth Park is home to the oldest municipally-operated rose garden in the country; 311 Constituent Services Representatives include (front) Raul Maza, (middle) Samantha Davis, Kathy Vega, Karina Ramirez, (back) Isaiah Mack; Hartford’s skyline from Bushnell Park; CSRs answer calls Monday through Friday from 7am-7pm; Travelers Tower reflected in the Connecticut River; Call Center Supervisor Rita Ballestas shows Mayor Perez how to navigate in the 311 system.

Connecticut’s capital city, established as a Dutch trading post in the mid-1600s, continues to serve as an important center of business today. The City of Hartford, with its title of “New England’s Rising Star,” remains true to its name, reflecting leadership in economic growth, cultural diversity, and world-class business.

Hartford’s mayor, Eddie Perez, exemplifies this leadership. Born in Puerto Rico, his family moved to Hartford in 1969. Elected in 2001 as the city’s first Latino mayor, Perez has accomplished many other firsts – including the establishment of the Office of Constituent Services and the implementation of Hartford’s 311 system.

Hartford’s Urgent Need for a Plan

Mayor Perez recognized some key areas for improvement when he took the reins of the City, according to Hartford’s Chief Operating Officer, Lee Erdmann. Hartford suffered from a lack of systems, the basic ingredients needed to manage the City’s day-to-day business and respond to its citizens. Today, both Erdmann and Perez
can point to significant progress. “We’re not where our citizens want us to be yet – we’re a work in progress,” says Erdmann, “but the groundwork is laid.”

Erdmann can speak with authority about the changes that have occurred within the City. During the 1970s and 80s, he served 12 years with the City of Hartford as Budget Director and Assistant City Manager. When he returned in 2002 to join Perez’s administration, City staff had shrunk from a high of 2400 to about 1800.

Staffing decreases were used as an excuse for lapses in service. Basic requests for information from Hartford residents went unanswered. Some calls to City Hall were met with messages on answering machines that said department personnel were “too busy to answer the phone right now” and asked callers to “call back later.” Those constituent calls that did get through often reached the wrong department, as residents searched the telephone directory to figure out who to call.

The City Takes Action With 311

With the Mayor’s directives ringing in his ears, Erdmann first set out to develop a Standard Operating Procedure for how the City would go about doing business. He worked on a performance management system to establish a clear mission and vision as well as overarching goals for the City.

As part of that effort, Hartford turned to EMA for help with a Technology Master Plan. The project looked at several City departments, assessing where they stood and what needed to be done to raise the level of responsiveness to the citizens of Hartford. At the same time, Susan McMullen, the Mayor’s new Director of Constituent Services, began planning to implement a 311 system to provide constituents with a truly customer-centric call center.

While the Technology Master Plan identified the City had infrastructure on which to build, there was also the reality that they had neither the time nor the personnel necessary to implement the programs identified. Their resource shortfall left them unable to focus on implementation. EMA provided the resources and expertise to augment the City’s staff and get the program underway.

Serving as the project manager of the City’s procurement and implementation of 311, McMullen held a bird’s eye view of the entire project. Her primary goal was to improve the customer service Hartford residents received when dealing with the City. However, McMullen and other City leaders recognized that merely implementing a technology solution in the form of a 311 system would not be a panacea.

Susan McMullen
Susan McMullen
Director of Constituent Services

To be truly responsive to their citizens’ needs required that the City’s operational departments be included in the project and streamlined to support the new systems being implemented. To Hartford’s citizens, the project appears to be a simple 311 Call Center implementation. But behind the scenes, it is much more. The program needed to integrate all of the functions and processes behind the scenes to make it all work. McMullen and her colleagues wanted to be sure that the departments could address the citizens’ needs in a timely and responsive manner, whether it was a report of a pothole that needed repair, a request for empty lot cleanup, or an inquiry for property tax information.

