This document contains the text of the articles in the first newsletter of the ASQC Public Sector Network. The newsletters are available electronically through the TQM computer Bulletin Board and Clemson University. The newsletters are named PSNNews1.zip, PSNNews2.zip... You can access the TQM BBS using your computer modem at (301) 340-0325. You can access Clemson University thought internet: anonymous ftp to deming.eng.clemson.edu or gopher to deming.eng.clemson.edu:70/1 or mosaic to http://deming.eng.clemson.edu/ The PSN began in 1987 as an informal network of state and local government employees. When we joined ASQC, in 1993, our membership had grown to over 1,300 people in State, Local and Federal government. Our mission: To help government leaders increase the capacity of the public sector to deliver services that delight the citizenry through accelerating the development, application and documentation of total quality management. To advance a systems approach to the public sector that will foster collaboration between federal, state, and local government. You can join the ASQC PSN by calling ASQC at (800) 248-1946 and telling them you want to join the PSN. At this time we are not able to include graphics in the electronic version of the newsletter; this document notes where graphics are missing. Please forward any comments or questions on the electronic availability of PSN News to John Hunter, secretary of the PSN, at jaohunter@aol.com. -------The Public Sector Network News------------Summer 1994----- Articles listed in the order they appear. What is the Public Sector Network? Tom Mosgaller and Michael Williamson Publish or Perish A. Keith Smith DMV Looks to Customer, Employees for Answers Service Quality Network-A Statewide Effort Barbara Emmons Milwaukee's Total Quality Improvement Rusty Borkin Oregon Benchmarks Service Excellence Los Angels County Driving Home the Point of TQM: South Carolina's DMV Experience California's Department of Motor Vehicles: A Commitment to Quality Service What is the Public Sector Network? Tom Mosgaller and Michael Williamson For the past decade, various local, state and federal government organizations have been adapting the principles and practices of Total Quality Management (TQM) to the Public Sector. Some have been fortunate enough to have the full support of top management and the capability to design a comprehensive deployment of their efforts. Others have had to use the "renegade" model-- planting seeds wherever they had a chance of taking root. Those deploying improvement initiatives typically have little communication with those involved in similar efforts in the public sector. Without this vital communication, successful implementation models are isolated, barriers are not discussed, and lessons learned are not disseminated. The Public Sector Network (PSN), a technical committee of the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC), endeavors to bridge this communication gap. In 1987, a group of state and local government employees created an informal network to discuss and promote the use of TQM principles in the public sector. Without the benefit of any systematic promotions, the network steadily grew to over 1,300 people. In 1993, we decided that a more structured organization was needed to increase our ability to deliver quality services to our customers. The result is a partnership in which PSN became a technical committee of ASQC. ASQC is know throughout the world for its leadership in the development, promotion, and application of quality-related information and technologies for business, industry, education and government. Founded in 1946 ASQC has over 125,000 individual members and approximately 1,000 sustaining members worldwide. While PSN did not originate under ASQC auspices, our missions do coincide, and we are very pleased to partner with ASQC on this important undertaking. The mission of PSN is "to help government leaders increase the capacity of the public sector to deliver services that delight the citizenry through accelerating the development, application and documentation of Total Quality Management, and to advance a systems approach to the public sector that will foster collaboration between federal, state, and local governments." Our vision is "to be recognized by our customers as the primary resource for improving government services through the use of Total Quality Management." In order to live up to our mission and to achieve our vision, an executive council, made up of leaders of quality initiatives at the local, state, and federal government levels, has been meeting to develop a strategic plan to determine the most important products and services to meet the membership's needs. PSN seeks to become: * a primary source of information on the best practices in government. * an organizer of conferences and seminars tailored to public service quality practitioners and supporters. * an advocate for the use of TQM in government. * a liaison fostering cooperation among various agencies. * a clearinghouse for case studies, success stories, and examples. * a nationwide peer referral network We hope that you will join with us in promoting the network in your organization. The more people contributing their expertise and experience, the more effective we will be in expanding the network and its ability to provide service. =============================================== Publish or Perish A. Keith Smith Welcome to the first edition of the Public Sector Network newsletter. As a result of responses to our recent survey (366 responses 1380 mailed - 26%) your steering committee will focus on delivering products in three areas. 