I N N O V A T I O N D E L I V E R Y T E A M

I M P A C T R E P O R TImproving Customer Service

2012to

2013

Dear City of Atlanta colleagues:

In the current economic climate, the need to do more with less and to innovate is greater than ever. When I took office, I made management excellence and continual improvement in service delivery a priority for the City of Atlanta.

In November 2011, Atlanta was one of five cities selected by Bloomberg Philanthropies to receive support to create an Innovation Delivery Team. For its initial focus, I charged the Team with producing measurable results on two fronts: street homelessness and customer service.

Improving customer service in an organization of over 7,500 employees spread across 26 offices and departments requires discipline and dedication. The Innovation Delivery Team has given the City of Atlanta the capacity to tackle this challenge through a focused, multi-year effort to identify, design, and implement the best ideas for improving our customer service. These ideas relate not only to technology, but also to business processes and internal culture.

This report summarizes the impacts of the Innovation Delivery Team’s efforts on improving the City of Atlanta’s ability to deliver best-in-class customer service—from building out systems to strengthening communications to promoting a culture of excellence and empowering employees to go above and beyond.

With the spring 2014 launch of the City’s first centralized customer service platform, ATL311, we are well on the way to making Atlanta a best-in-class city for customer service. I hope you’ll join me in continuing to work toward making Atlanta the easiest place to live, visit, and do business.

Sincerely,

Kasim Reed

A M E S S A G E F R O M T H E M A Y O R

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

I N N O V A T I O N D E L I V E R Y A P P R O A C HCustomer Service Vision ........................................................................................... 5

B U I L D I N G S Y S T E M S S O L U T I O N SSingle Point of Entry .................................................................................................... 8Performance & Accountability................................................................................. 9

D E S I G N I N G A S E A M L E S S C U S T O M E R E X P E R I E N C E Online Services ............................................................................................................. 11Licensing & Permitting ........................................................................................... 12Case Study: Breaking Down Silos to Serve Businesses Better ........... 13Website User Experience ........................................................................................ 14

C U L T I V A T I N G E X C E L L E N C ECitywide Employee Training ............................................................................... 17City Ideas .......................................................................................................................... 18

The Atlanta Innovation Delivery Team (the “Team”) brings a rigorous focus to the identification, design, and implementation of solutions to top-priority challenges identified by Mayor Kasim Reed. Established through the support of a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Team’s initial focus areas were reducing street homelessness and driving citywide customer service improvements—which resulted in the creation of Atlanta’s first centralized customer service platform, ATL311.

The Innovation Delivery Team has worked to support customer service innovations throughout City Hall by:

• Partnering with department heads and program managers, ensuring that they have the leadership support and resources to pursue projects that go above and beyond everyday operations to helping improve the way the City serves its citizens;

• Bringing fresh perspective to entrenched government processes, with an eye toward overcoming silos and designing seamless customer experiences;

• Working with project teams to set targets and create customer feedback mechanisms.

I N N O V A T I O N D E L I V E R Y A P P R O A C H

Investigate the problem

Generate new ideas

Prepare to deliver

Deliver and adapt

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C U S T O M E R S E R V I C E V I S I O N

City government is transparent and accountable for service delivery.

Multi-departmental processes are designed with the customer in mind.

All employees think about customer service as the most important part of

their job.

The City harnesses the creativity and expertise of staff at all levels to design solutions that save money

or improve services.

Customers can easily find what they’re looking for.

Customers have clear expectations when they

interact with the City.

BUILDING SYSTEMS SOLUTIONSATL311 is a next-generation system that will fundamentally change how residents interact with city government. As part of 311 implementation, new performance management systems are also helping departments make their service delivery more responsive, efficient, and effective.

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IMPACT Customers can call one number or visit one website to find answers and submit service requests.

Photo: ATL311 Call Center Employees, 2013.

Slated to launch in spring 2014, ATL311 will fundamentally change how residents interact with city government. 311 systems allow residents to submit non-emergency requests around the clock. ATL311 will integrate technology like no other 311 system to date, setting the standard for the next generation of municipal call centers.

ATL311 will be the first major municipal 311 system in the U.S. to launch simultaneously across all web and mobile platforms. It’s also one of the first systems to be hosted in the cloud, creating technology management efficiencies and

positioning the system for future scalability and adaptation.

The Innovation Delivery Team incubated ATL311, including recruiting leadership, designing the system, and managing implementation. The Team used a rigorous process to engage every city department in order to understand current work order, intake, and customer relations management systems, and to design the new system to maximize cost efficiencies and leveraging of existing assets.

