PDRT Purpose
“Create a common sense organization that provides high quality service to our customers and stakeholders, treats them with respect and achieves real and measurable results in a predictable and timely manner.”
common sense - means an organization, including systems and processes, that are understandable and explainable by all employees. (In 2002 PDS's processes and systems aren’t logical or even understandable). It means PDS's processes will have to pass the “straight-face" test. They must be simple and avoid unnecessary complexity. PDS's processes must be logical, make sense and provide value. Some phrases to help set the context:
  • Understandable – by all employees
  • Explainable
  • Passes the “straight-face” test
  • Predictable
  • Simplicity – avoids unnecessary complexity
  • Viewed/operated from others perspectives – consensus of peers
  • Things fit together
  • Logical, valued
  • Focused on purpose and intent – outcome focused vs. process focused
quality service - This means PDS provides professional, respectful, meaningful, and valued service to our customers and stakeholders. We are knowledgeable and professional employees. We are consistent, reliable and follow through. We make and keep commitments. Quality Service ideas:
  • Meaningful Information
  • Good listening
  • Respectful
  • Empathy
  • Going beyond minimum
  • Exceed expectations
  • Understand – “why” (customer requirements)
  • Explain to customers
  • Anticipate – know what they need
  • Facilitate their success
  • Provide guarantees
  • All employees knowledgeable
  • Recognizable service providers
  • Timely
  • Accurate
  • Make and keep commitments
  • Follow-through
  • Consistency
  • Predictability
  • Provide single point of contact
  • Provide customer friendly and helpful physical environment (e.g. counter, “wait” area)

customers and stakeholders - Customers are those who directly pay PDS for a service. Stakeholders are all of those who have a stake in what PDS does. They are individuals/entities that entrust us, as a professional organization, to ensure the health, safety, welfare and quality environment of our County. This includes the large number of people, organizations and citizens that are affected by what PDS does and the decisions we make. PDRT believes this is an important distinction to be made. We are not saying we serve our customers at the expense of our stakeholders interests, expectations and responsibilities. This distinction is important to our system design so that we can develop processes that directly meet the needs and expectations of both.
respect - This means PDS recognizes the customers and stakeholder’s level of knowledge. We are active listeners. We are attentive, honest and provide acknowledgement. We demonstrate we value and understand our customers/stakeholders. We do not judge them. What it's like to respect:
  • Recognize (customer) level of knowledge
  • Practice “active listening”
  • Do not talk down to
  • Be professional, courteous, and good communicators
  • Pay attention
  • Be honest
  • Acknowledge them/others
  • Demonstrate you value them/appreciate them
  • Demonstrate you understand them
  • Do not judge

real and meaningful measures - PDS measures will be meaningful to our customers and stakeholders. We will measure quality and timeliness. Measures will be outcome/end-product focused. We must know if they received the service and information expected.
predictable and timely - PDS will not surprise customers and stakeholders. We will have set and clear expectations and we will be consistent. We will do what we say – when we say we will do it. We will act with common sense.

Predictable

  • No surprises
  • Set (positive) expectations
  • Provide consistency

Timely

  • Do what you say – when you say you will
  • Must be common sense
  • Establish an intentional process – establish real expectations

PDS PURPOSE (what the organization is funded to do)

PDS is a service organization that will support and facilitate growth as contained in the Comprehensive Plan.
TO ACHIEVE (measurable outcomes)

So that:

  • The citizens are served in a predictable, consistent, timely and objective manner, and
  • The natural and built environments is protected, reflecting quality;

PDS serves as a key tool of economic development, bringing more dollars and a range of housing types into our community, and providing a high level of measurable employee, stakeholder and customer satisfaction.
PDRT History
The PDS Reinvention Team (PDRT) was established on December 10, 2002 to design processes for the department to fulfill its mission. In December, the PDRT met several times and received three days of training and team development. We felt the training, the focus and the proposed approach for the system design was extremely powerful and provided us with the appropriate tools to assist PDS in becoming the organization that we all want. The training tools and approaches to be utilized in the process redesign efforts are based in a “systems thinking” approach. “PDS is a system” with customers and stakeholders, with expectations and demands (inputs) that direct PDS to take actions, and provide services (create outputs). This is more than “just permits”; it is about PDS as a whole system.

From the development and updating of the Comprehensive Plan, to development and interpretation of codes to the review and issuance of permits, inspections and enforcement – what we do across and within PDS and Public Works can and does directly affect our ability to be effective and efficient. Unfortunately, for a wide variety of reasons (rapid growth, movement from dealing with exclusively rural issues to dealing with urban growth and increasing complexity, etc.) our inter-related processes are not aligned or operating in sync with each other. PDS has a myriad of “unintentional systems and processes”. Recognizing this the PDRT has intentionally established the purpose (and team name) to reflect a “system-wide” look at the PDS as a whole, --“not just permitting”