1. One PSN team is developing a public sector quality database that will be part of ASQC's Quality Information Center (Q.I.C.), scheduled to open in August 1994. Under consideration for the QIC are such items as PSN member data, case studies, survey instruments, performance measures, planning documents, benchmarking opportunities, training courses and private sector and union partners. To make this happen we need written information in all of these areas. In our next newsletter we will give information about our needs, and how to add to and receive from the database. 2. A second team is preparing an information package to educate leaders in government. Contents under consideration for the package are articles, bibliographies, case studies, organizations and people to contact. More about this as it is developed. 3. This newsletter is our first product. It's purpose is to: * inform about PSN actions, products and services. * provide examples of implementations and successes from the front line. * provide information about resources available. * provide a means to link your efforts to those in other states. A publication such as this exists only because committed people are willing to share their knowledge by putting pen to paper. This newsletter will indeed publish or perish based upon your participation. Articles, case studies, implementation plans, tips, hints, cartoons, etc. are needed. We are looking for articles that are accessible to a broad public sector audience, maximum length 2-3 pages (longer if absolutely necessary) and we encourage the use of graphics. Submit articles on disc (preferably Macintosh but IBM accepted - indicate program used) and as a paper copy to: A. Keith Smith, Chief Field Operations Division Bureau of Automotive Repair 10240 Systems Parkway Sacramento, CA 95827 Phone: (916) 255-1340 Fax: (916) 255-1369 ============================================= DMV Looks To Customers, Employees For Answers Using Quality Improvement Techniques, Saves California DMV $3 Million SACRAMENTO, CA - Commitment to quality customer service + empowerment of employees in providing quality service = Total Quality Improvement. During the last five years, Tom Novi, has used this formula in the mail center at the California Division of Motor Vehicles to achieve savings in excess of $3 million while significantly improving mail processing and delivery times by two or more days. "Quality improvement must be customer driven. You must know what the customer wants and change your process to deliver it. In fact, most successful companies consistently exceed customer service expectations", said Novi. Novi's most recent opportunity to improve customer service came when he surveyed DMV customers and found they wanted fast, accurate, and reliable mail service. At the same time, due to the recession in California, there was strong pressure to reduce staff and other budgeted resources. For a solution, Novi turned to the Total Quality Improvement process. The key: quality customer service. His staff has been consistently transferring the concept of "quality customer service" from paper to performance--most recently when they redesigned the process for mailing drivers licenses. "Until this summer, we mailed a driver license by dropping it in a window envelope and using the address on the license as the mailing address. While this was an economical way of doing the mailing, we were receiving complaints from customers who expressed concern that we were exposing personal information on the license by mailing it in this manner," said Novi. New Technology Acquired Novi recently discovered a piece of equipment produced by OnSert Systems, Inc., a Canadian company, that will enable his department to improve customer service by resolving the privacy concerns, and as a bonus, save the DMV nearly $200,000 a year. "This equipment reads the address from the magnetic stripe on the driver's license, and ink jet sprays the name and address onto a carrier card. The license is then spot glued to the card, which is folded and inserted into a window envelope. Now only the ink jet sprayed name and address are visible, and all other information is hidden," he said. The equipment checks every driver license, and if one is not encoded properly, the error is detected by the magnetic stripe reader and processing is stopped. The department will now have a 100 percent quality check on the driver licenses mailed, and this will allow it to reduce six positions that had been used to manually check the license quality." The equipment cost us $220,000 but if we look at the reduction of six staff positions, each with an annual cost of $32,263, you see we save about $193,587 a year--meaning we will pay for this system in 13 months," he said. Since the ink jet-sprayed carrier card is OCR readable, the next step will be the installation of a multi- line OCR reader/barcode printer/sorter from Pitney Bowes in November 1993. This equipment will allow the department to barcode and sort "White Mail" rather than send it to a presort vendor. Driver licenses and other non-barcoded mail will be barcoded, sorted, and delivered at least a day sooner with postage and presort vendor savings totaling $1,700,000 over a three-year period. However, some customer service improvements cost money. "We currently take all of our non-barcoded