S I N G L E P O I N T O F E N T R Y

FOR Atlanta Performance Dashboard, 2013

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In 2012, the Innovation Delivery Team began engaging departments across the city to understand their current business processes. The Team worked with each of the City’s 26 departments to map and improve over 200 core service delivery processes.

The Focus on Results (FOR) Atlanta Team then worked with departments to set targets for over 150 key performance indicators. With the launch of 311, the city’s service level agreements for common requests will be communicated to customers up front, and departments will be held accountable for ensuring high levels of

customer service—with a target of completing 90 percent of all services within a timeline committed to citizens up front.

The technology system being developed for 311 will also allow for the creation of big data performance analytics, which will inform continued improvements in intake, service delivery, and resource allocation.

P E R F O R M A N C E & A C C O U N T A B I L I T Y

IMPACT As of October 2013, departments are now completing common service requests on time 90 percent of the time.

D E S I G N I N GC U S TO M E R E X P E R I E N C ECommunications, application processes, and online services are being designed with the user experience in mind—drawing on lessons from the private sector.

IMPACT Customers can now apply for permits and pay fees for special events and other key services online.

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Photo: Screenshot of the Special Events Portal, 2013.

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Across the City, departments use a variety of different application and payment systems. The majority require customers to pay in-person or by check, or to pay a convenience fee for online bill pay.

The Innovation Delivery Team worked with the Department of Information Technology and Mayor’s Office of Special Events to bring their manual application intake and processing practices online. Previously, event organizers had to come to City Hall to pick up and fill out their event

application and pay fees with a money order or cashier’s check. The new portal allows event organizers to open a user account to manage all their event applications.

This solution is now being adopted by other departments, including Watershed Management, Procurement, and Revenue.

O N L I N E S E R V I C E S

IMPACT Requirements for licensing and permitting processes are more clearly communicated—reducing unnecessary trips to City Hall for customers and eliminating customer error to expedite the review process.

L I C E N S I N G & P E R M I T T I N G

The City’s business license and building permitting process help ensure that businesses comply with our zoning, building code, and other safety regulations. However, because these processes require the involvement of multiple city departments, navigating licensing and permitting is particularly challenging for customers.

In order to ensure that the City is doing everything it can to make Atlanta the best place to do business, the Team worked with key departments to demystify our licensing and permitting functions to better set customer expectations, simplify intake, and clarify inter-departmental handoffs.

Licensing and permitting projects included:

• Creating F.A.Q.s and step-by-step how-to guides• Redesigning website content to be more customer-focused• Simplifying and “error-proofing” applications• Updating call-center communications processes• Creating inter-departmental process maps to clarify coordination around

customer service, payment processing, and citation issuance.

Highlights of performance improvements achieved include:

• 25 percent reduction in the number of erroneous building inspections• 66 percent reduction in paperwork required to complete an alcohol license

application• 60 percent reduction in hang-ups received on the Police Department’s non-

emergency line

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In August 2013, the Innovation Delivery Team hosted an inter-departmental meeting that brought together staff involved in licensing, permitting, and enforcement processes to discuss opportunities for serving businesses better.

The departments and offices represented included Buildings, Zoning, Site Development, Planning, Fire and Rescue, Code Enforcement, and Revenue. Representatives from the Fulton County Health Department also attended.

During the meeting, the Team facilitated an exercise using a piece of string to illustrate all of the handoffs between customers and City staff. To frame the discussion, the Team used the scenario of a

small business owner looking to open a new restaurant.

The meeting helped facilitate personal connections between staff in coordinating departments. It also helped participants understand how complex the process can be for customers.

As a result of the meeting, several participants decided to form an interdepartmental working group to continue exploring opportunities to improve the City’s customer service for businesses. One idea they’re exploring is the possibility of creating a “one-stop shop” that would consolidate all of the city’s customer service functions related to small businesses in one center.

C A S E S T U D Y : B R E A K I N G D O W N S I L O S T O S E R V E B U S I N E S S E S B E T T E R

Photo: Interdepartmental Process Mapping Meeting, 2013.

In 2013, the Team partnered with the Office of Communications to redesign the residents, businesses, and visitors landing pages of www. atlantaga.gov. These pages now feature bundles of links organized into 25 intuitive categories—dramatically improving website navigability for residents, businesses, and visitors.

Using web analytics, user survey results, and department content inventories, the Team identified top-priority customer content and then

created intuitive, easy-to-navigate landing pages with customer-focused bundles of links.

The Team also coordinated a web content training program for public information officers, who then applied customer-focused content principles to update over 80 web pages.

