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City of West Palm Beach Memorandum Internal Auditor’s Office To: Claudia McKenna, City Attorney From: Imogene Isaacs, Internal Auditor Date: Subject: REPORT NO. 2002-003 CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT STUDY PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES At the November 9, 2001 Audit Committee meeting Commissioner Zucaro reported that City Commissioners have received complaints from both internal staff and external clients that items submitted to the City Attorney's Office were not completed in a timely fashion. He reminded the Committee that several years ago a review of the procedures utilized by the City Attorney's Office was requested, but not undertaken at that time as new procedures had been introduced to improve project tracking. Commissioner Zucaro stated that with timeliness of work completion again emerging as an issue, he would like for Internal Audit staff to conduct a management review of the City Attorney's Office. Claudia McKenna, Deputy City Attorney at that time, requested an opportunity to present information on operations and recent process improvements within the City Attorney's Office prior to any decision by the Audit Committee regarding a management study. Her request was granted and a presentation was scheduled for the December 14, 2001 Audit Committee meeting. However, at that meeting, Ms. McKenna apprised the Committee that after consulting Internal Audit staff both she and former City Attorney ...
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City of West Palm Beach
Claudia McKenna, City Attorney
Memorandum Internal Auditors Office To:From:Imogene Isaacs, Internal Auditor Date: Subject:REPORT NO. 2002-003 CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT STUDY PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES At the November 9, 2001 Audit Committee meeting Commissioner Zucaro reported that City Commissioners have received complaints from both internal staff and external clients that items submitted to the City Attorney's Office were not completed in a timely fashion. He reminded the Committee that several years ago a review of the procedures utilized by the City Attorney's Office was requested, but not undertaken at that time as new procedures had been introduced to improve project tracking. Commissioner Zucaro stated that with timeliness of work completion again emerging as an issue, he would like for Internal Audit staff to conduct a management review of the City Attorney's Office. Claudia McKenna, Deputy City Attorney at that time, requested an opportunity to present information on operations and recent process improvements within the City Attorney's Office prior to any decision by the Audit Committee regarding a management study. Her request was granted and a presentation was scheduled for the December 14, 2001 Audit Committee meeting. However, at that meeting, Ms. McKenna apprised the Committee that after consulting Internal Audit staff both she and former City Attorney Patrick Brown had concluded that a management study could prove beneficial and would also help resolve negative perceptions. Therefore, they supported going forward with this initiative. The objective of the study was to assess the City Attorney's Office's degree of effectiveness and efficiency in planning, managing and controlling workflow and related processes and to identify opportunities for enhancements to service.
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CONCLUSIONS AND STUDY SUMMARY The major stimulus for this study was a reported perception that work submitted to the City Attorney's Office was not completed timely. Responses from questionnaires that were completed by customer departments and selected divisions supported this perception, indicating that almost half the respondents felt that timeliness of work completion was less than satisfactory. However, when the responding departments were grouped according to their volume and therefore frequency of contact with the City Attorney's Office, the high volume customers rated timeliness significantly higher than the lower volume customers. This could be partially attributable to the working relationships that have evolved between high volume users and the City Attorney's Office. We could not determine if these customer perceptions were based on fact. Information derived from our review of the Workflow Manager database was inadequate to determine the actual timeliness of work completion by the City Attorney's Office for several reasons. While the Workflow Manager project tracking software was implemented as a management tool approximately two years ago to address timeliness issues, use of this system has been inconsistent and incomplete and its full functionality has not been realized. Intake dates and closing dates were not always recorded, elapsed time while projects were out of the City Attorney's Office for review or revision was not tracked, and data was often incomplete. Project status was not maintained up to date and completed projects had not been closed out in the database. Estimated dates of completion were not routinely established in the intake process, making it difficult, if not impossible, to measure performance in regard to timeliness. Without an estimated completion date for their projects, customers may have held unrealistic expectations that led to the low survey ratings. Other intake process issues include the readiness and completeness of items and projects submitted to the City Attorney's Office. Reportedly, department personnel often make verbal requests for services, drop off agenda items for review without required attachments or backup, and provide insufficient information regarding a project. Misunderstandings have frequently occurred regarding outcomes desired by departments and responsibilities of both the submitting party and the attorney who received the assignment. Both Mr. Brown and Ms. McKenna stated that work priorities are set outside of their control by the needs of the organization. Staff members reported that they are constantly required to deal with changes in work priorities due to both avoidable and unavoidable circumstances. This gear shifting has exacted a toll on work efficiency and particularly timeliness. A methodology is needed to systematically consider organizational needs and set project priorities through coordination with the City Administrator. This would provide for less
