[Return to SCAPOSD Organizational Assessment, Chapters I-III]

CHAPTER IV - EFFECTIVENESS OF ORGANIZATIONAL AND MANAGEMENT STRUCTURES

Organizations generally go through similar life cycles. During the startup phase, the primary focus of management is staffing, particularly with technical personnel, and making strong initial progress in achieving the organization's mission. During this phase, "bugs" in key operational processes are worked out principally through trial and error. The establishment of formal organizational structures and management systems takes a back seat. So it has been with the District. However, given the District's growth and current levels of acquisition activity, effective organizational structures and management systems are overdue. The current lack of management systems is not only reducing the District's efficiency, but is a source of frustration for employees.

Establishing such structures needs to be a focus in the coming year, as the investment will pay huge dividends. Consultants and the resources of other County departments should be utilized to assist with implementation wherever appropriate to ensure that the results are good and to allow District staff to continue carrying on their central mission. This is especially critical because current District staff is far more qualified in their technical specialties than they are in general management. In addition, it would be counter productive to take them away from their technical work more than necessary.

Our recommendations for organizational structures and management systems are divided into the following key areas, and are intended to enhance operational efficiency and resource utilization, promote accountability, increase productivity, improve employee morale, encourage effective risk management, and enhance "customer service" and external relations:

1. Organizational Structure and Human Resources Management
2. Project Management
3. Accounting and Performance Tracking
4. Planning and Budgeting
5. Automated Management Information Systems
6. Document management
7. Standard Operating Procedures

Organizational Structure and Human Resources Management

The current organizational structure is widely perceived as not effectively supporting the goals of the District. The basic organizational structure separates the professional staff into two groups -- 1) Planning and 2) Acquisitions. While this takes advantage of specialization, the two groups perceive each other as having very different orientations and priorities. Acquisitions staff see Planning as spending too much time perfecting background documents, penniRed and prohibited uses, etc., or trying to negotiate the "best" possible terms for land use; thus delaying their ability to effectively negotiate and close on projects. Conversely, Planning perceives Acquisitions staff as more concerned with "closing the deal," without enough consideration for the importance of project design. This conflict and the resulting lack of esprit de corps has begun to greatly impact morale. It may, in fact, be the greatest threat to the District's operations right now.

This problem is compounded by lack of clear policies and direction from top management regarding the District's priorities, the roles and responsibilities of various staff members, and "standard operating procedures" for activities ranging from how to respond to inquiries to how best to balance the need to successfully close acquisitions versus the desire for a strong project design.

Finally, the problem is exacerbated further by a lack of agreement among staff regarding interpretation of the District's mandate and no official policy to direct them. This has lead to different interpretations among staff, the most visible being disagreements with respect to trails policies. This has been a source of frustration and even conflict among staff. (This problem is addressed in greater detail elsewhere in the report.)

While the above issues are clearly paramount, other areas can also be addressed. The District is not taking advantage of cross-training opportunities to increase organizational efficiency and effectiveness. There is a lack of training programs and established career paths. Finally, many staff members are underutilized.

A critical source of these problems is that none of the current staff is managementoriented. There is tremendous talent on the technical, administrative, and "marketing" sides, but less so in management. The District is too small an organization to justify hiring a person solely to address management. Therefore, it is recommended that consultants and other County departments be relied upon as much as possible to effect change in these areas. The following recommendations are intended to address these areas.

Rec IV.1 The District's General Manager must immediately establish a clear organizational structure, which delineates the roles of employees, and particularly, the reporting structure. Also, policies must be put in place for communicating with external shareholders, reaching key decisions on projects and other important matters, and maintaining quality control.

Several actions will go a long way toward reducing internal conflicts and confusion about the roles of employees. The most serious manifestation of this confusion is the serious degree of conflict between Acquisitions and Planning staff. The current lack of understanding of reporting structures, distribution of work, and levels of authority is taking its toll on the organization. The first action for the General Manager is to verbally, and through written documentation and management decisions, define the major responsibilities and reporting relationships of the District staff.

