With limited, and shrinking, revenue streams, budgets deficits, increasing costs, talks of tax and fee increases, businesses moving out of the community, limited staff being drained by workload, citizens complaining on the quality of services, local governments need to develop an environment of Continuous Process Improvement [CPI].
OK, so What is CPI?
Simply stated, CPI is a structured, ongoing approach to identifying and eliminating inefficiencies in operations. For local governments it’s using taxpayer dollars more efficiently and effectively. streamlining all workflows, leveraging available data and technology, while continuously adapting to meet the changing needs of the local government and community. CPI focuses on developing a culture of change, a culture embracing new ideas, a culture incremental improvement focusing on delivering top quality services to the community, saving the local government funds, and improving transparency among staff and with the community; it is not a “one-time-fix.” So, the question becomes how? How to develop an environment of CPI?
It Starts With Leadership Buy-in and Training:
Leadership must have a buy-in on CPI, or it will never work. All Leadership, need to support the central ideas of CPI; which are to improved efficiency, streamlined processes to free up overworked staff, and reduce the need to hire more staff, Cost reduction by eliminating waste and duplication, increased community service delivery, mitigate risk, increase in employee and community satisfaction, and show a transparency in operations.
For CPI to be successful, all Leadership and Staff must be trained in CPI principles. Training at all staff levels is very important. Many local governments believe such training is valuable to the leadership, that’s far from the truth. When I was in Officer Training School [what we loving called ‘knife and fork school’] with the Army Guard [all Military Services are big on CPI], a Colonel told us, “When you get to your first duty station, look directly at the Corporal/Sergeant and say, ‘I like my coffee black, and reports on my desk first thing in the morning’ and walk away.” Her point was, everyone from the Private to the to the Sergeant knows more about what they do than you will ever know, they understand CPI, and trust when they say something is not working right.
There are many CPI professional who would be happy to develop training. You can also find training through organizations like the American Society of Quality [ASQ], the Six Sigma Global Institute [SSGI], and Transforming Solutions, Inc [STI] to name just a few.
Conclusion:
Developing a solid environment of CPI in your local government [be it Couthy or City], with a solid buy-in from all levels of leadership, and training for all staff at any level, you will see positive results. Keep in mind, depending on how you progress, training can be a bit pricey. Training takes time, so don’t be upset with not getting instant results. There are ways of getting quick wins, but they may be small, but impactful. Larger wins will come as the culture moves deep and deeper into CPI.
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