05 Feb 2012 | Last updated Monday 27 June 2011 at 10:55 |

Council of The Future

Below you will see all the elements of the Council of the Future taxonomy. By selecting an entry you will be able to view all the Socitm Learning Courses available under that heading. The number of courses available is shown in brackets after the taxonomy term.

A

Applications focused on business need
Having corporate and service-specific applications to meet the business needs and comply with interoperability standards

B

Baseline performance information
Knowing your starting point to enable measurement of progress. Measure outcomes not processes.
Benchmarking (1)
Council's performance is independently reviewed against peer councils to aid best practice adoption and to promote continuous improvement
Benefits realisation (1)
Once processes more efficient, the realisation of benefits, eg cash savings, need sto be managed to ensure actual achievement
Business continuity (4)
When information is the key asset, business continuity depends entirely on availabilty of information and the systems which manage it
Business process improvement (2)
Needs particular methods and tools eg skills and authority to challenge. All staff managing/handling each process to be involved.

C

Capacity to deliver (1)
Resources available and allocated - may require"backfilling"; external consultants used wisely with skills transfer to create in-house capacity
Change management
Techniques and methods of managing change - impacting on attitudes, cultures, behaviours, practices, processes and working methods
Cloud computing (2)
Council is considering buying computer applications as services (per transaction) rather than buying, hosting and managing software
Commissioning and managing services (10)
Skills to manage services or commission them from third parties, managing on outcomes (not volumes or processes) and potentially on a risk/reward basis
Configuration based on lean systems
Processes supported by web, CRMS, workflow and service-specific systems as result of applying Lean Systems thinking - anything not adding value is removed
Continuous improvement
Firmly embedded in the culture of the organisation
Corporate CRMS
Single corporate-wide CRMS possibly shared with partners, in full use for all customer transactions via all channels
Corporate wide ERDMS (3)
Single corporate-wide ERDMS serves the whole Council, ensuring minimal use of paper documents and ready access electronically to all relevant information
Customer service strategies (2)
Strategies for delivering customer-facing services (usually covering access strategies around location, disability, channel preference etc)

E

Enterprise resource planning
Using ERP tools to exploit the new potential to use the whole range of information held by the council (which by this stage will be entirely electronic and searchable)
Environment (4)
Efficiencies, flexible working, all-electronic information management, virtualisation and careful data centre planning reduce environmental impact

G

Governance
Strict governance of key elements on which service delivery depends ie ICT, web, customer service resources

H

Home and smart working strategy (5)
Strategies for implementing home, smart and mobile working - not just the technology but the policies and procedures as well

I

ICT and information management strategies (10)
Strategies for ensuring appropriate ICT infrastructures, services and applications are in place, and that information is appropriately managed.
Information architectures (2)
Database information structures use techniques like Service Oriented and Enterprise Architecture to ensure informaiton is"held once, used many times"
Information assurance (4)
Recognition that information is the key asset and responsibilities and processes must be in place to assure its quality, accuracy, timeliness and security.
Information audit
Knowing what information exists in the Council's records and systems, where it is, who's using it, and for what
Information sharing
For working with partners, information sharing protocols must be agreed and systems established to enable secure access as required.
Integration front to back
The website and intranet link directly to the back office systems and ERDMS via the CRMS, so information is held once, used many times

K

KPIs
Outcome-focused KPIs in place to measure performance

L

Leadership
From the most senior levels of the Council: Chief Executive, Leader, Corporate Management Team
Lean systems
Applying Lean Systems approaches, in their broadest sense - to question how best to achieve required outcomes, remove waste, and focus on customer need

M

Mobile working technologies (5)
Wireless networking, thin client architectures or similar technologies to enable hot-desking, home working and mobile working

P

Performance management (3)
Tools and experience exists to manage performance through measurement, evlauation and improvement. Assessment by outcomes not processes
Project and programme management
Needs particular methods and tools embedded in corporate culture. Corporate standards and programme support office also in place

S

Shared services approaches
Knowledge and experience of making shared services work, skills like business case development, knowing the implications of EU procurement directive
Skills management (6)
Skills for the information age are different from traditional skills. Gaps are identified and filled
Strategy to implement vision (1)
A plan for achieving each element of the vision, setting out the interdpendencies and the benefits, and how these will be realised in practice

T

Transactional web and intranet (1)
Web and intranet sites which enable customers and staff to complete transactions/interactions online. Full integration with back office systems

U

Understanding customer needs (2)
Knowing who the Council's customers are, and what their needs are, using wll thought-out customer surveys; listening to what the customers have to say

V

Vision for the future (1)
What the Council will look like to a customer in 3-5 years time. Specific and measurable. Based on outcomes not processes

W

Willing to change (1)
Understanding the implications of change, awareness odf the risks and how to manage them, utter conviction that the outcome is worth the journey
Willingness to partner (1)
The benefits of working with others are recognised; may include shared services, partnership to join-up public services, commercial partnerships
Workflow systems (2)
Systems which control flow of information and processes amongst relevant people in the Council. May be part of the corporate CRMS

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