Local Agency Project Delivery
By Anna Ryazantseva, Process Improvement & Change Management Intern
January 16, 2013
Update: July 18, 2014
Staff members from The Colorado Department of Transportation's (CDOT's) Local Agency Program will be sharing information with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) on July 23, 2014 regarding improvements and best practices from CDOT's Local Agency Project Delivery process improvement project. More details are available at Co-peer Ex Event Plan
Update: April 1, 2014
An interactive, web-based guidance and project tracking tool for Local Agency projects -- named "Navigate" -- went live on March 31, 2014. This new tool improves data exchange capability between CDOT and local agencies, including the exchange of design drawings and invoice submittals. Navigate allows all partners on a transportation project to monitor project status and enables CDOT and local officials to chat, exchange e-mail, share files, and -- best of all -- shorten the overall lead time to project completion.
Update: June 17, 2013
Here is an update of results for the Local Agency Project Delivery Process Improvement Project:
Improvements implemented by the Project Team have reduced the time a Local Agency needs to access crucial information (and also improved ease of access). Results show significant improvement: continued reduction in the number of financially inactive Local Agency projects (and the funding on those inactive projects) demonstrates this, as shown in the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) graph below:
Local Agency Project Team Vision
“The Local Agency process should be efficient, flexible, and transparent, incorporating simplified and electronic data gathering and retrieval to meet laws and regulations. It should use education and risk assessment to assign appropriate delegation of authority and accountability to empower Local Agencies to effectively construct their desired projects with federal matching funds.”
Situation Overview
A look at the LAPD process showed it to be cumbersome with many delays. Requirements and regulations called for extensive paperwork that was often submitted incorrectly and needed to be reworked. “Methods and practices changed but requirements didn’t,” said LAPD project team member Carol Anderson. Furthermore, the review showed that not all process steps were necessary for all projects. These unnecessary steps created delays in bringing a project to completion leading to long lead times.
Small projects lead time: 4 months
medium projects lead time: 6 to 12 months
large projects: up to 5 years to complete.
It was time for a change.
LAPD Team
Project Personnel
Project Sponsor: Johnny Olson
Steering Committee: Scott McDaniel, Laurie Freedle, Randy Furst, Doug Loller, Peter Kozinski, Shaun Cutting, Sandi Kohrs, Richard Zamora
Project Team:
Matt Jagow, Region 1 Local Agency Coordinator
Mark Andrew, Region 2 Resident Engineer
Brian Killian, Region 3 Local Agency Coordinator
Abra Geissler, Region 4 Local Agency Project Manager
David Valentinelli, Region 5 Off System/Local Agency Coordinator
Robert Shanks, Region 5 Local Agency Coordinator
Carol Anderson, Region 6 Local Agency Coordinator-South Program
Steve Markovetz: LAPD Headquarters Branch
Gloria Hice-Idler, Team Leader
Diana Horton, OFMB/Team Leader
Mentor: Gary Vansuch, CDOT Process Improvement Director
What did the Team do?
In January of 2012, Johnny Olson spearheaded the complex and involved LAPD design phase selecting a steering committee, team leaders, and a project team that forged a vision for the improved LAPD process. The LAPD project team aimed to reduce cycle time and rework by reducing the complexity of the process, standardizing it across the state, increasing its transparency, and increasing education on the regulations and requirements for local agency projects.
In February of 2012, the project team, in partnership with Lean Six Sigma consultant BMGI, held its first Rapid Improvement Event. Using Lean principles, the team:
Mapped the current state of the process;
Identified wasteful steps;
Constructed an ideal future state that was efficient, flexible, and transparent;
Identified 23 “just-do-it” projects to be done by individuals; and
Proposed a “risk” based approach to executing Local Agency projects.
“We are taking a very complex process, analyzing it for value-added steps, and streamlining it to be a more efficient and effective flow,” explained project team member Abra Geissler.
During a second event held in May 2012, the team developed a risk assessment worksheet (RAW) to gauge how much assistance from CDOT a Local Agency project needed to correctly complete the necessary paperwork and meet regulations and requirements. The project team defined risk as the amount of time that needs to be invested by CDOT into a project to ensure that it is successfully executed. The worksheet was then tested on actual projects and modified until the tool was perfected.
The third event in August 2012 mapped out three streamlined, future states and charted a matrix for the specialty units using the RAW. It is the hope of the team that these tools will help moderate both the complexity of the process a project goes through and the strain on specialty units that handle the projects.
The most recent event, held in October of 2012, addressed the LAPD reimbursement process and the LAPD process manual. The team adapted the streamlined Division Transit and Rail Reimbursement process for LAPD and compared a paper manual against an LAPD website. The team discovered the website to be a breakthrough easily sustainable, interactive, and an educational tool that enabled better customer service. LAPD project team member, Steve Markovetz explained, “Many of these Local Agencies receive this [Local Agency project] funding so infrequently that they don’t know CDOT processes.” The website aims to address this issue by providing easy access to information about CDOT processes to local agencies.
Future Targeted Outcomes
The LAPD project team has made progress in the effort to improve the LAPD process. Improvements in the design phase that have been developed and are awaiting implementation include:
A risk assessment tool complemented by three streamlined process paths for low, medium, and high involvement projects;
A Web-based resource tool that acts as a guideline to bring a project to completion; and
The elimination of overmatch (completed) and other “just-do-it” tasks.
It is the hope of the project team that these tools, along with other future improvements made in the contract and construction phases, will reduce waiting, rework, and lead times for Local Agency projects, and lead to improved customer service.
Future Opportunities
The next step in improving the LAPD process is the launch of a Rapid Improvement effort of the construction phase. “Our next steps involve scrutinizing the application/contract and construction phase to identify other wasteful steps. We will use Lean once again to streamline the process and implement the plan,” noted Abra Geissler. Implementation and communication plans are expected to be executed in 2013.
Final Thoughts
Although the Local Agency improvement effort is still a work in progress, the members of the project team have used their own experiences and their valuable knowledge to better a common process. The members are well on their way to executing improvements that they hope will transform a currently cumbersome and complex process into a proactive and customer-oriented process by creating efficiency, flexibility, and transparency.