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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2.b. Process Improvement Committee EXECUTIVE SUMMARY City Council Work Session: September 12, 2017 AGENDA ITEM: Process Improvement Committee AGENDA SECTION: Discussion PREPARED BY: Clarissa Hadler, City Clerk AGENDA NO. 2.b. ATTACHMENTS: PIC Mission, Roles & Goals, “Celebrate Some Wins”, PIC Newsletters, “Identifying and Removing Process Waste” APPROVED BY: LJM RECOMMENDED ACTION: Discussion Item Only SUMMARY In 2016, various staff members at the city organized a grassroots effort to improve business processes and stay connected regarding upgrades to certain software systems. The efforts dwindled for a while, but was recently revived as the Process Improvement Committee. The committee meets every two weeks and is working to make our office processes more efficient, save money, and improve customer service. The committee has organized a quarterly user group and also sends out an “Innovate Rosemount” newsletter. One set of tools used to create efficiencies are Laserfiche Forms and Workflow. These products are designed to automate the movement of data through the Laserfiche document management system in order to decrease the amount of “paper shuffling” in the office. Laserfiche Forms can also be used by external users (businesses/residents), to decrease the amount of data entry done by city staff. We have a few “success stories” to share that illustrate greater efficiencies and cost savings, as well as a number of internal forms processes in the works to replace paper payroll and other existing forms. Mission, Roles & Goals (Updated 7/24/2017) Mission Statement The mission of the City of Rosemount Process Improvement Committee is to serve as a resource, facilitator and thought leader to address a broad range of information technology and process- related opportunities and issues. These opportunities and issues include those affecting internal end-users of a broad spectrum of technologies, services and business processes, as well as public end-users of city processes, such as residents and businesses. The goals of any innovation shall be to improve efficiencies and workloads, provide a better customer experience to end-users, and maximize the City’s financial resources. Roles o Committee Members shall make efforts to; o innovate within their own position when possible, o learn about processes and tools available to them, o share these with others in their department and the organization as a whole, o advocate for process improvement in the organization, and o actively participate in the committee activities and/or projects. Goals o Each Committee member shall submit one article each month for use in the Newsletter. o Group will host quarterly User Group to train employees on use of technology tools and innovation. o Group will be “sounding board” for ideas for innovating in the organization. Celebrate Some Forms & Workflow Wins! The following are examples of Laserfiche Forms and Workflows that are currently being utilized on a regular basis. Election Judges - Signup Forms / Automated Emails & Documents / Database • Election Judge Application Form get submitted and saved to Laserfiche entry w/ metadata. • Once Clerk assigns polling place and time, runs Workflow that creates PDF with their assignment, emails to them (or printed and mailed), and retained in a folder in Laserfiche. • Workflow reminder emails also sent. Other Forms used for training signups, feedback survey, etc. • Same type of system is also being utilized for Cities of Dakota County Laserfiche User Group and Employee Database. • Benefits: Replaced separate Election Judge database software, for savings of $6000 per year, mimics much of functionality of that expensive software, such as automated emails and form- letters. Building Report Data Request Subscription (Workflow) • Staff receives a reminder email the first of every month to submit the report. • Clerk runs report in Excel, saves to Desktop using predetermined naming convention, and drags into the submission folder in Laserfiche. • Workflow “sees” the new file and runs subscription workflow o grabs the dates from the file name o applies metadata o renames o finds subscriber entries and retrieves their info o Sends email with report attached to each o Saves copy to Data Requests folder for retention. • Benefits: Less time sending reports and more consistent filing of reports in Laserfiche. Public Notices (Forms / Workflow) • As public notice affidavits are received from publisher, they are scanned to a network drive. • When ready, Ginny submits Form 1, which triggers Workflow 1. o Imports scans from the network folder. o Saves to “New Notices”, notifies Clerk. o Clerk opens each and applies appropriate metadata. o If necessary, file will go to the department secretary for appropriate accounting code. o Notice moves to the “Ready for PO” file and waits. • When Invoice from publisher arrives, Ginny submits Form 2, which triggers Workflow 2 o Retrieves Invoice date and number from Form o Retrieves each Notice metadata o Fills in PDF Purchase Order o Notifies Clerk so PO can be printed and signed. • Benefits: Took one person out of the process, removed paper-shuffling