“When you tell the public that they can dial 311 to get information and service, you raise their expectations,” McMullen explains. Reporting tools that are part of the new system now allow access to responsiveness data. Constituent Services Representatives (CSRs) can track open cases in their Lagan Frontlink® system and follow up with the department or person assigned to the case should responsiveness lag. The call center staff also attempts to contact every constituent who initiates a service request to ensure cases were resolved to their satisfaction.

City Personnel Weigh In on 311

Hartford’s 311 call center answers about 400 calls a day – a number that rises close to 800 during tax season. Seventy-five percent are simply requests for information and handled immediately by the CSR who answers the call. Other calls are transferred to the appropriate departments. About 10 percent of calls require further attention, such as service or repair orders or complaints, and are entered as “cases” and referred to the proper department for further action. The call center handles incoming calls for the busiest City departments, including the City’s general number, Tax, Vital Records, Licenses and Inspections, Town Clerk, Public Works, Health and Human Services, and Environmental Health.

The new system also has allowed several City departments to take a closer look at how they do business and make changes to how the work gets done. These departments are currently working on optimizing their work processes to maximize their effectiveness and efficiency. City employees were part of Design Teams that worked with EMA to assess the current work practices. Although department managers were kept informed of what the Design Teams were doing, no managers were actual members of the teams. This allowed Design Team members the opportunity to share new ideas for improved work practices without fear of judgment by management.

At the outset of the optimization process, the City’s two unions put up some resistance. Because of the layoffs the City had endured in the recent past, the unions were suspicious that this was just another downsizing effort. Project leaders agreed that the unions could pick members of the Design Teams that represented the work functions within the department, rather than the department director appointing the members. Project leadership also agreed that there would be no layoffs as a direct result of the project.

“It took a little while to put the relationships in place and to build trust,” McMullen says.

Alex Marcellino
Alex Marcellino
Public Works Assistant Director

Public Works Assistant Director, Alex Marcellino, adds that the benefits they have seen from this decision are great. Many of the recommendations that have come out of the Design Teams have been implemented. Employees have ownership over the new processes, and the relationship between management and the unions is much better than it was before the project began.

Edison Silva
Edison Silva
Project Manager at Licenses and Inspections

Edison Silva, Project Manager at Licenses and Inspections, echoes Marcellino’s comments and adds that the EMA project team also is doing a great job supporting their MUNIS implementation. The MUNIS system will interface with the Frontlink system to allow call center staff access to tax, lien, and permit information. He adds that their goal is to have a functional application where employees throughout the City have the ability to look at one address and get an overview – business licenses, unpaid taxes, permits, etc. During the process redesign, they looked at what was practical. “We had to ask ourselves, ‘Why do we do this?’ and ‘Why do we keep four copies?’ Our challenge now is to institutionalize our new processes.” He says the employees appreciated having their input included this time around.

The 311 system also frees up peoples’ time, explains Marcellino. “Seventy percent of the calls coming into our department are handled at the 311 level,” he says. “This lets us do the work we’re supposed to be doing.” He adds, “the system also helps us prioritize what’s important and the timeframe in which it needs to be completed.”

Vern Matthews
Vern Matthews
Waste and Recycling Department Supervisor

Marcellino, as well as Waste and Recycling Department Supervisor Vern Matthews, appreciate the CSRs representing them at the front line. Matthews, who is a member of the Waste/Recycling/Bulky Design Team, recalls how it was before the 311 implementation. “At the end of the day, I’d have between 30 and 50 calls to address. Now, we have a CSR who can answer peoples’ questions for us, and if a case needs to be opened, we have immediate access to what needs to be done.”

Supervisors can now work from laptops in the field. They pull up case information and GIS maps from their trucks, allowing them to reroute workloads on the fly, rather than having to wait until the next day or when they return to the office.

Bryan West
Bryan West
Waste and Recycling Manager

Immediate access to the case load allows Matthews to provide better responsiveness. If a crew is already in the area when a complaint comes in, he now has the option to provide an immediate response should the situation require it.

