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7.0. EDSR 02-13-1995 Aik ELK RIVER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEMORANDUM TO: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY FROM: WILLIAM RUBIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTO/4\K_ DATE: FEBRUARY 13, 1995 SUBJECT: NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT On November 15, 1994, the EDA accepted a proposal from Training Networks, Inc., to undertake a needs assessment of the City's review and permitting process. The needs assessment involved four groups of participants: 1. Confidential interviews with department heads and the City Administrator. 2. Two confidential focus groups with City support staff and • representatives from Elk River Municipal Utilities. 3. Land developers and contractors which comprised a Task Force established by the Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce. 4. Land developers and business operators that have had recent experiences with the City's review and permitting procedures. Training Networks identified five major issues (not prioritized): 1. There are two schools of thought about serving business development in Elk River. One approach seeks to provide a fair and predictable process to every client;the other approach seeks to provide personalized service to make development and business expansion in Elk River easy and attractive. The differences between these two values have not been resolved, and therefore, the differences present the potential for subtle conflict and uncertain communication. 2. While every employee strives to serve the clients to the best of their ability, there does not seem to be an articulated and consistent philosophy about "customer service" in the City staff. P.O. Box 490 • 13065 Orono Parkway • Elk River, MN 55330-1743 • (612) 441-7420 • Fax: (612) 441-7425 Equal Opportunity Housing and Equal Opportunity Employment • 3. The City needs to define its relationship with land developers and business operators so that there is better understanding and cooperation between the two groups. This will likely result in a positive business climate in Elk River. 4. Teamwork could be improved internally, both intra- and inter- departmentally. 5. City staff sees opportunities to improve procedures at their level. Implementing these improvements is contingent upon Item#1, above. Training Networks accurately identified the specific concerns of the various groups (land developers and business operators,department heads and Administrator, staff support and Municipal Utilities, etc.). In addition, a variety of suggestions and recommendations are outlined in the Report. They have been categorized under the topics of customer service, the review and permitting process itself, and communication. Further, Training Networks strongly recommends that various City employees discuss these issues and develop implementation plans. To ensure objectivity, these sessions would likely have to be facilitated and coordinated by a neutral person. It was also strongly recommended that the City invest in appropriate staffing and ip training. Potential workshops to build a consistent customer service orientation include topics such as teamwork skills, phone communication techniques, internal training of the "process", and customer service in the government, etc. In summary, through its contract with Training Networks, the EDA has successfully flushed out various issues related to the City's review and permitting procedures. Many of the specific suggestions can be easily addressed through a commitment by the City to invest in appropriate staffing and training for its employees. Action Requested The EDA is asked to recommend to the Elk River City Council that it consider implementing a number of the findings and conclusions from the Needs Assessment Report submitted by Training Networks, Inc. These recommendations would include retaining a neutral person to provide objectivity in future intra- and inter-departmental sessions. This recommendation should be forwarded to the City Council as soon as it practical. • • NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT FOR THE CITY OF ELK RIVER, MINNESOTA By Lee Colby, Lee Colby and Associates and Sandy Bower, Training Networks Submitted: Feb. 1, 1995 • NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT FOR THE CITY OF ELK RIVER, MINNESOTA By Lee Colby, Lee Colby and Associates and Sandy Bower, Training Networks OVERVIEW As the City of Elk River becomes an outer ring suburb of the Twin Cities metropolitan area, it faces the normal challenges of any rapidly growing organization --initiating, implementing and adjusting to changes. For cities this often means responding to increasing demands for service without raising taxes. Elk River intends to encourage economic growth while maintaining its attractive "small town" quality, and the municipal services are the primary transmitter of that message. Responding to recent informal feedback from individual developers and the Elk River Chamber of Commerce, the City has undertaken an examination of the internal processes that impact the economic development of the city. This needs assessment is a first step in gaining a broad perspective on the processes that deliver economic development services, such as the applications, Concept Review, inspections, permitting, regulations, hearings and various communication processes. NEEDS ASSESSMENT PARTICIPANTS The needs assessment involved four groups of people: 1. Individual interviews with six City department managers and the City Administrator 2. Two focus groups with City support staff and two representatives from the municipal utility. 3. Four business developers and contractors from the Chamber of Commerce 4. Five business people who have worked with the City in the past five years in • developing land, enlarging their place of business, establishing their business in Elk River, etc. This report summarizes the input from each group, identifies the major issues from each group, and offers the consultants' observations . MAJOR ISSUES Both individual and group participation was spirited and covered many topics. The following issues seem to be the major concerns of the people who contributed to the needs assessment. They are not prioritized. 