b/t staff, no more hand-writing Purchase Order. Building Scan Imports • Volunteers have been scanning large building scans for a couple of years. They are saved to a network folder. • Staff devised naming convention that allows for automatic creation of metadata. • Workflow imports each file, uses folder name to input metadata and file each scan into correct address file in Laserfiche. • Benefits: No need for manual import into Laserfiche, increased speed with which building plans are imported into Laserfiche, and consistency with which they filed. Repetitive Laserfiche Filing • Workflow recognizes addition of certain types of files in a particular folder. • Using file name, renames file, applies metadata where appropriate, and moves to appropriate folder in Laserfiche. • Benefits: Increased consistency in naming of files, decreased time taken to file. Resolution Submission • Staff submits Resolution via Forms. • Resolution is saved to Laserfiche. • Workflow counts current number of resolutions and assigns next number to submitted resolution. • Renames file and moves to resolutions folder. • Clerk then manually changes Word document to reflect numbering and prints for signature. • Benefits: Increased speed and consistency of importing Resolutions to Laserfiche. Minutes Reminder / Submission / Filing • Workflow sends reminder to secretaries to submit meeting minutes. • Staff submits Form with Minutes. • Workflow files minutes in appropriate folder. • Sends email to Communications to upload Minutes to website. • Benefits: Increased speed, regularity and consistency of filing Minutes to multiple Laserfiche folders and uploading to the City website. INNOVATE ROSEMOUNT A newsletter brought to you by the City of Rosemount Process Improvement Committee Introducing the Process Improvement Committee Do you ever see a process and think to yourself, “There has GOT to be a better way to do this ”? We do, too! In an effort to make a number of city processes more efficient, we have come together as a grassroots effort to lead the way in innovation in our organization. Whether it is with newly found tools in Laserfiche and peripheral software, learning new tricks in Excel, or an entirely new software, we would like to help make all of our work lives easier. Some of our goals include being a sounding board for ideas for innovation, hosting quarterly Innovation user group meetings, and advocating for process improvement within the organization. PIC members include Sandi Amundson, Lacelle Cordes, Aaron Menza, Jackie Berg, Jennie Loeffler, Clarissa Hadler, Stacy Bodsberg, Amy Roudebush, Erin Fasbender, Karin Kladar, and Jayson Solberg. Sticky Notes When it comes to keeping your life organized – Erin uses “Sticky Notes” on my desktop. Sticky Notes comes pre-installed from Windows 7 onwards and can easily be accessed by clicking Start and typing “sticky notes.” Once it’s open, there are a few basic things you should know about straight away: Create separate notes by clicking the small ‘+’ symbol at the top left of the Sticky Note window. Change the color of a note by right -clicking it and selecting another color. Resize a note by left-click-dragging any of its edges. https://www.maketecheasier.com/windows -sticky-notes -tips/ Laserfiche Folder Shortcuts Are there certain folders that you use more often in Laserfiche? You can get to them lickity-split by creating desktop shortcuts to your most -used. Just click on the folder in Laserfiche and drag it to your desktop. It ’s THAT easy! Is there a folder you file documents to regularly? Ask Clarissa about creating an automated filing workflow for you! Snipping Tool Delay Some of you might recall Clarissa’s excitement at discovering the Snipping Tool. It was hiding there in plain site for soooo long. Imagine her thrill in finding that you can actually DELAY the capture window of the snipping tool in the Windows 10 version! This is great for snipping a pic of drop -down menus that would otherwise hide when you start the snipping tool. Just choose your delay (in seconds), click New, then click on the pop -out or drop -down menu you want to capture and drag your snipping box. (I wonder what she’ll find in a couple years when she clicks that Options box??) Excel Shortcut Keys City of Rosemount - Innovation Committee cityclerk@ci.rosemount.mn.us (Submit article requests here.) 2875 145th Street West, Rosemount, MN 55068 (651) 322-2003 Committee Members: Sandi Amundson, Jackie Berg, Stacy Bodsberg, Erin Fasbender, Clarissa Hadler, Karin Kladar, Jennie Loeffler, Aaron Menza, Amy Roudebush, Jayson Solberg The mission of the City of Rosemount Process Improvement Committee is to serve as a resource, facilitator and thought leader to address a broad range of information technology and process-related opportunities and issues. These opportunities and issues include those affecting internal end-users of a broad spectrum of technologies, services and business processes, as well as public end-users of city processes, such as residents and businesses. The goals of any innovation shall be to improve efficiencies and workloads, provide a better customer experience to end-users, and maximize the City’s financial resources. 