Bryan West, Waste and Recycling Manager, has witnessed firsthand the benefits of 311. West oversees his division’s cases to see if trends are developing. For example, if a substitute refuse driver misses part of a route, he can redirect another driver to pick up the route or contact the substitute driver to retrace his steps. He says with the new system, his call load is manageable, and Hartford residents are grateful to get to the right person on the first try.

call 311“I hear, ‘Before, we could never get a person on the line’ from a lot of people I talk to.” West adds that being able to tell people out in the field, “Just call 311, they’ll be able to help you,” makes it a lot easier, too.

Stewart Isaac
Stewart Isaac
Streets Assistant Superintendent

While the new accountability factor scares some, most embrace the opportunity to have tighter control over their work. The systems help them remain more organized and also help offset the effect of their reduced staff. Streets Assistant Superintendent and Design Team member Stewart Isaac says the Design Team members he worked with were not afraid to offer their input and say what they felt. He points to the City’s experience with last fall’s leaf collection program, when the department instituted new work processes and included the line workers’ ideas to work with the Police Department for Tag ‘n’ Tow and also use pay loaders to collect the fallen leaves.

“I’m not stuck in the office all the time,” Issac notes, “and I can initiate cases in the field as I see them.” He appreciates the opportunity to enter his data from his laptop instead of trying to remember job details when he gets back to the office. “We can keep the case notes updated a lot more easily now. This helps with our coordination between other agencies like the electric or phone company, too.”

Hartford’s Human Voice

Gone are the days when residents reach an answering machine when calling City Hall. Dial 311 in Hartford, and you’ll get a real person at the other end of the phone – a CSR who’ll be able to answer a question, route you to the proper department, or open a “case” to request a service, or resolve a problem. Hartford’s 311 system has given the City back its “human voice,” says Rita Ballestas, Call Center Supervisor. “I see the results in our City every day because our 311 system is there to make it happen.”

Being responsive also means being cognizant of the City’s vibrant cultural mix. More than 40 percent of the City’s residents are Spanish speaking. Other ethnic groups who join Hartford’s melting pot include Somali, Afghani, and Bosnian communities. In fact, when you first call the 311 line, an automated attendant asks you which language you prefer – English, Spanish, or other. All call center representatives speak English and most are also fluent Spanish-speakers. The City contracts with AT&T to offer translation services in other languages through their Language Line program, making 311 truly accessible to all who call.

Accountability is Here to Stay

Getting the employees involved and invested in their future is key to the continued success of the 311 initiative, where responsiveness and accountability play a huge role in delivering excellent service and utilizing existing resources the best way possible.

“Effective and efficient customer service is crucial,” says Mayor Perez. “311 cuts down on duplication between departments and helps us get the job done fast and right – the first time.”

Lee Erdmann
Lee Erdmann
Chief Operating Officer

Chief Operating Officer Erdmann admits that the City still has a way to go and looks down the road to the day when all their critical systems are fully integrated. “The need for integrated systems is tremendous,” Erdmann says. “Public sector resources will continue to be constrained going forward. As local administrators, it is incumbent and critical that we provide services as efficiently and effectively as we can – our fiscal crisis is not short-term.”

Eric Jackson, the City’s Chief Information Officer comments that 311 is more than a trend, “It’s a change agent to help us respond better, report better, and work better,” he says, noting that layering business intelligence on top of the basic system has forced them to go “under the hood” to make sure they can deliver. But, it also provides data to help with decision-making, such as if there are certain times of year when departments need to budget for more people, more hours, more money. Jackson also points out, “We have the technology to do it, so it makes sense to utilize systems like 311 that bring the services right to the users.”

The word is out. Hartford’s answering the phone again. Nowadays constituents even call back to thank the CSRs for helping resolve a problem, says Ballestas. McMullen is most proud of the Hartford residents’ response. They frequently corner the Mayor at community events to tell him about their positive experiences with the 311 system.
Hartford has come a long way in a short time – evolving from “we can’t answer your call at the moment, please try again later” to live, responsive service, optimized work practices, and results that have rebuilt peoples’ trust in their City’s ability to get the job done.