The following are specific conclusions and recommendations:

1. The acquisition process needs to be precisely delineated, including the respective roles of staff members and lines of authority regarding decision-making. This effort should be lead by the General Manager. However, it would be best accomplished with significant input from staff-- possibly through a workgroup setting. It is crucial that the process not be perceived as coming from the top with little regard for what really goes on. The process should be based on the consensus of staff. This may be one of the most important actions the General Manager could take at this time.
2. The role of the recently created Assistant General Manager position is not clearly defined, nor understood. If the General Manager wishes to delegate "quality control" and project decisions to the new position, this is justified. However, the specific areas of authority being delegated must be delineated and communicated. Furthermore, policy should allow disagreements to be taken to the General Manager, whereupon the General Manager should make the final decision; not simply ask the parties "to work it out themselves." Although this position of Assistant General Manager has been created, none of the professional staff should feel that the General Manager is inaccessible to them to discuss technical or policy questions.
3. The reporting relationship and lines of authority within the Administrative staff (i.e., the Executive Assistant, Off.lee Manager, and Receptionist) should be clearly defined. The professional staff does not always know who is the point of contact for various off.ace issues.
4. The General Manager should clearly delineate to whom employees are to report and to whose attention they should direct matters of concern. In general, the General Manager should be accessible for most matters until staff is comfortable with their respective roles.
5. Finally, in all circumstances, the General Manager must be willing to take on the role of final arbiter and decision-maker. To date, the General Manager has not done this nearly enough and this has greatly contributed to employee frustration.

For the most part, these policies may be communicated verbally.

Rec IV.2 Develop written policies to clearly define the direction and priorities of the District, and to provide procedural guidelines in key areas.

Otherwise, employee conflict and frustration will persist. In particular, policy direction is needed in the following areas:

1. Establish and communicate clear direction concerning the District's priorities with respect to types of acquisitions, goals and criteria. Even among staff, there is a considerable difference in the interpretation of the District's mandate and priorities, such as with respect to Category 1, 2, and 3 purchases and land use objectives. As noted above, the most serious source of confusion is the trails policy.
2. Establish policies and guidelines for negotiating deals and going through the acquisition process. This should include policies regarding resources that should be utilized in various phases of projects (e.g., project design), expectations regarding duration of projects and points when abandonment of potential acquisitions should be considered.
3. Establish guidelines for handling inquiries from external parties, including who is permitted to respond to which inquiries, the District's "official position" concerning various sensitive issues and, if necessary, set guidelines for precise responses. Management should only handle certain topic areas, while others may be dealt with by anyone on staff. The correct balance should be reached between delegating authority to deal with external parties as much as possible, while maintaining an appropriate level of control over the actual response.

Rec IV.3 Improve communication for documentation of personnel policies and procedures.

The General Manager needs to meet regularly with staff to discuss what is expected of them and to communicate the following:

1. Career development policies, including those for upward advancement and lateral transfers to open positions;
2. Policies for performance appraisals; and
3. Policies for leave of absence, official time for conferences, meetings, etc.

The General Manager should take the lead in this effort. The District should be able to lean on the County for some of this -- such as developing job descriptions, and some of the policies listed above. It may be worth considering performance appraisal training for managers. It is a sensitive and difficult task.

Rec IV.4 Strongly consider adopting a "proiect matrix" style of management to enhance utilization of staff, promote cross-training, promote efficiency and innovation in project management, and improve the working relationship between Acquisitions and Planning staff. Role flexibility should be encouraged, especially between Acquisitions Specialists and Planners.

Under such a system, a Project Manager would be named for every project, as well as perhaps a two-person (or more) project team, to consist of at least one Acquisition and one Planning staff member. The Project Manager would be responsible for:

1. Establishing the project budget, schedule, and milestones;
2. Ensuring that periodic project status reports are completed/updated and that project close out is in accordance with established guidelines;
3. Presenting the case for key decisions with respect to negotiations, etc. to the Assistant General Manager at the appropriate time; and
4. he day to day activities of managing the project including: (a.) bringing the project to successful closure whether that means completing the acquisition or abandoning the project at the appropriate time, (b.) identifying resources needed and (c.) staying within budget.

