Strategic and Business Planning

Management tools for today's municipal stormwater programs

More and more, municipal staff, leadership, and the community at large are being challenged to focus on stormwater management with an intensity similar to that placed on the water and sewer business 40 years ago. A major "sleeping giant," the drainage infrastructure, is aging - sometimes failing - and is now regulated as never before in communities across the nation. Public works leaders are challenged to find the operational and capital solutions, often with little or no increase in resources and without direction on the desired ultimate goal for managing the systems.

Changes can, without effective strategic and business planning, result in less-effective outcomes and potentially wasted resources. In most communities today, multiple units within the organization - uncoordinated and often working at cross-purposes - carry out stormwater programs. Obviously, changing these outcomes is desirable. And developing a results-oriented, well-planned, integrated program is crucial to achieving goals of public safety, environmental vitality, and effective stewardship.

Building for the future, for viable stormwater management programs, requires leadership vision. The first step involves defining that vision, agreeing on the organization's mission, creating goals to further the mission, and building an action plan to ensure results. The process itself creates a stronger management team. The management staff puts time into thinking, planning, discussing, and debating the future for stormwater management, creating a consistent and coherent direction for their elected officials and their employees.

The Role of Planning

Every organization, every major effort, and every person has a need for planning. This is particularly true within government organizations that function as stewards of the public trust (or perceived mistrust) and that are open to public scrutiny at all times. Whether or not the public is interested in the work going on within the government, planning is needed to provide direction, to identify work needing to be accomplished, and to forecast investment dollars required and results expected to measure successful completion of a project or an organization. For this reason, strategic and business planning are being effectively used within local governments as a necessary tool in developing stormwater management programs. As the managers of the drainage infrastructure try to close the gap between limited resources and the growing drainage and water quality protection needs for this "out of sight" system, planning becomes more critical every day. Planning provides management with a comprehensive roadmap to lead program development activities, to help their organizations cope with the changes required for a successful program, and to serve as a day-to-day guide to ensuring that important activities get equal time with the "urgent" activities that so often overcome managers' time.

Finding resources to meet objectives is becoming more and more difficult for stormwater managers throughout the nation. Because stormwater management programs compete daily for funding and resources that need to be allocated across a broad spectrum of public needs, including transportation and education, and because stormwater is visible only when there is a flood or a drought or when algal blooms blossom at the end of a storm drain or in a channel, it often competes poorly for a community's general funds against the need for a new fire truck or more police officers. Strategic and business plans provide the vision, clarity of thinking, and strategies to identify critical needs, define new resource options, and build consensus on implementing new fees. Finally, management is using planning tools to maximize outcomes from limited resources and limited funding, and to motivate and reward personnel throughout longer-term projects and programs.

The following information details the planning processes that can prove useful for stormwater management programs.

Strategic Planning

All organizations should have a strategic plan. Ideally, the plan was written when the stormwater program was begun, but if that was not the case, it should happen at the earliest opportunity, or at the beginning of a new venture or operation. For many communities, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Phase I or II stormwater quality permits, which require substantial new stormwater management programs and strategies, have provided the motivation for planning. In other cases, growing capital improvement backlogs due to aging drainage systems, increasing incidence of flooding, and/or crumbling pipes and culverts have been the catalyst.

Strategic planning is a way for the stormwater management team to determine what's most important for its future and to focus on activities that will bring success and ensure that the services remain viable. Through the strategic planning process, the organization creates its vision, clarifies its purpose for being, identifies the behaviors it values, and defines how it will work with others (guiding principles). These issues are the underpinning to creating successful outcomes and should remain constant (with perhaps some minor adjustment) for five to ten years. Unlike earlier long-range planning that remained static for a minimum five-year horizon and was incapable of changing direction as the climate dictated, today's strategic plans are more flexible and acknowledge that, over time, adjustments must be made as strategies are achieved or other factors change. These plans function much better in the changing environments in which we work.

The stormwater strategic plan starts with the long-term vision, mission, and goals that should last for the life of the plan and typically focus on minimizing public risk and on protecting the environment. The plan then identifies shorter-term (one- to two-year) strategies and accompanying tactics to achieve the long-term goals. Thus, portions of the work are finished and "scratched off" the list or turned into activities for ongoing operation. Activities with a shorter time frame provide the organization with a continuing sense of achievement.