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redirection of efforts and would benefit both office staff and customers. Formal standard operating procedures are needed to address intake, project tracking, and other workflow management issues including work prioritization and progress reporting to customers. Such procedures could provide improved intake to insure readiness and completeness of submitted requests, effective project tracking that would identify project delays and trigger appropriate interventions, and reporting mechanisms that would apprise departments of work progress and problems. Consistent utilization of Workflow Manager or some other project management system should be incorporated in the standard operating procedures to monitor workload levels and establish benchmarks for cycle times that could be useful for estimating project completion dates, goal setting, and performance measurement.The City Attorney's Office has a solid foundation of highly qualified and experienced attorneys and support staff members. However, the Office has experienced reduced staffing levels for extended periods of time. Turnover rates for the past two calendar years have been almost three times that of the City overall. This has resulted in lost institutional knowledge and decreased productivity. While recognizing that compensation is an important issue, we do not believe that it has been the singular cause of the employee attrition. This conclusion is based on employee interviews and an analysis of local public sector market salary levels. We do believe that improved communication, enhanced employee development opportunities, and the development and implementation of standard operating procedures and improved work processes will contribute significantly to employee retention. While the historically high attrition rate predictably creates a frequent need for orienting and training new hires, few resources have been allocated to meet this need. No staff member is designated to familiarize new employees with office and City work practices, and neither an orientation program nor training materials have been developed to accelerate the learning process of new hires. Although the City Attorney's Office has been able to attract attorneys with very significant levels of professional experience, these new hires still need to learn the City's organizational framework and form of government and become familiar with the various functional areas before they can contribute most effectively. Information gathered from current staff members via questionnaires and interviews indicated that they are aware of their organization's mission and overall objectives, including timely work production and quality customer service. The staff questionnaire also asked about internal controls in place to reasonably assure attainment of their objectives. Staff members reported favorably on most of the internal control components that were referenced by the questionnaire, although increased emphasis on internal controls is needed in the areas of sufficiency of staffing, facilitation of information flow, training, and process improvement activities.
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At the onset of this study, the only day-to-day managerial role in the City Attorney's Office was that of the Deputy City Attorney, who directly supervised all subordinate staff in addition to functioning as an attorney. The span of control was excessive in this situation, considering the complexity of the work. When the individual contributor responsibilities of the Deputy City Attorney are factored in, very little time is available for process improvement initiatives, staff development, performance management, and planning. In late March 2002 City Attorney Patrick Brown resigned and Deputy City Attorney Claudia McKenna was designated Interim City Attorney and subsequently appointed as City Attorney in June 2002. During our review, Ms. McKenna enacted several changes to address identified weaknesses in the Office structure and operation. •A Legal Support Supervisor classification was created to supervise administrative support staff, monitor workflow, coordinate the development of standard operating procedures, provide office orientation and coordinate support staff training, and provide back-up coverage for vacant positions. •A new Request for Legal Services procedure was implemented to allow for improved project intake and prioritization. The Workflow Manager database was reviewed and project status was updated. • •Regular staff meetings for support staff personnel, in addition to ongoing attorney sessions, were introduced to discuss project status and foster information sharing. These initiatives have had a very positive effect on employee morale. With six new hires on board, the office is fully staffed. Addition of the Legal Support Supervisor increases managerial resources and allows for the development of improved work processes and the continuing development of standard operating procedures. A new Request for Legal Services procedure will improve the readiness of submitted work requests and facilitate better work prioritization and work completion estimating. Planning is underway to more effectively deploy office resources, monitor and control work flow, and provide for employee development. With follow-through on these initiatives and commitment to consistent use and development of Workflow Manager, we are optimistic that the City Attorney's Office will have the tools in place to increase timeliness and eliminate unfavorable perceptions while improving working relationships and communication with their customers. The City Attorney has requested that we return to evaluate progress next year. This study was conducted by Scott Craig, CIA, and Dennis Prewitt, CCP, CCSA, SPHR. We thank Claudia McKenna and her staff for their willing and candid participation.