first-class mail to a presort house so we can maximize postage savings," said Novi. But, key executives recently approached Novi to inquire about having their time sensitive first-class mail taken out of the presort stream and expedited. These managers felt they could not afford to loose a day to presorting, so an expedited first-class service known as "Silver Star Service" is now used." Our messengers put expedited first-class mail in special containers. Mail operations staff then metered the mail and deposit it twice daily with the Postal Service. This service only costs a few extra dollars in postage, but the improved delivery time is invaluable to these managers, who have a need to contact their customers on a priority basis," he said. While the operation may be spending a little more, it is contributing thousand to the DMV though changes being made in the processing of incoming vehicle registration remittance payments. "Years ago, we made a concerted effort to improve the processing time for incoming payments by using unique ZIP Codes and special PO Boxes and color coded return envelopes. With this system, the USPS would drip off the remittance mail at 6 a.m., but we could only process the payments until the bank courier picked up the bank deposit at noon. Now we hit same-day processing on approximately 30 percent of the payments, with the other 70 percent being deposited the next day," he said. "We process $2.6 billion of incoming payments each year, and 30 percent same-day processing was not good enough." Working with the USPS, Novi now has couriers deliver incoming mail at 5 p.m., 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. He also added a night crew, expanding his operation from two shifts to three shifts. DMV starts processing payments during the evening, so by the time the bank courier arrives the next day at noon, at least 50 percent of the checks are ready for deposit. He is in the process of making additional staffing changes that will result in 90 percent of the checks being deposited the same day, increasing interest earned by over $200,000 a year." Adding the extra shift was just a matter of reworking schedules and reassigning employees, but with a difference. Night shift personnel were selected on a voluntary basis, and it turned out, many employees enjoy the night shift. It gives them more flexibility, and allows them to have more control over their job-- a key Novi philosophy. Empowering Employees "It is important for employees to have a stake in doing a quality job and improving how their job is done in terms of providing how their job is done in terms of providing quality service, " Novi said. "If they don't, employees will mentally drop out. That is tragic. Work should have value to an employee, be interesting , and also be compatible with their personal life. To the extent possible, it is a manager's job to help by empowering employees--that means involving them in terms of work schedules and how the work is performed." An example of empowerment came to light recently when he sent a line supervisor to a Pitney Bowes Mail Management Seminar. At the seminar, Don Archer recommended that mailers identify their flat mailing as first class by using white envelopes with green-diamond borders. The supervisor came back and explained that flat mailings were probably being treated as third-class mail because they were using manila envelopes. The supervisor also recommended that the DMV use a synthetic lightweight, non-destructible envelope to reduce the volume of mutilated flats that are returned as undeliverable. Her efforts resulted in the department's Forms Unit changing the envelope, resulting in flat mail moving faster with more reliable delivery. In turn, she earned the honor of being nominated one of the outstanding DMV supervisors. For Novi, empowering employees also means not force feeding ideas they are not comfortable with. "Four years ago, our incoming mail operation was processing 26 million pieces of mail each year, and looked ripe for adding automated extractors to the process. When I suggested the idea to the supervisor, she objected to it and noted a number of reasons why it was not advisable at that time, so I backed off. When a new supervisor was appointed, I brought it up again. She was very interested with the idea, and pilot tested the concept with loaned equipment. As a result she concluded that it could improve productivity significantly". The department has now purchased 10 Opex mail extractors; this will save three staff years. The equipment will cost $200,000, but will save $96,000 in personnel costs each year, so this purchase will be paid off in just over two years. Besides the savings, the mail center will provide faster mail service and its employees are excited about working on the new equipment. Having a positive attitude on the part of the supervisor, coupled with employee involvement in the testing phase are key elements in a successful implementation, Novi believes." Management has provided an environment that allows staff to flourish. But it is only because of the input an effort by the department's employees, that we have been able to improve customer service. The best environment is where employees have a personal commitment to provide quality customer service." he said. "Total quality management means being sensitive to customer needs and committed to providing quality customer service by continually improving work processes. The only way to meet or exceed customer