The purpose of this planning is to give management tools to take action to improve their operating decisions by having the vision for what the final program will provide. This includes internal leadership as well as elected leadership so that stormwater programs can effectively compete for an appropriate share of limited resources. For example, it may be very difficult for a town council or board to imagine how a consistent capital improvement plan and a coordinated drainage management plan will change the organization 20 years from now. Through strategic planning, a clear strategic focus is defined, and the management group that participates in the planning forges a higher sense of commitment to completion of the plan.

Upon completion and adoption of a strategic plan that includes elected officials, the goals provide focus for future management decision-making. When choices arise for resource allocation and new program development, elected leadership along with the internal staff leadership will have the ability to determine what's in the interest of the community and how that fits the overall direction of the program and its organization. It allows for course correction and for benchmarking how a new regulation or a new water quality initiative can lead to a desired outcome for the overall vision of stormwater management.

Strategic plans provide guidance for development of individual staff goals and objectives, and provide a format for identifying the persons who have responsibility for each segment of the plan. Accountability is critical. Plan champions and responsible personnel are identified and can be rewarded based on the achievement of the plan. Providing accountability to the governing board and to citizens for stormwater program achievements reinforces the importance of change and of accomplishment of the overall goals for the program.

Limited resource management is a way of life within local government operations. Efficiency and effectiveness of resource use is critical. Strategic plans allocate resources by establishing priorities and time frames for accomplishment of various elements of the plan. Through the prioritization, the business plan and operating plan then can reflect more near-term goals and ensure that attention and resources are provided to accomplish those elements of the plan.

Business Planning

Business planning has a more practical day-to-day application to the stormwater business. In fact, one of the most practical and historical reasons for developing a business plan is to get funding and/or other resources for a project or program. The business plan answers the questions needed to quantify how a local program operates, and it generally takes a deeper look into many of the internal and external issues that surround the business or program of services. Externally, the business plan for a stormwater program will cover knowledge of the audience receiving and "owning" the plan, the community, the potential for utilization of external resources such as outsourcing, the product or service advantages, and the reputation of the program or service within the community.

Internal facts include the experience of the management team, the quality and practical limits of the stormwater service, the personnel and facilities, and the investment needed to continue to meet community expectations. Cash flow analysis and cost of service are forecast for at least a five-year period, along with revenue or resource identification and funding issues.

The business plan focuses on crucial elements of the operation and addresses many of the goals and issues raised by the strategic plan (if one exists). In addition, the business plan can be either the basis for or the overriding compilation of (depending on the organization and its culture) a strategic planning effort or a series of specialized plans.

Upon completion of the business plan for its stormwater programs, a community will have a practical guide to achieving its strategic goals. Business plans often include or become the impetus for specialized plans for

• functional clarity within the overall management structure, including roles and responsibilities for leadership;
• departmental or divisional implementation strategies and tactics within each impacted organizational unit;
• communication of public education initiatives to engage the public in the change process and build understanding of the program or service;
• financial strategies that identify resource needs and funding options to address those needs;
• organization and staffing components to address internal organization and responsibilities as well as reporting relationships and compensation issues;
• information technology opportunities that address integration and utilization of technology in achieving stormwater goals and objectives.

How to Use Planning

Planning is a way of life for most of us, whether it is formally structured or not, and some of us do it better than others. To get results with minimum hassle and disruption, use a logical process of building off one strategy, leading to another. This requires staying the course and working through each step to maintain the links between planning elements. Planning gives us the tools to know where a program is going and gives a vision for what a program of services will be like when we get to the end of the road.

There are a few major questions to be answered about the use or role of planning for stormwater management. An organization should ask:

• What kinds of planning should we be doing?
• How much effort should go into the planning process?
• What is the tolerance for planning in our organization?
• How do we measure whether planning works or that it has achieved the desired outcomes?

The answers are as individual as the process. More planning needs to be done based on the complexity of the project, stormwater issues and challenges a community faces, the number of people involved to make effective decisions, the length of time required to achieve the goals of water quality protection or flood reduction, the political sensitivity, and the resources needed to effect the change in the program desired. Many studies have been done that prove there usually is a link between planning and performance. In other words, given an hour (as an easy-to-translate unit of measure) to accomplish an outcome, devoting some portion of that hour to planning will shorten the work time, and results will more likely be consistently better. So, for each hour devoted to stormwater program strategic and business planning, payback can be computed in increased effectiveness and efficiency, and in quality work and faster results that are understood by those who have to do the implementation and by those who receive the services.