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SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY This study is not intended to meet Government Auditing Standards that apply to audits and are more restrictive in purpose. To perform this study, we: •Reviewed mission statement, goals, objectives and performance measures. •Reviewed the budget and expenditures for legal services and outside attorneys for the period October 1, 1999 to March 15, 2002. • follow-up interviewsDeveloped and distributed a staff questionnaire. Conducted with City Attorney's Office employees. •Developed and distributed a customer questionnaire. •Interviewed the Mayor, City Administrator, one Assistant City Administrator and four of five City Commissioners individually. •Interviewed Palm Beach County's Chief Deputy Attorney Gordon Selfridge and Assistant Personnel Director Wayne Condry via telephone. •Flowcharted proposed Office Intake Procedures for analysis. •Reviewed the Workflow Manager database and aged projects. •Computed employee turnover statistics. •Obtained and reviewed exit interview records. •Updated local market comparison on salaries for relevant classifications. BACKGROUND AND PERTINENT INFORMATION Mission As stated inGoals, Objectives, and Performance Measures for Fiscal Year 2002/2003, page 73, the mission of the City Attorney's Office is to serve as the chief legal advisor to the City; to protect the legal interests of the City; to assist in the promulgation and enforcement of the laws of the City; and to provide all necessary legal services in a timely and cost-effective manner. Staffing An organizational chart of the City Attorney's Office on March 15, 2002 is attached as Exhibit I. In addition to the eight attorneys and six support staff employees on board at that time, there were vacant budgeted positions for one additional attorney and two support staff. With the exception of one Legal Secretary reporting to the City Attorney, all other positions reported directly to the Deputy City Attorney. Services
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Services are provided primarily in four areas as described by the City Attorney's Office as: Transactions area of practice pertains to legal services regarding municipal: This transactions for all departments, agencies and divisions of the City, such as the preparation and review of contracts for (i) services such as construction services and general contractor services pertaining to City projects; (ii) the purchase and/or disposition of real estate; (iii) interlocal agreements with other governmental entities; (iv) utility and franchise agreements; (v) procurement and Small Business Enterprise matters; (vi) special assessment districts; (vii) finance matters such as loan agreements and bond indentures; (viii) community events such as Sun Fest and the Boat Show; (ix) grant agreements; and (x) redevelopment programs, such as CityPlace. Litigationin the defense of the City of West Palm area of practice is actively involved : This Beach in pending and threatened litigation and appeals involving such matters as negligence, civil rights, employment discrimination cases, false arrests, constitutional claims, Americans with Disabilities Act issues, real estate cases, forfeiture and foreclosure cases, eminent domain, zoning cases, public nuisance cases, and other matters. This area also includes litigation in which the City is a plaintiff seeking to enforce its legal rights. Additionally, a lien enforcement and collection division actively pursues the collection of outstanding debts due to the City. Labor/Employmentarea of practice concerns counseling to the Police Department, : This the Human Resources Department, and other City departments, agencies and divisions regarding labor and employment matters. Administrative/Advisory and Regulatory area of practice concerns advisory services: This with regard to governmental regulatory matters with emphasis on the interpretation and preparation of municipal ordinances, planning, zoning and building matters, utilities, code enforcement, public records requests, election law issues, nuisance abatement, and police legal matters. Outside Service Providers The City incurred costs averaging approximately $535,000 in a twelve (12) month period for specialist outside attorneys and another $425,000 for general liability and workers' compensation attorneys paid through the self-insurance fund. FINDING: TIMELINESS REMAINS A PRIORITY ISSUE This study addresses the reported perception that work submitted to the City Attorney's