The project team would be responsible for research, project design -- virtually everything associated with the project. It should be the organization's goal to minimize the number of people involved in making decisions regarding the project, although this project management technique does not preclude the project team from calling on the services of other staff members. Under such a system, the Assistant General Manager would be responsible for the following:

1. Quality control.
2. Overall manpower planning and allocation among the various projects. He or she will find themselves in the position of arbitrating among project managers who may be seeking assistance from the same technicians, thereby setting priorities among projects and promoting efficiency.
3. Establishing clear policies concerning periodic updates on projects from Project Managers and defining when key decisions should be brought to their attention. Project Managers should show good judgment in providing the Assistant General Manager with updates as necessary, especially before major, sensitive decisions are made.

The project matrix technique is designed to (a.) increase responsibility of professional staff; (b.) encourage project accountability; (c.) promote efficiency and innovation, and (d.) facilitate career development and cross training. This technique could improve employee morale and enthusiasm and reduce the day to day grind of the top management. It is strongly recommended that the General Manager and Assistant General Manager take on reduced Project Management activities to realize these objectives.

Rec IV.5 Develop a plan for improving the utilization of Administrative staff.

Although two administrative staff members, an Office Manager and Receptionist, were hired, their abilities are being underutilized. The Executive Assistant has been so busy over the last few months that there has been minimal time for training or transfer of knowledge and duties. However, it should be noted that a transition period is to be expected. In the meantime, the Office Manager brings valuable experience and capabilities. (For example, current operations have been hampered by the lack of staff resource management processes. The Executive Assistant is familiar with these processes, but these capabilities are not being utilized.)

Similarly, there appear to be a number of administrative tasks which could be taken over by the Receptionist with minimal training. The Receptionist spent several years at a busy Federal office and would like to take on more responsibilities. The Receptionist could perform such activities as: sending out pre-action packages to new customers/owners, setting up appointments, organizing documents needed from the potential sellers, sending out an annual announcement to all easement owners and reminding them that they have an easement and that it will be inspected, sending out new owner packages upon closure of projects and maintaining hard copy project files.

The following actions are recommended to improve utilization of Administrative staff:

1. Develop a detailed training schedule for the Office Manager and Receptionist. While there will be a short-term impact on the workload of the Executive Assistant, the longterm impact will be the delegation of "office management" duties to the correct individual and more time for the Office Manager to support the General Manager;
2. Make a determination of the ultimate duties of the Office Manager and Receptionist. The General Manager and Assistant General Manager should be involved in making this determination for the Office Manager;
3. Provide the Office Manager with additional background material and the resources required providing a higher level of support to the Advisory Committee. As the designated "recorder" for Committee meetings, his/her work would be augmented by a more full understanding of the issues;
4. Begin to transition clerical duties currently assigned (temporarily) to the Office Manager to the Receptionist;
5. Have the Office Manager work with the professional staff to develop and implement project and office management systems, such as those discussed later in this chapter.
6. Have the Office Manager and the Receptionist work together on developing and issuing monthly reports concerning office activities such as:
   • correspondence received and sent out (by type);
   • telephone calls received (by type);
   • visits to the office;
   • staff visits to off site properties (by type);
   • inspections completed;
   • projects completed, approved, initiated, and underway (by type);
   • planned vs. actual statistics for project phase completion (by type); and
   • quarterly budget variance reports

The opportunities to improve the utilization of the Office Manager are particularly promising. Among the valuable activities in particular are 1) maintaining the project management/tracking system (as discussed below); and 2) working with the Executive Assistant to prepare more detailed budgets. The Offace Manager can also get involved in the acquisition process, such as maintaining boiler plates for p's & p's, appraiser RFP's, etc. The Office Manager should be provided with an off-the-shelf database package (e.g., MS Access or FoxPro) and begin development of a series of databases identified during an internal analysis of operations conducted by the District during the fall of 1997.

Rec IV.6 Consider hiring additional staff after revised management systems are in place for at least six months and until other recommendations included in this report are implemented. In the meantime, consider reducing current project backlog by either: a) reducing the number of projects taken on for the next 12 to 18 months; or b) contracting with planners on a temporary basis. (The latter is preferable.)

Rec IV.7 It is highly recommended that the next professional hired have real estate experience.