HARTstat Holds City Departments Accountable

HARTstatWhen the City’s 311 system officially went on line in mid-2006, it provided a central point of contact for service requests and information for the Hartford community. Now that one year has passed, the call center has answered more than 70,000 calls and only generated 7,958 cases or requests for service that needed to be forwarded to various City departments.

As a continuing part of the City’s Performance Management initiative, HARTstat was born – to identify key issues and objectives and to measure the City’s progress and results.

Service Level Agreements Articulate Accountability Metrics

Each City department that receives case loads from the 311 call center has identified service level standards for their most common service requests. These standards include performance metrics called Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Business rules are used to track service request performance against SLAs. Hartford’s goal is 100 percent compliance.

The SLAs make the connection between customer service and performance management. City residents know what to expect in terms of service, and City workers know what’s expected of them in return.

In monthly meetings, department heads and senior staff meet with Mayor Perez to review their progress and key performance indicators. The 311 statistics are now part of department heads’ performance evaluations. HARTstat helps departments assess their service delivery, monitor progress in completing their objectives, identify problems early, and determine opportunities for improvement.

Each department’s key performance indicators are tracked against the SLAs and reports generated against their targets. Reports are sent out weekly on a subscription basis. Each indicator is tracked to see if it is “On Target,” “Close But Not There,” or “Problem That Needs a Plan.” Looking long term, the operational departments will maintain their continuous improvement process to make sure areas needing to be addressed perform to the level of expectation of the citizens of Hartford.

 

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e-FLUENT
geographic information systems
Seeing Red in Honolulu
Redlining a Welcome Feature of GIS Technology

Skip Heise
William
“Skip” Heise
Program Manager

When is “seeing red” a good thing?

Just ask the Honolulu Board of Water Supply (HBWS) where crews are enjoying expanded mapping and spatial analysis capabilities that now allow them to redline map errors while in the field. It’s one more way that technology is streamlining process and improving efficiencies — even off site.

Running With Technology

Mapping and spatial analysis technology has experienced rapid growth during the past several years. Supporting field crew operations and the mobile workforce, the technology serves a growing population. HBWS is among the many who utilize mapping and spatial analysis expertise, providing the capability to its field crews through mobile-based hardware and software. This advanced mobile GIS software allows field crews to use sophisticated analysis applications, such as automatic identification of values for isolations purposes during main breaks.

The GIS field capabilities have delivered significant benefits to the utility including the ability to:

  • access the most up-to-date infrastructure information
  • view existing water system layout maps
  • display scanned as-built documents and record plans
  • query for specific assets
  • view land parcels, ownership, and easement information
  • distinguish facilities by geographical location (e.g., street name, intersection, address)

Mobile Asset Notebook

Making the most of technological advances, the GIS group at HBWS, along with their consultant team from EMA, Inc., developed an advanced mobile application called Mobile Asset Notebook (MANO), which eliminates the need for paper maps in the field. MANO users simply enter search criteria into their laptops to call up digital maps for the Island of Oahu. Users can zoom in on specific map locations and select infrastructure assets and view their attributes.

Enter Redline Capability

By definition, a “redline” is a marked up and geo-referenced image that communicates changes from the end user (usually a member of the field crew) to the GIS editors at HBWS. When users detect errors on maps, they submit redline notes to GIS editors, who review and correct invalid data or move a feature to its correct location. In addition, crews use redlining to communicate placement of new assets in the water system so that features are created in GIS by the editors.

A key feature of the redlining system is simplicity. End users do not interact directly with the enterprise GIS database, which removes the need for end users to know the specific technical details about a GIS editing interface (such as ArcMap). End users simply use a greatly simplified “paint style” application and draw an image that communicates the required change(s) to those who are more familiar with the GIS editing technology.

The strength of the redlining system is its speed. Map data updates overnight with changes uploading to the mobile unit the next time users connect to the network.

It’s a win-win, as end users are encouraged to continue to utilize the system when they see their edits being integrated into the enterprise GIS expeditiously. Everyone benefits from updated information delivered on the spot through advanced mobile technology.

Redline
The redlining tool (shown above) allows end users to make mapping
corrections quickly and efficiently from the field.

 


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