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Office is not completed timely. Customer survey results indicate that the perception remains. However, inconsistent and incomplete use of the Workflow Manager project tracking system has forestalled the accumulation of sufficient information to determine if these perceptions have a factual basis. As both perceptions and fact are significant service indicators, timeliness remains a priority issue. Customer Perceptions We distributed a Customer Questionnaire, attached as Exhibit II, to department heads and other major users of the City Attorney's Office services to get their opinions. Customers were asked to rank Quality of Work, Timeliness, Communication, and Overall Customer Service on a scale of one (poor) to ten (excellent). Of the thirteen (13) respondents, "timeliness" was given an average rating of five and one-half (5.5) making it the lowest rated factor. Six (6) of the respondents rated "timeliness" less than satisfactory (rating of lower than five). The average ratings for all other factors were well above satisfactory. However, when the responding departments were grouped according to their volume and therefore frequency of contact with the City Attorney's Office, the high volume customers rated timeliness significantly higher than the lower volume customers. This could be partially attributable to the working relationships that have developed between high volume users and the City Attorney's Office. It was postulated by one department head that clear communication of expected results, realistic timeframes, and regularly scheduled status discussions greatly facilitated mutual satisfaction with their working relationships. Respondents to the customer questionnaire were also asked to list any projects, documents, or action items that have been submitted to the City Attorney's Office and are still pending. None of the lists that were provided reflected more than a few outstanding items, with the exception of the spreadsheet that was submitted by the Public Utilities Department. Despite the much greater number of outstanding items their overall satisfaction with timeliness was reflected by their very high rating of "8" on the customer questionnaire. Several customers acknowledged that they routinely submitted "last minute" projects to the City Attorney's Office, particularly in the category of agenda items. One high volume user was characterized as having two priority levels, urgent and more urgent. Operating Factors Affecting Timely Service The study identified a number of factors related to internal controls that were affecting timely service. As described inInternal Control - Integrated Frameworkpublished by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), internal control is broadly defined as a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of
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an organization's objectives, including effectiveness and efficiency of operations. This definition reflects that: •Internal control is aprocess a means to an end, not an end in itself.. It's •Internal control is effected bypeople. It's not merely policy manuals and forms, but people at every level. •Internal control can be expected to provide onlyreasonable assurance, not absolute assurance. •Internal control is geared to the achievement ofobjectives. We developed a staff questionnaire utilizing COSO internal control system evaluation tools to obtain information from employees regarding the work environment and system of internal controls. The staff questionnaire, attached as Exhibit III, consisted of two sections. The first section identified the employee and requested general information about education, training and previous experience. In the second section, which was returned anonymously, employees were asked to scale the extent of their agreement or disagreement with twenty-six (26) statements about their workplace. The majority of these statements were obtained directly from examples provided in COSO'sInternal Control - Integrated Framework. While the responses to this questionnaire do not constitute a complete evaluation of the internal control system used in the City Attorney's Office, they do provide insight into employee perceptions of the effectiveness of internal controls that are in place. Reported strengths included management's emphasis on integrity and ethical behavior, appropriateness of delegated authority or empowerment, employee knowledge of office objectives and their own roles, the ability to communicate "up the chain of command" without reprisal, access to the City Attorney, and response to customer complaints. Relative weaknesses included process improvement activities, sufficiency of staffing, facilitation of information flow, and training. Process Improvement and Formalization of Procedures Efficiency and effectiveness of the City Attorney's Office has been hampered by the absence of standard operating procedures. For example, the City Attorney and staff have reported that it is common for department personnel to make verbal requests for services, drop off agenda items for review without required attachments or back-up, provide insufficient information regarding a project, or submit requests related to projects that have not been approved by the department director. Misunderstandings have frequently occurred regarding outcomes desired by departments, expected completion dates, and responsibilities of both the submitting party and the attorney who received the assignment. All of these issues should be addressed by a formalized intake procedure.