7/28/2017 Rosemount Idea Box Do you have an innovative idea you would like to share with the organization? Submit your ideas to the new “Rosemount Idea Box” at http://rs- forms.ci.rosemount.mn.us:81/Forms/ ideabox. Use this online form to submit any workplace comments or suggestions for improvements regarding processes, procedures, policies, or services. These submissions will be provided to management, so if you prefer to remain anonymous, simply do not provide your name. Monthly drawings will be held of all valid submissions. Why Innovate?? Here’s an article w/ some reasons that may or may not apply to you. http:// innovationexcellence.com/blog/2016/01/05/6 - reasons -innovation -is-a-survival -skill/. Personally... We do it because it ’s fun! INNOVATE ROSEMOUNT A newsletter brought to you by the City of Rosemount Process Improvement Committee Featured Process Improvement - Clarissa Hadler After one of the Laserfiche User Groups this summer, Sandi Amundson & Derick Anderson approached me to chat about a process they share for new construction “asbuilts”, which are the final survey of a building after it is built. The current process includes verbal notifications, paper shuffling, internal and external emails, ink stamps, purchase orders, etc. Derick and Sandi both felt this process could be improved upon, so with their input I designed a system of Laserfiche Forms and Workflows that automate the tasks above. Laserfiche Forms is a web-based software for capturing and routing forms. Laserfiche Workflow is a script-writing software used to automate digital tasks. The new process is triggered automatically when a permit is scanned, and most processes are managed and tracked through Laserfiche Forms. Tasks like emails, data lookups, and purchase order generation are done with Laserfiche Workflow. The Asbuilt process has gone from multiple manual tracking processes and paper shuffling to fully digital, with automatic movement of the documents to appropriate persons in the process and automatic notifications to both internal staff and the builder. At any time, Derick and Sandi can see the asbuilts tasks pending in their Forms “Inbox”. In addition, any staff assigned rights may view reports of all of the asbuilts past, present, in progress, complete, deposits paid or refunded, etc. Click here for the whole story! Microsoft Outlook Tips Outlook Tip: Add Attachments to Email Using Drag & Drop  Click on the “New E-mail”  Go to the location where you have saved the file you wish to attach  Drag and Drop the file in the email message  Drag-and-drop attaching works with multiple files as well: highlighting all the desired documents and drop them into outlook. Outlook Tip: Creating Appointments from an Email  Drag the email to the Calendar folder, and Outlook automatically creates a new appointment with the same subject line from the email as the title of your appointment. The text from the email appears in its entirety in the notes section. Pictometry Oblique Imagery Oblique imagery is aerial imagery captured at an angle of 40 to 45 degrees, designed to provide a more natural perspective and make objects easier to recognize and interpret. Oblique aerial images captured from the north, south, east, and west directions offer a 360 -degree view of every property and parcel. Interested in Learning more? Contact Aaron. (aaron.menza@ci.rosemount.mn.us) Rosemount Idea Box Do you have an innovative idea you would like to share with the organization? Submit your ideas to the new “Rosemount Idea Box” at https://rs-forms.ci.rosemount.mn.us/Forms/ideabox. Use this online form to submit any workplace comments or suggestions for improvements regarding processes, procedures, policies, or services. These submissions will be provided to management, so if you prefer to remain anonymous, simply do not provide your name. Monthly drawings will be held of all valid submissions. City of Rosemount - Innovation Committee cityclerk@ci.rosemount.mn.us (Submit article requests here.) 2875 145th Street West, Rosemount, MN 55068 (651) 322-2003 Committee Members: Sandi Amundson, Jackie Berg, Stacy Bodsberg, Erin Fasbender, Clarissa Hadler, Karin Kladar, Jennie Loeffler, Aaron Menza, Amy Roudebush, Jayson Solberg The mission of the City of Rosemount Process Improvement Committee is to serve as a resource, facilitator and thought leader to address a broad range of information technology and process-related opportunities and issues. These opportunities and issues include those affecting internal end-users of a broad spectrum of technologies, services and business processes, as well as public end-users of city processes, such as residents and businesses. The goals of any innovation shall be to improve efficiencies and workloads, provide a better customer experience to end-users, and maximize the City’s financial resources. 