Ideally, the new hire would have real estate and planning experience. This person would fill the roles of:

1. Managing appraisers and reviewing appraisals;
2. Analyzing market conditions (for example, the land prices will vary at times, especially in Category 1, providing good opportunities to make purchases);
3. Developing innovative purchasing strategies to help close deals favorable to the District;
4. Developing and implementing strategic acquisition (marketing) programs, such as pursuing particular corridors in Category 1;
5. Bringing knowledge of brokers and the region's real estate market; and
6. Broker relations

PROJECT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

At present, there is no system in place for identifying 1) personnel on specific projects or 2) the particular phase of an ongoing project. This inhibits internal communications, reduces efficiencies, leads to management mistakes and increases response times to external and internal inquiries. Lack of project planning and budgeting is another source of ineffectiveness. The following is recommended:

Rec IV.8 Formalize project management. Establish a comprehensive acquisition proiect tracking/management system, preferably automated.

The amount of project activity and the dollars involved easily justify formalized project management systems.The following elements should be incorporated into such a Project Management System:

1. Require that Project Managers develop budgets, resource (especially manpower) usage estimates, schedules, and milestones for all new projects. Guidelines should be based on previous experiences and the analyses and cost estimating relationships discussed below. At the start of each project, a photocopied or electronic form should outline the key steps planned for the project, including the names of key project team members, milestone dates, etc. The purpose is not to evaluate Project Managers in terms of how well they "keep to budget," but more to introduce project management accounting. Better decisions can be made regarding whether to go forward on a project, try an alternative project design, or "stop work" on a project. Also, this would enable management to balance the competing requirements of multiple projects, and prioritize projects and activities.
2. The District can then provide the Advisory Committee with ballpark figures for selecting and prioritizing projects.
3. Establish of a Project Tracking Systems with scheduling, budgeting, manpower planning, and milestones tracking components -- preferably automated and placed on the network so that the entire staff can access the information on a "real-time" basis. The Project Tracking System would include information on all ongoing projects and be updated on a weekly or bi-weekly basis by the assigned Project Managers. It could be updated directly into the computer by the Project Manager or updated on a hard copy form and given to the Office Manager for entry.
4. Use the Project Tracking System to combine data on all ongoing projects (and new projects being considered) into Management reports to support manpower planning and allocation, budgeting, and work flow efficiency. Generation of these reports would be the responsibility of Administration staff. Such reports might include Gantt charts or other such project management tools that would be included in most project management software.
5. Analysis of time requirements, under "average" conditions, for the major steps/activities of the acquisition process may be used to develop schedules and milestones for future projects. Unfortunately, at present there is minimal information on the time requirements of the acquisition process. Thus, initial estimates have to be based on the "best guesses" of District staff. The idea is not to be perfect but to begin building a knowledge base of the time required to bring projects to completion based on previous experiences. Eventually, data obtained by the Cost Tracking/Accounting System, being recommended below, will provide "hard data" to support these estimates.
6. Analysis of cost and resource requirements (including labor, contract work, county support, etc.) associated with the major activities of the acquisition process. The Assistant General Manager should probably conduct this with support from administrative staff. "Cost Estimating Relationships" (CER's) may subsequently be developed to help the District estimate budgets for future projects. These CER's might relate average cost of acquisition completion to number of acres, type and number of easements, or type of sale (e.g., bargain, limited agriculture, etc.), wherever a relationship may exist. The Cost Accounting System being recommended will facilitate this effort tremendously.

Rec IV.9 Establish performance standards, both for time and cost, for completing proiects, and reaching certain milestones. Time-to-completion estimates should be made for all projects being pursued or considered.

Rec IV.10 Establish standard Project Close Out policies and procedures, including standardizing the contents required in the files of completed projects.

Currently, key items may be missing in final project files. This may come to haunt the District whenever an outside party wishes to review the files, and could especially be a problem in cases where a transaction is being questioned. Incomplete files suggest a lack of professionalism and accountability to outside observers and would certainly give ammunition to those 'with an axe to grind" with the District. It could conceivably hurt the District efforts to thwart legal challenges.

Rec IV.11 Develop and provide fairly detailed outlines or "road maps" to relevant stakeholders and external parties, especially landowners, which describe the acquisition process, including planning, necessary approvals, etc.