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In individual staff interviews, employees stated that a lack of standardized procedures has also resulted in "reinvention of the wheel", inconsistent practices, and other avoidable workflow delays. In addition to standardizing procedures, a need was also cited for standardized templates for routine, recurring types of work such as contracts, resolutions, and ordinances. In particular, it was reported that significant time and effort is expended on developing documents "from scratch" when modifying a standardized City contract would have been much more efficient and provided better controls. It should be recognized that the City Attorney acknowledges the value of standard operating procedures, and the development of a manual of office procedures has been underway for well over a year. While incomplete, an initial draft of Office Procedures, attached as Exhibit IV, is under review that includes revised intake procedures, work assignment, workflow tracking, job coverage, and description of a file set-up system. To assist the City Attorney's Office in reviewing these new procedures, we flowcharted the six segments of the proposed processes and provided feedback on process disconnects and recommended changes. Flowcharts are attached as Exhibit V with disconnects and suggested revisions highlighted in gray. A new Request for Services procedure has already been introduced to allow for better communication of departments' needs, control the submission of incomplete work requests, facilitate prioritizing of incoming work, and capture sufficient data to support project tracking and process improvement. The City Attorney plans to implement the remainder of the new intake process after the Legal Support Supervisor is up to speed and to task this position with ongoing maintenance and continuous improvement of office processes. Computerized Workflow Management A Workflow Manager system was implemented in February 1999 to aid in project tracking. The system is an extension of Lotus Notes that accepts the input of new projects via an intake form, accepts the entry of project related information updates, and allows for sharing of the project information by staff members. Projects are assigned to staff members and are categorized by type. The database of projects can be viewed in a large variety of ways including assignment (by staff name), open or closed status, and type. A number of reports are available such as daily or weekly intake reports, utilities report, foreclosures report, etc. Our review of the database, however, indicated that the system had neither been consistently utilized nor properly maintained. Some of the attorneys had conscientiously entered projects and detailed comments regarding progress, others had essentially ignored Workflow Manager and relied on work diaries and other means to manage their projects. No procedure was being utilized to track or record elapsed time while a project was out of the City Attorney's Office for review or revision. Dates were not always entered when projects were closed out. Quite frequently projects were not closed out in the database and appeared as ongoing
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projects even though they may have been completed or discontinued. This "clutter" rendered it very difficult to ascertain the outstanding workload. At March 15, 2002, there were nine hundred thirty-five (935) open items in the database that had been in the City Attorneys Office for varying lengths of time as shown below: Less than 3 months 167 3-6 months 142 6-12 months 154 12-18 months 167 More than 18 months 150 No input date 155 Total 935 According to the system database, several of these matters were not being actively worked as evidenced by the fact that ten (10) had no attorney assigned and three hundred twenty (320) were assigned to attorneys no longer employed by the City. During our review, new items received averaged over one hundred per month. The following table lists new items for the period March 15, 2002 to June 10, 2002 by type and assignment: ATTORNEY LITIGATION PROJECTS AGENDA TOTAL ITEMS Bradford 0 11 8 19 Hamilton 8 13 0 21 Hunecke 41 114 2 157 McKenna 2 2 15 19 Payson 0 12 11 23 Spillias 3 18 3 24 Thomas 0 3 3 6 Urcheck 1 55 2 58 TOTAL 55 228 44 327 Approximately seven hundred and eighty (780) open assigned items were present in the Workflow Manager database as of June 10, 2002 and were assigned to the eight attorneys then on staff. The complexity and time demands of the assigned items varies greatly between and within the four broad service types provided by the City Attorney's Office. Therefore, the gross number of assigned items has limited applicability as an indicator of workload. No evidence was found in the Workflow Manager database that reporting capabilities were being used to shepherd projects from assignment to completion, or to provide feedback to customer departments. According to the customer survey responses, departments were most
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