TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
THRU: Douglas J. Hewett, ICMA-CM, City Manager
Telly Whitfield, PhD, ICMA-CM Candidate, Assistant City Manager
FROM: Chris Lowery, MBA, Strategic & Performance Analytics Manager
Dr. Gerald Newton, DEL, AICP, Development Services Director
DATE: 10/3/2022
RE:
Title
Development Services - Permitting & Inspections Customer Journey
end
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Council District(s)
ALL
b
Relationship To Strategic Plan:
Goal 5: Financially sound City providing exemplary city services
Objective 5.2: To identify and achieve efficiencies through innovation and technology utilization, by increasing data-driven decisions and using business intelligence strategies
Goal 6: Collaborative Citizen and Business Engagement
Objective 6.2: To ensure trust and confidence in City government through transparency & high-quality customer service
As the City of Fayetteville continues to grow and thrive, the Development Services Department continues to work toward extending the positive, collective efficacy of all parts of its processes and service deliverables for its partners in development and construction activity. Development Services constantly work towards continuous improvement to provide exemplary City services with exceptional customer service. This “Customer Journey” process highlights the continuous improvement process of staff through the external review of a consultant.
Executive Summary:
The City of Fayetteville desires to be a premier customer-focused development-friendly community that sustains quality growth through an atmosphere of excellent customer service. The Development Services Department - Permitting & Inspections Division is continually improving its services to make its processes more effective, transparent, personal, and efficient. This includes the interactions with and perceptions of our customers.
The Office of Strategy and Performance Analytics (SPA) vetted many consultants to help with the review of multiple profiles on the customer’s journey in permitting and inspections. These activities included process improvements, a review of the division’s customer service, and communication with stakeholders. In November 2021, the City chose Zelos, a small, woman-owned business, to design and facilitate two (2) days of events. The consultant’s intent was to learn more about how the customers of the Permitting & Inspections Division feel about their staff interactions and experience. The journey took customers from the process of plan submittal to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy on the large scale and simple homeowner permits on the lesser scale. In collaboration with Zelos, the City offered in-person and virtual customer focus groups. We also facilitated a “customer journey” session with all staff to help uncover process inefficiencies and highlight customer pain points. It was well received and helped employees understand that the customer journey is unique to all and created an opportunity to focus on helping others (being a responsibility of everyone).
In early 2022, the City Manager’s Office requested additional facilitated sessions to explore and make decisions about the next steps. Through several facilitated meetings, City leadership and staff in the relevant departments discussed and identified new ideas to pursue within the Permitting & Inspections Division. Included in this was a review of activities that existed and were already underway to improve customer service. This is a continuous improvement approach that is consistent within the department.
In July 2022, Zelos and SPA offered four (4) scheduled facilitated Virtual sessions -offered at various times of the day and days of the week. These sessions were designed to share, request feedback, and allow City leadership the opportunity to answer questions and speak about the work the City consistently accomplishes. SPA sorted and communicated with many customers to inform and invite their participation in the Virtual sessions which were facilitated by the consultant. The consultant will be providing the final review at this October City Council work session to close and complete this initiative.
Background:
The City Manager’s Office directed SPA to use QuEST (Six Sigma) process improvement methodologies to review the current processes of Development Services’ Permitting & Inspections and other City departments (i.e. Public Services and Fire Department) related to construction. The focus was on the customer experience from pulling a permit for vertical construction to occupying the structure. This was facilitated by Zelos, with SPA coordinating their work.
Issues/Analysis:
None
Budget Impact:
None
Options:
Receive the report
Do not receive the report & provide staff further direction.
Recommended Action:
Staff recommends that City Council move to: Receive the report.
Attachments:
Zelos-Customer Journey Council Presentation.pdf