9/5/2017 Identifying and Removing Process Waste The first step - and sometimes the most difficult - is seeing the waste! Defects The effort involved in inspecting for and fixing defects, errors, and mistakes. Examples  Data errors, typos & lost records  Delivering information or materials to the wrong location  Missing or incomplete information on forms Overproduction Producing more products or services than the customer needs or downstream process can use right away. Examples  More staff working or attending meetings than is needed  Doing work not required  Sending unnecessary emails  Batching and bottlenecks Waiting Idle time created when material, information, people, or equipment is not ready. Examples  Approval queues  Waiting for decisions or services  Waiting for customer information, supplies or copies Non-utilized Staff Talent Not adequately leveraging peoples’ skills, creativity and talents. Examples  Staff hired to do “x”, but spending time on “y”  Lack of innovation  Not involving staff in solving problems and ensuring CI Typical Causes  Missing and incorrect information  Unclear or complex process  Unclear roles and responsibilities  Confusing instructions or req.  Voice of the customer absent  Poor or inappropriate equipment, materials or supplies Typical Causes  Unclear customer requirements  Uneven work flow  Poor workflow process  Poor worker distribution  Different staff skills, productivity, or work difficulty Typical Causes  Missing and incorrect information  Unclear or confusing process  Unclear roles and responsibilities  "System" downtime  Signature requirements  Not leveraging technology  Lack of workers/service providers Typical Causes  Lack of awareness of CI principles, approaches, and tools  Unclear or confusing process  Not delegating work  Unclear or inappropriate job descriptions or duties Solutions  Apply problem solving tools  Verify customer requirements  Create standard work  Error proof (poka-yoke)  Apply “Plain Language”  Automate forms - put in hard stops that don’t allow partial information  Require all information up front  Track & share accuracy measures Solutions  Verify customer requirements and align process with req.  Use one step process flow  Use “Effective Meetings” tool  Apply “Plain Language”  Revise process schedule to even out workload  Assign more staff or shift roles and responsibilities at peak times Solutions  Require all information up front  Combine tasks or functions to eliminate handoffs and waits  Use concurrent process  Apply 5S  Co-locate work to minimize wait due to transportation/motion  Eliminate non-value added steps  Maintain equipment and machinery Solutions  Set clear performance expectations  Coach and train employees  Provide tools and resources  Ask staff “What can I do to support your work and remove barriers to improvement?”  Engage staff in a CI project  See where the work is done, ask questions, & learn (go to Gemba) March 2015 | Minnesota Office of Continuous Improvement | Learn more at mn.gov/CI Transportation Moving products, equipment, materials, information, or people from one place to another. Examples  Routing documents  Paperwork hand-offs  Carrying or retrieving files  Transporting patients  Site inspections Inventory/Storage Unnecessary storage of information and materials or more information and materials than is needed. Examples  Storing the same document in many places  Backlog (work in process)  Obsolete databases/files/folders  Unread or undeleted emails  Supplies you do not use Motion Unnecessary movement of workers and tools that takes time, uses energy, and may create health and safety issues. Examples  Trips to copier  Looking through cabinets for needed supplies  Walking to find people  Extra computer clicks Extra Processing Process steps that do not add value to the product or service, including doing work beyond a customer’s specifications. Examples  Signatures  Preparing an elaborate report when a data table will do  Forms with unused data fields  Bureaucratic language  Re-entering or checking data Typical Causes  Transportation not viewed as a waste  Distance and physical structure  Staff turnover/relocation  New or replaced equipment  Poor planning and communication Typical Causes  Batching work  Not using one-process flow  Technology systems that take time to access  Not leveraging technology  Over-ordering Typical Causes  Manual process – not leveraging technology  Non-ergonomic work area  Poor visual management  Linear (consecutive) process  Distance and physical structure  Information silos Typical Causes  Past practices; culture does not question the status quo  Standard work is not aligned with the voice of the customer  Lack of trust/ control issues  Poor communication  Not leveraging technology Solutions  Leverage technology (allow staff to telecommute)  Only order what you will use  Collect data to understand transportation problems (spaghetti map)  Analyze data to determine root causes before defining solutions Solutions  Use one-step process flow  Revise process steps and schedule to even out workload  Assign more staff or shift roles and responsibilities at peak times  Don’t over order  Investigate variations in the time it takes employees to perform the same task (takt time) Solutions  Leverage technology  Use concurrent process  Apply 5S  Co-locate work  Clarify process requirements for those upstream and downstream  Move people closer together to enhance communication and collaboration Solutions  Identify customer requirements and align work with req.  Delete or automate signature requirements  Know which process steps add value and eliminate non-value added steps (Quick Hits)  Apply “Plain Language”  Automate where appropriate