Charlottesville: Learning through Open Labs
The City of Charlottesville in Virginia is a vibrant community steeped in a rich history. Its traditions and popular attractions along with its commitment to strategic planning and performance management create a charming environment of desirability and excellence.
In 2008, they developed a process called P3 that laid the foundation of performance management, focusing on departmental strategic business plans, performance measures, and management reporting. Over time, the city has further developed and expanded their culture of performance management and implemented their first city-wide strategic plan.
What's happening in Charlottesville?
Not too long into their adoption of performance management, Charlottesville realized that they needed software that could help them execute on their new process in a systemic way. ClearPoint became proud partners with Charlottesville in 2010, and we have worked together ever since to develop and improve on the City's performance management process and expansion.
Leslie Beauregard, the Assistant City Manager, has been critical to the success of performance management and ClearPoint in Charlottesville. From the conceptual to the logistical, she has helped to organize and execute on all the aspects that make performance management a success. One of these critical components is supporting ClearPoint users. Every good organization knows that its people is its most valuable resource, so ensuring that her staff is equipped to leverage ClearPoint in the most effective way has been one of Beauregard's top priorities. That's why Beauregard has developed different strategies to support ClearPoint users.
Strategies to support your ClearPoint VIPs
Your ClearPoint users, or VIPs as they are called in Charlottesville, will be most successful when given the right resources. If you build it, they will come. So here are some ideas from Charlottesville you can leverage at your own organizations!
Basic and Advanced Trainings
In Charlottesville, basic trainings are offered a few times each year from internal staff and leaders within the organization. It is a terrific opportunity for your staff to sharpen their ClearPoint skills and for you to go over expectations. It is one of the easiest ways to maintain a baseline of competency around your performance management. Advanced trainings are offered less frequently, about once a year, with a few of your best ClearPoint VIPs and ClearPoint Strategy staff in attendance. This is where you can take a deep dive in ClearPoint and really look at the big picture. This is a great time to ask the experts about your process, opportunities for improvement, and even how ClearPoint's latest features can bring you to the next level. We advise keeping these trainings small to boost engagement.
Open Labs
Reality exists somewhere between the ideal and the worst-case scenario, so we know that even VIPs can use some help in making their updates on time. "It's really hard to expect your users to sit at their desks while their phone is ringing, while they're getting emails, while people are coming into their office, and expect them to make updates. That is not going to happen," explains Beauregard. This is why the open lab is so effective. It is time, and space, away from the frenetic in which your VIPs can focus on ClearPoint and productivity. Open labs are best structured when the first part is instructional, so that everyone knows what to do, and the latter part is more forum based, where you can get feedback on performance management and ClearPoint from the very people that make the magic work!
Email Distribution List
This is a great way to make sure everyone who is involved with ClearPoint knows what's going on with all things ClearPoint. This list should include all stakeholders, so not just users but those who view and interact with content from ClearPoint as well. Charlottesville has found a lot of success in including information such as ClearPoint webinar dates, training and open lab opportunities, and other resources in these monthly emails. They also brand their emails with the ClearPoint logo and have named their distribution list clearpoint@charlottesville.org! The beauty really is in the details.
Strategic Plan and Management Reporting Guide
Sharing your strategic plan and guide with your team is going to help them understand the big picture. This kind of transparency will help your team understand the 'why' behind their responsibilities and help boost organizational buy-in. Charlottesville uses an internal storyboard to communicate this information with their team. Notably, this intranet site tells the story of the city's plans, processes, and departmental workplans so that everyone is onboard and remains engaged.
What's next?
Strongly committed to continuous improvement, the City of Charlottesville is always pushing forward. They're working on a new strategic planning process that will improve their current operations and raise their performance excellence. The city is also creating a new advisory team that will help to develop and execute ideas regarding ClearPoint. This team will focus on aspects such as training, user engagement, communications, and more! The best part is that this advisory team will be open to any who is interested in advancing ClearPoint and not just users.
Exciting times are happening in Charlottesville! Congratulations to a city that strives for, and achieves, success. We can't wait to see what's in your future!