ACCOUNTING AND COST TRACKING

The benefits of effective cost accounting are many-fold and include the following:

1. Provides cost data for accurate budget development and analysis;
2. Provides raw data for assessing organizational performance, comparing the cost of different projects, and for determining whether various activities are truly providing "net" value or just soaking up precious resources and money; and
3. Promotes accountability on use of employees' time.

Rec IV.12 Establish a simple automated cost accounting/tracking system to track the costs and labor hours incurred in performing the District's major activities.

At present, there is no system in place to trace costs incurred by the District to perform its various activities. Because of this, there is a lack of reliable information on costs and resource utilization for budgeting purposes, for analyzing performance, and for making process adjustments to enhance efficiency. In addition, oversight agencies, such as the Board or the Authority, do not have the information they need to assess the District's operations. In fact, the Hood & Strong/MAI project team has found it difficult to assess staffing needs and operational performance for this study due to lack of data.

It is typical for many governmental agencies to operate without such cost accounting systems in place, due to the nature of their operations. However, for many public agencies, such as water utilities and solid waste plants where operational efficiency is important, cost accounting is a critical management tool. The District needs to spend its limited resources as prudently as possible in order to maximize the "good" it does for the County in terms of its mandate. Furthermore, its operations are project-oriented. These characteristics strongly indicate a need for a cost tracking system.

Both labor and other expenses should be tracked. Labor hours are easily tracked via biweekly and monthly time sheets that can be completed by employees in five minutes. Labor hours are converted to labor costs by establishing burdened hourly rates for each employee. Other costs would be tracked via travel and purchase vouchers, etc.

The key to cost accounting is to separate out costs into the major activities in a manner that provides the most useful information to management. The first logical separation is between project related versus General & Administrative activities. However, further breakdown would be valuable. The ultimate goal is to track cost by major activity and relate these costs to specific acquisition (or other) projects. Several sub-activities may be grouped into a larger Activity Category. For a ten person operation, keeping the cost tracking system as simple as possible should be an important objective. The following exhibit provides and illustration of how to track costs (the illustration is not meant to be comprehensive).

Thus, an employee's time sheet would provide space for entering both an Activity Code (and sub-Activity Code) and a Project Code, if appropriate. A system would be established for tracking Accounts Payable transactions to specific activities and projects. Tracking can occur at the same time as vouchers are prepared for payment.

The cost tracking/accounting system should be automated. However, the "system" should be placed into operation as soon as possible; that is, time sheets, accounts payable transacting, etc. should all begin supporting cost tracking even before automation is introduced. Implementation will require assistance from an outside consultant and other County department personnel, as identified, such as Internal Audits and ISD. The consultant is needed to establish the system, help select software, etc., while County personnel can provide ongoing support (to minimize fees to consultants). With proper training, the Cost Accounting System can be maintained by the District's administrative staff.

PLANNING AND BUDGETING

The planning and budgeting processes need to be more precise and formalized. Members of the Authority, Advisory Board, and Board of Supervisors have expressed that they do not have a clear view of the District's long-term, or even the current year's acquisition objectives, nor the Distfict's operational budget expenditures. There is no clear understanding as to whether the District needs a larger or a smaller budget. Also, due to a lack of precise planning, the District is spending an inordinate amount of time reacting to purchasing oppommities rather than proactively researching and pursuing highly desired acquisition targets. The District staff does not have a strong sense of the District's priorities.

Rec IV.13 Update and revise the Acquisition Plan. Make it a more useful document for stakeholders by including greater detail of planned obiectives concerning purchases and other planned activities.

The current Acquisition Plan reads a little too much like a mission and policy statement. It provides much less detailed information than it ought to. The District should work with its Board and Advisory Committee to develop a set of balanced, long-term acquisition goals, and to prioritize them into annual objectives. The effort should result in a more informative Acquisition Plan. The Plan should include formal three or five-year purchasing developed by the District. (The CIP should have greater detail that at present.) It probably should be produced annually, although each update does not necessarily require major changes in text (unless there are major changes in objectives). Such a Plan would assist the District staff in channeling their efforts appropriately and provide for a clearer stakeholder understanding of the District's objectives and activities.

Rec IV.14 Develop strategic Annual Action Plan, based on the Acquisition Plan.

