Not because bureacracy is frustrating to those who are affected by it.
Not because it's costly.
Not because it's a waste of time and energy.
(all good reasons)
I can't stand bureaucracy because it drains the ability of smart people to think for themselves.
Frederick County government employees have hit the boards with "business-fr
iendly" initiatives aimed to make life easier for the building and construction community (I hope it goes much further into local government than that just that customer group) . At their heart, some of the items on this list unleash people in county offices to use their talent to identify problems--to look for trouble and shoot it.
A local official I know calls it "bureaucratic creep". Here's an example. One day, someone notices a new building project might affect traffic using a nearby state road, so the State Highway Administration gets called in to comment on that project. Someone else with good intentions says, "let's check all our site plans in with the SHA--you never know when t
hey might want to know about whats going on!"
Good communication idea, right? Sure, until suddenly one person at SHA with lots of other job responsibilities has a pile of 20 site plans on their desk-- but only 1 or 2 have a real, direct impact on a state road. Total time increase to get through the new workload: maybe about 275%???. Total delay to the customer waiting to get word when they can move ahead? Who knows!
(PHOTO: 30 N. Market-CommunityDevelopment/Development Review agencies. Leaning local government is beginning here...can we continue on to other agencies please?)
Good intentions that lack a reality check on their usefulness can turn into bad ideas that crush productivity. Good companies, especially those in manufacturing and health care, have set up a process in the last decade that ruthlessly scrutinizes the way they do things in a search for for waste in time, money and energy. Its good to see Frederick County government get on the LEAN train--I just hope it will be extended to other agencies outside those that work with the building community.
Take a look a couple of the changes to the bureaucracy:
*Before, you had to write separate checks to each and every agency in Frederick County that you dealt with, and some agencies had to wait to find out from others if a check was paid before they could release permits and documents. The process for single checks and communication among the agencies is now underway--technology that many businesses in the construction, architecture and engineering field have been using for more than a decade to make the lives of their customers easier.
*TAC Meetings are now getting perfect attendance--or something closer. These meetings were set up years ago to bring a customer together in a meeting with a rep of all the agencies involved in a building project. Until recently, it was not considered a "priority" for all the agencies to be there, but in the current political and economic environment, everyone is expected to show up. These kinds of team meetings with clients have been normal and important in the private sector for any company that wants to be competitive.
*SHA and Frederick County have agreed that it is no longer necessary for SHA to receive or review sign permits if they are not in SHA right-of-way.
These are just a couple examples of bureaucracy de-construction;now let's get on to doing this for many other agencies at all levels of government.
Many of the other "Business Friendly" ideas involve changes to the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, Zoning Ordinance, and other more far-reaching policies and go beyond ""bureaucratic creep". Those are a bit different from Lean initiatives, and need to be looked at very carefully for possible impact.
For me, though, anything that engages employees--government or private sector--in getting rid of wasteful, energy draining and brainless processes will result in people who are more creative and committed to their work and their customers.
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