expectations is by involving employees in the process." Reprinted from: The Journal of Communication Distribution September 1993 For Information contact: Tom Novi California Department of Motor Vehicle 2570 24th Street, M.S. H3000 Sacramento, CA 95818 (916) 657-8612 =============================================== Service Quality Network: A Statewide Network Barbara Emmons "Our vision for the future for state government in Washington is a belief that we can choose to change how we do business. We believe that we do not have to choose between caring about customer rights and caring about employee rights; we can satisfy customer needs while we create a work environment that values employees and meets their needs. We do not have to choose between the agency's perception of efficiency and the customers perception of service; we can make these perceptions synonymous. This is our ideal. We may never reach the ideal, but we can reach for the ideal. After all, we are all going to live in the future for the rest of our lives. Let's make it better, and let's begin." The closing remarks in "Service Quality Washington", a booklet that introduces some of the latest and best ideas about Service Quality as they apply to the public sector. This is one of the many publications and services provided by the Washington State Service Quality Network whose mission is to promote the continuos improvement of service quality in Washington State. The Washington State Service Quality Network (SQN) - a unique, grass roots, self-help, networking group based in the state capital - Olympia, comprises over 1,000 members from three dozen Washington state agencies, consultants, and other interested parties. These volunteers are dedicated to learning how to improve the quality of customer service in their respective organization. Several of the concepts, adopted by the SQN are, an outgrowth of Washington State Efficiency and Accountability Commissioner's Workforce 2000's vision of customer service. SQN represents an evolution from the quality movement philosophies of Dr. W. Edwards Deming, Peter Scholtes, Phil Crosby and Dr. Joseph Juran with the service movement philosophies of Karl Albrecht, Tom Peters, Rom Zemke and Jan Carlzon. Volunteers coordinate: training opportunities, library services, annual quality award program, newsletter, film previews, book reviews, and guest speakers. SQN offers opportunities for every member to communicate, share experience and learn. Membership in the SQN gives you free access to: * Monthly presentation on service quality topics. * Introductory presentations on service quality. * Members sharing lessons learned. * Special library services. * Monthly newsletter. * Training network. * Book reviews. * Video reviews. * Suggested reading lists. * Service quality video catalog. * Information on national and international quality efforts * Innovative ways of networking on service quality issues For more information, contact: Barbara Emmons Washington State Department of Labor & Industry P. O. Box 44730 Olympia, WA 98504-4730 Phone: (206) 956-5838 Fax: (206) 956-6300 =============================================== Milwaukee's Total Quality Improvement (TQI) Rusty Borkin In 1990 Milwaukee initiated quality improvement activities with the formation of six "process action team" in a variety of departments. The teams reported to a city-wide steering team and were assisted by an outside consultant. Despite the mixed results from these pilot projects, the steering team saw enough potential to push forward. During 1991, a "transition" steering team developed a more comprehensive approach to TQI which focused on fundamental organizational change. This included the hiring of a quality manager to coordinate and lead TQI activities. the formation of a smaller "hands on" steering team with more union representation, and ad skeleton plan for TQI start-up. When the Quality Improvement Manager was hired in June, 1992 the City-wide Steering Team began an intensive planning effort. Six planning areas for organizational change were identified as show below. *** missing graphic*** The City's (TQI) effort blossomed in 1993 with employees in twelve City agencies participating in a progression of improvement activities. Over forty project and steering teams have begun the complex but essential task of meeting and exceeding customer needs. The citywide steering team has supported these efforts by publishing implementation guidelines for departments, developing a curriculum of seven TQI Learning Program, presenting these courses to departmental groups, and providing ongoing consultation as implementation progress moves forward. The diverse nature of City government provides unique challenges. The work place cultures of the City Agencies are as distinct as the service they deliver. And, with executive and legislative branches providing direction, labor and management trying out new roles, and citizens calling for improved services, the forces driving quality effort have been at times difficult to manage by TQI Participants. Finding necessary time and resources, overcoming skepticism, encouraging those not desiring change and recovering from mistaken actions are some of the issues faced. The city had developed "implementation guidelines" and has produced it's "1993 TQI report" that details progress made in this effort. For more details contact: Rusty Borkin Quality Improvement Manager City of Milwaukee Department of Employee Relations Room 706 200 East Wells