In contrast to the Acquisition Plan, the Action Plan would primarily be for use by internal staff. It would be consistent with the Acquisition Plan, but would go further in clearly defining the year's purchasing and organizational objectives, as well as outline proactive strategies for acquiring desirable types of properties and meeting objectives. It would serve as a tactical plan to guide District staff in setting priorities, guide District managers in allocating resources, and provide specific strategies and performance goals for staff~ The document might include the following:

1. A listing of identified acquisitions to be pursued and the expected timing of completion of abandonment;
2. Specific proactive strategies that will be pursued to acquire certain targeted lands, such as Category 1 lands -- including staff responsibilities and goals;
3. A description of non-acquisition-related activities that will take place, including public relations, information systems upgrade, etc.; and
4. Where appropriate budgets for the various activities.

The Action Plan may be revised several times during the year in the event that goals are met sooner than expected or a particular strategy is clearly not working.

Rec IV.15 Institute a process for developing annual budgets for Board approval, itemized in detail by the major activities, both for the District's overall operations and for anticipated land purchases. Generate simple quarterly variance reports showing actual expenditures versus budget.

Coherent itemized budgets should replace the rules for establishing budgets based on a percentage of expenditures.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY

Given the volume of records kept and documents generated by the District, the information system should be significantly upgraded. There is also a tremendous need for staff to be able to share data, since they often work on projects in teams.

Rec IV.16 Establish a simple network and e-mail system to enable District staff to communicate and share data. This could be implemented by the County's Information Systems Office.

A network would enable District staff to share project information and access boiler plate documents for developing presentations, RFPs, etc. It would be a fairly simple process to establish protocols regarding who can access what files. A computer workstation capable of handling a small network with GIS, graphics and desktop publishing production work would appear to suffice, given the District's overall workload. Such a system might be a 233-300 MHZ PC with a 4.2-6.4 MB hard drive, 128 MB RAM, and 4 to 8 MB Video RAM. Such a network would require a small amount of continued maintenance and administration, which may be available from the County's Information Systems Department.

Rec IV.17 Augment automation of records to improve archiving of key information and to allow simple manipulation of data by management. FoxPro or Microsoft Access would likely be the best candidates for the database software.

A problem for the District staff is that virtually all files are paper-based. Automation allows users to manipulate and cross-reference data in ways that can be very useful. In the event of staff turnover, paper-based files are inadequate for transferring organizational knowledge. The District already has a scanner to convert files into electronic data. The following are databases that should be established:

1. Standard historical data on completed and abandoned acquisitions. This data can be used by staff when working on follow-up or similar projects. Certain key data elements could be organized in a manner that permits valuable manipulation of data. These may include: points of contact information; p's and p's; baseline and appraisers used, description of the property; type of acquisition; purchase price (to use as comparables); and negotiation notes.
2. List of baseline consultants and appraisers, cross-referenced by projects worked and evaluations of their work performed.
3. Possibly a database specially organized to provide appraisal comparables.

Rec IV.18 Establish a process for backing up electronic data. Store archival tapes or disks at an off-site location. Consider contracting with a document management/storage firm to protect sensitive and critical legal documents from accidental loss or destruction.

The District has politically and legally sensitive documents that require security. The files on all closed District projects are kept on site. There are no off-site back-ups of the electronic files, nor are project paper documents stored in fire-proof or water-proof storage facilities. The District might also consider purchasing a ZIP-type external drive to allow the transfer and storage of large graphic images on 100MB disks.

Rec IV.19 To the extent possible, standardize applications sof~ware used at the District, recognizing that some staff members may have specific preferences, hindering complete standardization.

The Office Manager has been given Lotus 1-2-3 for a spreadsheet package, while the Planning Technicians use Microsoft Excel. Similarly, some staff members use MS WORD as their word-processing package, while others were given machines with only WordPerfect installed. There are constant communications problems caused by the lack of standardization and time is lost reformatting and converting files as they are passed back and forth between staff members. Even if some staff insist on using non-standard software, the final form of electronic data should be standardized to facilitate future retrieval and manipulation of data.

Rec IV.20 Using a standardized software package, develop and implement a standardized set of acquisition documents, including planning documents and stewardship requirement documents and briefing packages for the various meetings for which the District prepares.

Go on to SCAPOSD Organizational Assessment, Chapter V