Digital Experimentalist

To date, your administration has taken a few steps toward digital optimization and is seeing some benefits. Perhaps you have one or two digitally confident department leaders who have revolutionized systems that only impact their department. Or, perhaps, you have made one significant technological investment, such as a modern website, but are still relying on paper forms or in-person payments for many of your other resident service interactions. You’re experimenting in the realm of digital, which is tremendous but is inadvertently creating disparate, inconsistent experiences for your citizens. If your residents can download some forms and documents from only some departments online, but other forms and documents must be accessed in person from Town Hall, you’ll inadvertently frustrate and baffle them.

What you need now is to elevate your primary core systems and workflows to create consistent resident experiences. It may feel like a heavy task to take all your workflows from manual to digital at once, but know that you do not need to pressure your department leaders to flip a switch and become fully digitally optimized overnight. You can and should prioritize certain systems and processes that are most critical for conversion. You should also prioritize searching for multi-function, integrable systems that help you cross the departmental divide and streamline the online migration process.