Milwaukee, WI 53202 Phone: (414) 286-8154 Fax: (414) 278-2106 =============================================== Oregon Benchmarks Imagine a State in which all levels of government, the private sector and education are focused upon the achievement of key outcomes that will guide the State to a better future as a people, as a place and as an economy. Well maybe Oregon has found how to achieve this end with the Oregon Benchmarks--272 goals that the state has set that reflect its vision for the state by the year 2010. The benchmarks are based on the premise that Oregon will have the best chance of achieving an attractive future if Oregonians agree on where they want to go and then join together to accomplish those goals. The benchmarks are grouped into three major areas, people, quality of life, and the economy. Among the 272 benchmarks, a number serve as critical measures of Oregon's human, environmental, and economic well-being in the next 20 years. These fall into two categories: urgent benchmarks and core benchmarks. Urgent benchmarks. Urgent benchmarks are those short-term, "short-list" benchmarks that will help Oregon address pressing problems or needs in the next few years. If progress is not made in the next five years on these benchmarks, which are leading indicators of others, there is a very real danger that many other benchmarks will not be achieved one or two decades out. Core benchmarks. Core benchmarks are fundamental, enduring measures of Oregon's vitality and health. Year after year, if there is good progress on these particular benchmarks the state should be doing well as a state and as a people. Setting Priorities. Benchmarks place a priority on measuring results (for example, adult literacy) rather than efforts (the amount of money spent on literacy education). Outcomes are a more telling indicator of achievement than programs and expenditures intended to achieve outcomes. By staying focused on outcomes, and by keeping track of results, leaders in Oregon life can reset priorities and adapt and modify programs as they learn what works. Occasionally, however, input benchmarks (such as per capita expenditures on public infrastructure) provide a reliable indicator of how well Oregon is doing. There are several other characteristics among benchmarks. The measures should enable Oregon to be compared, as much as possible, with other states and countries. They should be reliable over time. And they should be based on data which can be gathered periodically. Benchmarks and State Government. Benchmarks have become important tools in State Government for setting program and budget priorities and for seeking interagency cooperation on bread issues. For example, the first edition of Oregon Benchmarks identified 17 critical benchmarks that deserve priority attention in the near term. Governor Roberts assigned people in state agencies to take responsibility for each of these benchmarks and to craft strategies to achieve them. Each state agency also has been directed to develop results-oriented performance measures that connect with the broader list of Oregon Benchmarks. Governor's Task Force on State Government Organizations. In the middle of her first year, Governor Roberts created a task force to examine the operations of State Government. Part of its charge was to examine how state agencies could be organized to better support achievement of Oregon Benchmarks. The resulting report presented a new vision for how to run state government. The essence of that vision is that state government agencies should be working toward measurable outcomes that connect to Oregon Benchmarks. The task force envisions a process that ties budgeting directly to the accomplishment of specific objectives, using multi-agency terms to accomplish those results. The report, in effect, provides a blueprint for accountable, customer-focused government. Benchmarks and Communities. Oregon Benchmarks are also intended for use by municipal governments and other local community organizations. Already, there are promising examples of benchmarks at work. As benchmarks are put in practice, it has become clear that they represent a new way to conduct public business. By making measurable results the point of attention, they inspire partnerships across organizational boundaries to effectively achieve those results. For more information contact: Oregon Progress Board 775 Summer Street, N. E. Salem, Oregon 97310 Phone: (503) 373-1220 Fax: (503) 373-1200 =============================================== Service Excellence Los Angeles County As County government faces an increasing public demand to maintain critical services while budgets shrink, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has launched a countywide initiative called Service Excellence. "Shamelessly stealing" ideas from the Service Management and Total Quality Management movements in the public and private sectors, the Board is encouraging County departments to become familiar with and use quality improvement, customer service and employee involvement concepts and tools in planning and delivering public services. A task force of County managers and commissioner under the direction of the County's Quality and Productivity Commission has been charged by the Board to serve as a catalyst and resource for the implementation of Service Excellence throughout County government. As a first step in introducing County employees to these concepts, the task force has produced a booklet titled Service Excellence Los