Unfortunately, many organizations plan by the emergency of the day or firefighting and never get beyond that to the important work that should be accomplished. Reactive management of stormwater challenges does not lead to solving the flooding or water quality problems in a community. Although fighting fires is necessary, the organization needs to change the way it does business or the stormwater program will be in the same position next week, next month, next year, and in the next decade. Progress can be made only through planning and translating the plan into the day-to-day activities in the workplace. Planning gives local government officials, elected boards and councils, and management leadership informed tools to set policy, make effective decisions, and create desired outcomes on behalf of the community.

Measuring Results

The planning process, like all other activities in a local government, is only successful if the progress can be measured in some way. In every plan, there are several ways in which the success can be measured, and it is leadership's responsibility to ensure that the plan, and those who participate in its development as well as its implementation, can be successful. It is leadership's responsibility to challenge, play devil's advocate, and champion throughout the planning process to produce goals that (1) can be measured and (2) can be achieved. This means having appropriate tools, resources, and strategies for achieving the desired stormwater program outcomes for the community.

There is a fine balance to be achieved in building measures into a plan that move the organization forward. The measures must be defined in manageable tactics where success can be proven and the people responsible can feel proud. On the other hand, a plan that does not stretch beyond where the organization could normally go doesn't create excitement or a sense of accomplishment. There are many times when an organization has to include developing baseline measures as one of its strategic objectives because it finds that important elements of the program have not been measured in the past.

Engaging the public in the vision and being able to deliver the desired outcomes (goals) is critical to successful stormwater program development. Measuring success provides evidence of accomplishment and provides an opportunity to keep public support.

Finally, the plan should not contain any goal or strategy that can't be measured. Luckily almost anything can be measured in one form or another, with four main values of time, cost, quantity, or quality. Once the measurements are agreed upon and responsible persons are assigned, the organization must include the plan or its associated action plan in meetings, forums, communications, and day-to-day performance management. This requires vigilance and persistence on the part of management, but is the true key to successful achievement of the program objectives. Achieving the desired changes or new program strategies within a local government stormwater program reinforces the public trust and strengthens the long-term commitment to creating a viable, results-oriented, comprehensive program of services.

The day-to-day management of the plan requires another leadership responsibility: providing resources needed to achieve plan objectives and goals. Simply placing greater demand for work output on already overcommitted staff without providing resources in terms of equipment, systems, or people smothers staff's interest in making a stormwater management program successful. In some cases, the leadership may have to reallocate resources from other parts in the organization or create new resources to provide this support. Funding and financing analysis is a key component in the overall planning process.

Although it is not true for all strategic plans, we find the most valuable plans are summarized on one page, known by all members of the organization, and referenced in operational documents such as budgets and annual reports to the community. Communication is vital, but with one caveat: Once the plan is in the hands of all the stakeholders, they will be watching to see whether their leaders work from the plan. For those who believe in the plan, this is a blessing; for others, it is a curse.

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Conclusion

As a guideline, planning has various uses and places in an organization. For stormwater management programs, Table 1 provides some basic guidelines.

It is not as important to determine what kind of plan needs to be the first major planning effort as it is to know and accept that planning is essential to stormwater leadership efforts. In fact, the higher they are in the organization, the more important it is for leaders to divorce themselves from the temptation to bury themselves in the field or to micromanage work, or to micromanage what goes on at the drawing board, and instead devote their time to planning the future of the organization. Changing the future for stormwater management in your community begins with a plan. The best time to start planning is at the earliest likely opportunity - with a new project - or in conjunction with a larger entity's strategic planning effort, and to jump into the process with both feet and all of your heart. At the same time, recognize the hard work that will really come once you have a formal written plan - the plan becomes hugely powerful or fizzles as a result of your efforts.  

Author's Bio: Maureen Hartigan, MSBE, is senior consultant for AMEC Earth and Environmental in Greensboro, NC, and manages Water Resources Strategic Planning Initiatives.

Author's Bio: Elizabeth Treadway is vice president of AMEC Earth and Environmental in Greensboro and is a Municipal Water Resources Program Director.