Developing/Refining Business Processes       Information Management Office: Green Team Program Los Angeles District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers District Mission The Los Angeles District (LAD) is responsible for military construction, improvement and maintenance of coastal and inland harbors and waterways, beach protection, flood control and integrated land and water uses covering an area of more than 240,000 square miles and includes much of Southern California, Arizona and portions of New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the District maintains a network of branch and project offices throughout its region and employs approximately 1,100 professionals, technical and support personnel. Information Management Office Role The Information Management Office (IMO) is responsible for District-wide computer systems development, installation and maintenance as well as all telecommunications hardware and software. By far the largest single overhead expense to the District, IMO is tasked with maintaining leadership in communications and data processing technologies within rigid budget objectives and staffing limitations. IMO maintains a balance of full time employees, contract employees and temporary personnel to respond to the District routine data management requirements, remain current with rapidly advancing technologies and training of District personnel in the effective use of all hardware and software applications. Whether manning the Help Desk to respond to the press of daily data and telecom management issues to the planning for appropriate equipment selection and installation needs, IMO is at the heart of the District’s ability to respond to its clients and provide best practice products. Project Setting & Goals IMO is a visible organization both inside and outside the District. In terms of daily work activities, reliable performance of all data and telecom equipment is clearly a critical activity to all that the District does. In terms of cost, IMO is noticed by internal and external customers of the District. Emergencies are routine. Reacting to unforeseen and unplanned events are commonplace. Expectations for fast and accurate action are high at all levels. The purpose of the project was to improve the performance of IMO in terms of customer orientation, internal teamwork, business processes and management tools. The scope of work focused on six tasks: Conduct customer interviews Conduct interview with IMO employees Evaluate results and refine scope of work Complete outline of a customer service model Form and work with project teams within IMO Build teamwork and commitment to District goals and objectives Approach & Outcomes Again building on the Green Team concept of peer pressure to identify organizational strengths and weaknesses to enhance performance, we constructed an in-house team of IMO leaders, customers and others committed to improvement within the District. Actual work was conducted in three phases: Interviews with customers and employees Evaulation of findings with distilled issues into concrete areas for action Work group sessions focused on specific action steps needed to carry forward areas identified as critical to IMO organizational success. The last two activities were undertaken with key IMO leadership personnel teaming with experienced staff positioned to effect change and direct resources. Specific immediate and longer termed follow on actions were developed in the four key areas linked to improved performance: Project Management Deployment Customer Support Telecommunications The Green Team continues to be a positive concept and is being applied to other Divisions within LAD. back to top Copyright © Sullivan Consulting Group, Inc.