1. There are two schools of thought about serving business development in Elk River. The differences between the two schools have not been worked through, and therefore present the potential for subtle conflict and uncertain communication. 2. Although each individual strives to service customers to the best of their ability, 1111 there does not seem to be an articulated and consistent philosophy about customer service in the City staff. 3. The City needs to define its relationship with business developers so that there is better understanding and cooperation between the two groups and a positive business climate in Elk River. 4. Teamwork could be improved internally, both intra- and inter-departmentally. 5. Staff sees opportunities to improve procedures at their level. This step is contingent on No. 1 above. • page 2 • NEEDS ASSESSMENT FINDINGS DEVELOPERS AND BUSINESS INTERESTS Since the impetus for this project started with feedback from business developers to the Economic Development Committee, we will examine the concerns of the developers first. Feedback from developers indicates that they have observed a significant improvement in the Review and Permitting process in the past year. Although there are different perceptions among developers, and even with the improvements, developers want to feel more of a partnership with the City through increased communication at various stages of the Review and Permitting process. This will reduce costly last minute surprises for both the developers and the City planner. 1. Specific concerns a. Both groups of business people expressed a strong desire for more dialogue and problem solving with the City Staff during the review process. They understand the City's position that a closed Review meeting is more efficient for everyone, but feel there could be more formal conversation either before the Review meeting to outline the requirements for a successful Review, and/or after the Review meeting to go over the City recommendations. There should be enough time to respond to these recommendations before the City Planning Commission meeting. b. Timing is critical for developers. Any official documents need to be delivered to the developer as quickly as possible. c. The issue of better teamwork between the City and the municipal utility was brought up by several people, although it may represent only one incident. d. Fees have increased dramatically in the past few years. Some developers question why, others accept this as the cost of doing business. An explanation would alleviate much skepticism. e. Business people strongly feel the need for the City to take an impartial "Just the facts, ma'am" position rather than strongly advocate the City's recommendations with the Planning Commission or Council. They suggested that the tone of the Review process should be one of choices and explanations, rather than adversarial. • page 3 1. Developers would welcome user-friendly materials, with no jargon, clear • explanations, and consistency between documents. g. Developers find it difficult to work effectively with the Planning and City Councils because Commission and Council members appear to act on their personal biases rather than from a consistent plan or philosophy for the City. 2. CITY DEPARTMENT MANAGERS AND ADMINISTRATORS Interviews indicated that the Concept Review process is sound and only needs only a little fine tuning. Participants seem to appreciate the opportunity to critique the plans together and gain insight into the inter-relatedness of various city functions. They like the opportunity to analyze the plans honestly without having to debate with the developers. There does not seem to be total buy-in on the Concept Review process, however, as evidenced by insufficientpreparation for the meetings,a basic philosophical difference about the City's role vis-a-vis the developer, and last minute "surprises" that should have been identified in the Review meeting. • 1. Specific concerns a. The people involved in the Concept Review process (Chief Building Official, City Engineer, City Planner, Economic Development Coordinator, Building and Zoning Administrator,Fire Chief)are generally satisfied with the Review and Permitting process. They like the opportunity to analyze proposed plans together in private, without having to defend their opinions to the developer. They spot problems early in the building process which helps the developer. b. They perceive two quite different schools of thought represented at the Concept Review meeting: one approach seeks to provide a fair and predictable process to every customer; the other approach seeks to provide personalized service to make development and business expansion in Elk River easy and attractive. This difference of values may make the Concept Review discussions strained. c. Some people mentioned that there can be political ramifications to the Review process, intimating that people with political influence might be treated differently from "ordinary people". • page 4 d. Several people mentioned that although the City staff tries to be very • cooperative and helpful, they believe that business people find the Review and Permitting process too cumbersome, slow, expensive, and rigid. e. Building inspections require more time than there is staff to provide it. More timely and thorough communication from developers to Inspections could eliminate some last minute "Oh by the way's". f.A few people commented that the Concept Review meetings could be improved with better preparation for the Review meetings, more open, two-way communication and problem solving, and more group ownership for the recommendations in the final document. 