Angeles County: an Introduction. In addition to service and quality concepts, the booklet contains examples of current customer service and quality improvement initiatives in various County departments. Other communications media developed by the task force include a poster and brochure. All of these publications were written and designed by County staff but draw heavily on the work of two service quality leaders in the public sector -- Canada's D. Brian Marson and the State of California's A. Keith Smith. In its role as resource, the SELAC Task Force, with funding from the Quality and Productivity Commission, has sponsored several "hands on" projects to help County departments move from interest to action. These include: * The Quality Forum IX -- last October, Los Angeles County employees were among the estimated 200,000 people worldwide who viewed ASQC's live satellite broadcast on "Empowering People with Technology" from Washington D.C. * Public Service Quality Assessment -- Baldrige-type assessment criteria were developed for local government and piloted in four County departments; * Customer- Focused Process Improvement -- "a 'hands on' skill development workshop for County departments seeking to improve the process that deliver value to customers." Following a departmental executive briefing and process owner training, intact workgroups from five County departments will analyze and improve their work process in a series of six half-day workshops. * Conducting Successful Meetings -- a half-day skill development workshop to improve the meeting process by "accomplishing the planned outcomes with the fewest participants in the least amount of time." Ten classes will be offered to a variety of audiences, including individual employees, departmental management teams, and countywide task forces and committees. For additional information about Service Excellence Los Angeles County contact SELAC Task Force member: Jan Pollard Director of Business Development and Customer Service Los Angeles County Internal Services Department 1100 North Eastern Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90063 Phone (213) 267-3101 =============================================== Driving Home the Point of TQM: South Carolina's DMV Experience At the end of the 1993 legislative session, the South Carolina General Assembly passed a concurrent resolution calling on the Division of Human Resource Management (DHRM) to study and make recommendations on the Division of Motor Vehicle's serve to the public. The resolution was a scathing attack on the perceived ineffectiveness of DMV operations. The resolution cited long lines at DMV offices and employees who do not have the "patience, proper attitude or compassion to deal with the public" as the major problems. Also during the 1993 session, the DMV was moved from the Department of Highways and Public Transportation to join the South Carolina Tax commission as the major components of a new Department of Revenue (DOR). In the spirit of Quality Management and Interagency cooperation, Human Resources and the Department of Revenue determined that the most effective way to answer the resolution was through a team effort. A Quality Service team, consisting of nine DMV employees from all levels, was charged to study the systems that support quality service delivery in the DMV and make recommendations for changes. This team was jointly facilitated by Human Resources and Department of Revenue personnel. In addition, a Guidance Team was formed from the management of DOR and Human Resources. The team faced numerous obstacles to meeting it's mission. First, although the former Tax Commission was a leader in South Carolina's quality efforts, the DMV had little experience in this process. The resolution required a report to the General Assembly in January 1994, so the learning curve had to be short. Second, neither the Quality Service Team members nor most of the Guidance Team members had ever received any quality training. The employees had to learn what to do and the management had to learn what to expect from the process. Both were apprehensive about the prospects of being able to turn the critical request for study into a positive team effort. Lastly, the recommendations of the team were to go to the General Assembly. No one know what the legislative response would be. After the team members received their training in the tools and techniques of Quality Management, they began reviewing the available data. DMV maintains a file of customer comment cards. A total of 816, received during the most recent six month period were reviewed. The team found that 83% of the cards contained positive comments. Most of the comments mentioned helpful and attentive employees as a source of satisfaction. Other cards revealed a number of customer concerns. To get more baseline information, as well as to accurately determine customer expectations, the team planned interview with both the public and other DMV employees. Over the next several weeks, every DMV branch office in the state was visited by team members and over 350 employee and customer interviews were conducted. Three major service objectives were identified from both the customer and employee survey responses. First, DMV had to find ways to reduce the number of transactions that required visits to a DMV office. Second, DMV had to find ways to simplify transactions to reduce errors and rework on the part of both customers and the employees. Third, DMV had to identify strategies