How Clerks Can Lead Digital Transformation in Their Office

Do you remember when the phrase “there’s an app for that” was a revelation? The rise of smart, handheld devices and the explosion of niche mobile apps marked a period of tech innovation and digital transformation. It was the most impactful time for society since dial-up modems brought the Internet into every American home. The convenience of mobile apps changed how people worked. It also changed how they created, learned, bought, and shared digital content.

The Shift to Digital-First Mindset in Local Government

Today, we are standing on the brink of the next digital societal transformation. Mobile technology’s availability has changed how we live, work, and interact with brands and entities. Today’s digitally minded residents want even more device-agnostic, technical interactions. They want them to be even more personal and meaningful. Yes, they want them from their local government.

For municipalities, digital transformation means the days of phone calls and walk-ins are becoming as antiquated as landlines and fax machines. This means that residents no longer think only of personal, one-on-one interactions. Instead, they think of getting information and making requests with a digital-first mindset.

Residents and voters want new experiences and more data. Your employees want more convenient work apps and the ability to use the systems and tools they need to do their jobs from anywhere, on any internet-enabled device.

Why Municipalities Should Embrace Digital Transformation

What does the latest digital transformation mean for local governments and for the clerks who lead their record-keeping and transparency strategies? In this era, residents expect device-agnostic capabilities to get information and submit requests. So, clerks need better tools to work with interconnected software stacks. These stacks enable residents to self-service their information needs. As more transactions are digitized, there will be bigger security challenges. Clerks must refocus on making and using sustainable workflows that support a smart municipal strategy.

How Clerks Can Lead Their Communities Through Digital Transformation

For clerks, the digital transformation of government marks a change in thinking about responsibilities and the very essence of the clerk role itself. Digital transformation affects every public sector worker who interacts with residents. Administrative leaders are turning to the clerk for leadership. They need help navigating the uncharted waters of record digitization, cloud file storage, and streamlining records requests. The shift to digital self-service is a key opportunity. It lets clerks adopt private-sector best practices to pioneer public-sector ones.

How to be a Change Agent in the Era of Digital Transformation

Clerks must improve their skills to build a strong competency with the digital software stacks. They need these for effective data management before their role changes. To achieve a successful evolution that will allow you to display transparency and accountability with your residents, follow these steps.

1. Establish a Digital Transformation Strategy for Your Community: Hold open dialogue with residents and staff to understand what level of digital access and engagement they expect, want, and need. Then, build a multi-year strategic plan to improve systems and solutions to meet those needs. Building a plan requires factoring in staffing, budget, and other compounding considerations.
2. Seek out Educational Opportunities: You have held your role as a clerk in your local government for two decades. At the time you were hired, your primary focus may have been on paper storage and manual responses to open records requests. You may feel the pressure to migrate your data to an intangible cloud you do not understand, so take time to seek out the education you need to lead migration efforts. Change requires training and knowledge. Any clerk at any point in his or her career should feel validated in acknowledging the need for better understanding.
3. Make Digital Transformation a Priority: You will not have the luxury of pausing your town’s daily operations while you revamp systems to improve on-demand digital record access. Delegate current operational tasks to your support staff. This will let you focus most of your effort on the critical software and system changes that must happen
4. Accept the Role of Change Manager: You will lead your community’s digital records migration. You will also play a critical role in helping all staff in all departments understand the value of new systems and processes. They should embrace opportunities to learn new skills and change workflows. The success of your digital transformation will only be as successful as your weakest link or your most hesitant department leaders. Accept that your evolved clerk position means becoming an agent of change and a positive force of improvement

Conclusion

The clerk’s role in digital transformation is vital. Connectivity and on-demand record access will form the basis of the future clerk. They must be nimble, versatile, and open to expanding their role from paper to digital. Before your community moves ahead without you at the helm, you must embrace your new role and the new role of local government in the lives of digitally engaged citizens.