W E B S I T E U S E R E X P E R I E N C E

Photo: Screenshot of the Residents Tab at AtlantaGA.gov, 2013.

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D E S I G N W A S I N F O R M E D B Y :• Best practice review• User survey (link available on every page of www.atlantaga.gov)• User testing with interns• Analytics data about the most commonly visited sites• Content inventory conducted by department public information officers• Consultations with national and local user experience experts

IMPACT All customer-focused content is now available within 2-3 clicks from the home page.

Photo: Screenshot of the Business Tab at AtlantaGA.gov, 2013.

C U LT I VAT I N GE XC E L L E N C EAn organization is only as strong as the people who work in it. Between 2012 and 2013, the Innovation Delivery Team helped elevate the City’s commitment to employee excellence through new customer service training and employee idea generation programs.

IMPACT More than 90 percent of employees completed Customer C.A.R.E. training in 2013. The program has since been incorporated into HR’s new employee orientation program.

Photo: ATL26 Coverage of the CARE Program at New Employee Orientation, 2013.

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C I T Y W I D E E M P L O Y E E T R A I N I N GThe Team partnered with the Department of Human Resources to provide Customer C.A.R.E. (“Courtesy And Respect Every day”) training to all City employees. The training was part of a larger communications effort to promote greater consistency and standards in how employees interact

with customers—and to reinforce the idea that customer service is an essential part of every employee’s job. The Team also facilitated the adoption of the City’s first ever Customer Service Bill of Rights.

C U S T O M E R B I L L O F R I G H T SThe Right to Courteous Treatment: Our Customers have the right to prompt, friendly, honest and respectful service;

The Right to Know Who You Are Dealing With: Our Customers have the right to know the name of the City of Atlanta Employees and the Department or Office who assist them;

The Right to Have Your Question/Complaint Heard: Our Customers have the right to receive a response to their questions and concerns about City services and ensure that these questions and requests are correctly understood;

The Right to Easy Access: Our Customers have the right to easily access clear and concise information, or be appropriately referred, when contacting the City with inquiries or requests related to City services and products;

The Right to Responsive Service: Our Customers have the right to receive responsive and timely service to their inquiries and requests from all City employees;

The Right to Fair Service Delivery: Our Customers have the right to consistent and fair application of City products, services, codes and rules; without consideration to economic, social or cultural conditions or position.

With the support of the Innovation Delivery Team, Mayor Kasim Reed launched City Ideas to spur innovative thinking at all levels of city government. City Ideas challenged city employees to share their best ideas on how to reduce waste, cut red tape, and save money.

An online platform allowed employees to submit and vote on ideas, and a team of employees from across the city evaluated submissions based on feasibility, sustainability, impact, and popularity. The top ideas received monetary awards based on projected cost savings and/or other positive impacts.

C I T Y I D E A S

Photo: Screenshot of the City Ideas website Ideas.AtlantaGA.gov, 2013.

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C I T Y I D E A S W I N N E R S

DEPLOY INMATES TO CLEAN AND CLOSE ABANDON AND BLIGHTED PROPERTIES Major Byron Lecounte, Department of CorrectionsDepartment of Corrections creates three inmate teams to focus exclusively on cleaning and closing abandoned properties. This saves the City money on external clean and closure contractors. This helps the City maintain urban environments in well ordered conditions to stop vandalism and the escalation of more serious crimes.5-YEAR SAVINGS: $2.3M

IMPLEMENT A PAY-AS-YOU-THROW PROGRAMSharon Douglas, TK Position, Department of Aviation

Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) treats trash services just like electricity, gas and other utilities where you pay different rates depending on the amount of service you use. This saves the City money by decreasing traditional trash amounts and increasing recycling.5-YEAR SAVINGS: $20M

IMPLEMENT E-RECORDS FOR BUSINESSES AND CITIZENSHannah Molette, TK Position Department of Information Technology

This program allows for all for all residents and businesses within the City of Atlanta to register with the City to receive all communication electronically. By placing water bills, business renewals, tax payments, and other city communications online, the City saves money on postage and processing cost, while offering a better customer experience.5-YEAR SAVINGS: $2.7M

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IMPACT Implementation of CityIdeas projects could save the City of Atlanta up to $25 million over the next five years.

We must do better, whether it is taking care of that pothole on the street or answering your questions when called. Every encounter with an employee or official must be one that inspires confidence.

- Mayor Kasim Reed 2009 Inaugural Address

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Available at www.atlantaga.gov

Report compiled by the Innovation Delivery Team, 2014.

Kristin Wilson, DirectorStephanie Hodges

Joanne ButlerRic Geyer

Emily LiebLillie Madali

Adam McFarland