3. CITY STAFF AND MUNICIPAL UTILITY The staff members in these focus groups are dedicated to providing good customer service to business developers (any customer). They respond as quickly as possible to questions and requests. They found, however, that the internal processes could be improved with six Astrategies. a. They could better serve their external customers if there were a complete, user- friendly and packet of materials to help developers move through the City's Permit and Review process. b. They could provide better service if they were better informed. They perceive that developers see a lack of teamwork and then complain to the City Planner. There was strong opinion that short, well-run staff meetings would benefit communication, problem solving, teamwork and morale. Better communication between department heads would also improve inter-department teamwork at the staff level, especially if information moved downward. c. Staff is also impacted by the philosophical division in the City. Participants noted that communication between the Planning and Building/Zoning departments could be improved. d. There is a general need to clarify roles and expectations with clear, written job descriptions. e. Staff feels stretched beyond capacity in terms of work load and customer service. While recognizing the need for balance between low taxes and sufficient staff, • page 5 • they commented that some of the new technology is irrelevant because staff has no time to learn the technology or to input data. A part time technical support position would help all departments become more efficient. f. Although they are very busy with their jobs, the focus group staff members expressed a real interest in being part of the solution to the above problems. • 1111 page 6 SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS • FACILITATED PLANNING Any changes and improvements will be more appropriate and have more personal commitment when they are designed by the people who will implement them. We strongly recommend that appropriate groups of City employees discuss the following issues and develop implementation plans. To provide objectivity these planning sessions should be facilitated and coordinated by a neutral person. PLANNING ISSUES 1. Customer Service A. Where is the City headed? B. What services can and should the City provide, and how can it do that cost- effectively and equitably? 4 1. What will it need to provide in the future? C. What does "customer service" looks like --in detail? D. How do the city ordinances and requirements affect the growth of Elk River? How clear and consistent are they? 2. The Review and Permitting process A. How can the current Review process be improved to reduce costs and surp:ises for everyone, and address the concerns of business developers? B. How can we encourage more personal responsibility and ownership for the Concept Review? C. How can internal communication be improved so as to provide timely and accurate service to developers? • page 7 3. Communication • A. How can written materials be improved so as to be more user-friendly and reduce the surprises and costs? B. How can development projects be coordinated more smoothly between the City and the Municipal Utility? C. How can we improve internal communication that will foster teamwork and customer service? D. How can the City communicate its vision, plans, priorities, and procedures effectively with the public? FORMAT AND SCHEDULING Facilitated Planning sessions can be scheduled to meet the needs of the employees of the City of Elk River. For instance, they could be formatted in • full day retreats, or • half-day sessions spread out over several months. • They can be held off-site or in a City conference room. The major equipment needed is 2-3 flip charts. OUTCOMES Outcomes of facilitated planning are 1. General understanding and agreement among staff members, a benefit that delivers a consistent message to the public; 2. More awareness of the group dynamics and processes, which facilitates continuous improvement; 3. A plan of action for implementing decisions. 4. Follow through and implementation, if the planning is done over several weeks. • page 8 TRAINING • As the City grows, staff and skills will need to increase. We strongly recommend that the City invest in appropriate staffing and training for its staff. Other resources offer excellent computer training and staff should be encouraged to take these courses as they need them. Skills that contribute to the image and effectiveness of the City should be provided in-house so that all City employees can participate. Some training workshops that build a consistent service orientation are: Internal training of the "process", terminology, forms, etc. Behavioral Style Awareness(DiSC) to help staff understand work style behavior and deal with customers more comfortably. Customer Service in the Government Supervisory skills Teamwork skills Change management • Effective meetings Phone communication techniques Additional skills building services that may be appropriate in this situation are Individual coaching with specified staff Team building with specified departments • page 9 SUMMARY i Although the City has recently received constructive criticism about its economic development processes, these comments should be considered as suggestions for"continuous improvement". Many of the specific suggestions can easily be addressed. City government of Elk River is at developmental cross roads. It can facilitate the growth and prosperity of its citizenry or, conversely, reinforce negative stereotypes about government. We suggest that the City address these economic development concerns by drawing upon the experience and talents of its employees to solve present and future problems. A proactive, service-oriented City staff communicates the City's vision more effectively than the best written policy or ordinance. As is true everywhere, "the medium is the message", and with its excellent staff,Elk River can send the right message about the city's growth and development. • 410 page 10