to reduce waiting line times for customers. The linkages between these strategies were critical. For example, reducing the number of required customer visits to DMV also had the benefit of reducing waiting line time because fewer customers had to be served. By the same token, simplification of transactions could result in quicker processing, leading to both shorter lines and fewer repeat trips by customers to finish transactions they were unable to complete on their first attempt. By using these three service objectives as a framework for classifying potential initiatives, the team began to sort through numerous suggestions for change. From October, 1993 through January, 1994, the team gathered and evaluated nearly 100 possible improvement suggestions from DMV managers, employees and customers. Data was collected and possible implementation obstacles were explored. The team found that many initiatives already underway at DMV needed to be publicized to both the public and the members of the General Assembly. For example, in July, 1993 the state had instituted biennial vehicle registration to reduce the number of customer visits for registrations from once per year to once every two years. This change alone will reduce by half the number of walk-in vehicle registration renewals, DMV's most commonly performed transaction. In addition, the team proposed the expansion of using roving information specialist in large offices to help customers in line and ensure that they had the needed documentation to perform the desired transaction. Many other initiatives already under consideration by DMV were supported by the team's review. The team suggested allowing authorized automobile dealers to issue license tags and the vehicle registrations at the dealership, thereby reducing the inconvenience of both the dealership and the purchaser. Also recommended was the staggering of registration periods for all types of vehicles. At present, some classes of vehicles, such as motorcycles, require renewal during a specific month causing bottlenecks in the branch offices. The elimination of notarization requirements on certain transactions was also recommended. New initiatives, such as changing the driver's license renewal period from four to five years and issuing new license plates based upon the life expectancy of the plate rather than the automatic replacement every six years as required by state law were put forward in the team's report. The latter recommendation, if adopted, could save the state approximately $6 million over a two year period. In all, the team made 43 recommendations to the management of the Department of Revenue and the General Assembly in their report. The team did not shy away from making recommendations that required legislative action, pointing out the role the General Assembly must play in removing obstacles to providing more effective service. A total of twelve legislation changes were recommended by the team and supported by DMV management. While the team was conducting it's review, The Director of the Office of Human Resources, the renamed DHRM, and the Executive Director of the Department of Revenue were developing a strategy to present the report findings to the members of the General Assembly. The intent of both the Office of Human Resources and the Department of Revenue was not only to generate interest in the recommendations of the team, but to also highlight the power of the Quality Management process. The members of the General Assembly, although supportive of state agency quality efforts had never been directly exposed to a project team presentation. With the help of legislative staff, team presentations were scheduled before both a House subcommittee and the State Budget and Control Board. On February 1, 1994, the team made it's initial presentation to the House Ways and Means Management Accountability subcommittee. The response was overwhelmingly positive. The subcommittee praised both the team members and the agency management for their approach to addressing the problem and promised support for their recommendations. The team received a similar reception from the Budget and Control Board, which includes the Governor, State Treasurer, Controller General, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, on February 16, 1994. The author of the original concurrent resolution, Representative Eugene B. "Mac" McLeod, Jr. held a press conference following the team's second presentation to announce his support for the efforts of the team and his intentions to sponsor the legislative changes requested by DMV. In his remarks to the press he stated, "This is an excellent example of state government at its finest-when employees have a voice in making things better for their customer". The DMV team report and the subsequent positive response by several members of the General Assembly was an important milestone for South Carolina's quality process. By demonstrating what can be accomplished by well trained teams, the DMV has set the stage for increased legislative and executive support for Quality Management in the state. Agency managers and employees now have evidence that the system is supportive of, and responsive to, the Quality Management approach. Many believe that this team's efforts mark the beginning of an new era. For more information, or copies of the report, please contact: Nathan Strong South Carolina Office of Human Resources (803) 737-0910 or Suzie Rast South Carolina Department of Revenue (803) 737- 4533