Tying a Sensible Knot: A Practical Guide to State-Local Information Systems:

Chapter 3. Best Practices

Sell the project to decision makers

Reasons for developing information systems vary from one project to the next. Some projects are designed to take advantage of new technology, others to improve delivery of services to customers, and still others to improve business processes or reduce costs. Although the reasons differ, the need to "sell" the project to decision makers is universal. This is a particularly important consideration for local governments, which often have to work with very small budgets and much competition for limited resources. Moreover, in an intergovernmental project, the "selling" process needs to be a coordinated effort that involves individuals from both the state and local levels. Very often the project objectives and expected benefits are not uniformly understood by all of the project stakeholders. A good way to establish common understanding, market the project to decision makers, and generate consistent support is to articulate a shared vision at the beginning of the project. This vision (written down and used consistently in important project documents and events) communicates to all stakeholders important information about why the project is being undertaken, what the expected goals are, and how the realization of these goals will benefit the various stakeholders.

There is always some cost involved in automation or new information systems, and some of those costs must be borne at the local level. Local investments need to be tied to local benefits. It is easy to show how a new road or sewer system will benefit a community. It is much more difficult to show how a new information system will do the same. Since local authorities need to make trade-offs among competing demands for resources, they, like all other investors, put their money (or time, or staff, or good will) where there is the greatest potential for real returns.

Aging Services System:Establish a common vision
When planning the Aging Network Client Based Service Management System Project (CBS), the NYS Office of the Aging (SOFA) together with the 59 Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) recognized that for the project to be successful it had to be "sold" to key decision makers at both state and local levels of government. SOFA worked with the 59 AAAs to create a clear vision for the project: "The goal of the CBS project is to restructure the Aging services network of New York State into an integrated, automated environment that supports the independence of older persons living in the State."

The project team members shared a clear and common understanding of the need for the project and its goals. These members in turn were able to communicate this information to the decision makers in their organizations to allow them to understand the benefits and goals of the project and thus gain their support. The project team identified key state and local stakeholders whose support was critical to the success of the project, including program management and technical staff and county level administrators, and developed an approach to communicating with these individuals about the project vision. They explained to the administrators how the CBS system would improve coordination of service delivery to clients by building on available family supports and ensuring that the service delivery system provided only essential services and programs thereby ultimately increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of local Aging offices.

When the choice is between a new road and an information system, it is often tempting for the city council or village authorities to vote for the road and bypass the new system. No matter how improved or elegant the new system may be, it must compete with projects whose benefits are more tangible and whose success is easier to measure. Local officials told us that if they are consulted in the earliest stages of a system design, they can give advice that will make the system more attractive to local decision makers and help make the case for local investment. Securing top management participation in a project up-front can be difficult and usually adds time to the startup phase of projects, but it goes a long way to ensure successful project completion.

Annual Financial Reports: Focus on fundamentals
The Annual Financial Reports project team enjoyed a simplified task of selling their project to top management since the project was designed to simplify a core function at the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) and a fundamental legal requirement of local participants. Not all projects have this luxury, but the closer a project comes to supporting the "core" functions of both parties in the intergovernmental arena, the more support it is likely to get from top executives.

However, in this project, the team did not stop at the focus on "core" needs. They also encouraged top-level state managers to attend the meetings with local participants so they were informed first hand and stayed aware of the project goals and progress. How did they get top management to attend? By starting early and emphasizing the "core" nature of the project. The project leaders took advantage of the fact that OSC was in the midst of several quality improvement exercises and thus, everyone was more aware of the need "to get involved." This made project progress much easier since it was not a constant battle to get top management attention. The participation by OSC decision makers also sent clear messages to local participants that this project was important and would be supported and completed by the state agency - something local governments have come to doubt from many past projects.

"Local investment needs to be tied to local benefits."

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