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6 <br /> • Documentation of Standard Operating Procedures <br /> Department Directors articulated an interest in developing a more streamlined and <br /> straightforward medium for accessing and following standard operating procedures. This <br /> would promote greater consistency and accuracy in the implementation of administrative <br /> protocols. The Management Support Team will lead a process to begin developing this type of <br /> documentation. <br /> • Media Policy and Training <br /> One of the areas of procedural uncertainty identified by the teams involved interaction with the <br /> media. The County Manager's Office will work with Community Relations and Tourism to <br /> create a media policy and to conduct training on effective media relations for local government <br /> professionals. The media policy is expected to be completed in January. <br /> • Payroll Processes and Depth <br /> Finance and Administrative Services has started a process improvement initiative to improve <br /> the manner in which payroll services are administered. A survey has been distributed to <br /> County managers and employees to identify specific problems they encounter in payroll <br /> processing. The survey responses will be used to prioritize solutions. The department is also <br /> creating additional staff capacity to improve depth through staff training. <br /> • Website Improvement <br /> The teams also discussed a need to improve the navigability, functionality, and content of the <br /> current website. Community Relations and Information Technology have organized training <br /> sessions for departmental content managers to address concerns about content and usability. <br /> The perspective of the website will also change as Community Relations will formally take <br /> ownership of the site next fiscal year, converting the perception of the website from a <br /> technology platform to a communication tool. Information Technology will remain responsible <br /> for supporting the technical backbone on which the site operates. <br /> • GIS Services <br /> The groups identified a growing role for geographic information systems (GIS) in their daily <br /> work. They expressed a desire to be able to quickly and easily provide a geographic context to <br /> service demand, implementation, and evaluation. The County Manager's Office will explore !, <br /> ways to expand GIS capacity and capability in the organization to address this need. <br /> External Priorities <br /> External needs were organized around twelve general themes, employment, public safety, <br /> transportation, affordable housing, mental health, broadband access, health care, communication with <br /> the public, intergovernmental cooperation and resource sharing, economic development, service <br /> delivery models, and environment and sustainability. As stated above, these needs were identified <br /> from the perspective of department directors using the current goals as a foundation. We are hopeful <br /> that these ideas can serve as a resource to the Commissioners as they engage in a discussion of policy <br /> priorities. The higher scoring policy areas are described below to provide the context in which they <br /> were offered. <br /> 3 <br />