More Than Pretty Pictures: Developing a Utility Strategic Plan That Enhances Public Trust

Overview: Many public water and wastewater utilities engage in detailed strategic planning efforts, presenting attractive and accessible documents that provide the public with insight into their priorities and strategies. These documents also serve to improve public support for key utility projects and priorities. However, in many cases, these strategic planning efforts while valuable in and of themselves neglect several important connections that increase their value to the community: They are not explicitly linked to the community's overall development strategies and priorities (they lack an upward link to the community strategic plan) They don't connect with and provide meaningful direction to the daily work of the utility workers (they lack a downward link to the organization's tactical plan) Neglecting these connections can make for utility strategic plans that may make an initial splash, but that lack public support and are quickly relegated to the bookshelf as they fail to demonstrate continued relevance either for topline community priorities or daily operations. The City of Lee's Summit Water, Missouri Utilities Department ('Water Utilities') Strategic Plan was developed and completed in September 2023 with the intent to serve as a 'bridge' document, integrating the community's highest-order commitments with Water Utilities' operational strategies all the way down to the daily work of its utility crews. This process involved: Mining the community's 2020 IGNITE! Strategic Plan for key community priorities relating to water and wastewater infrastructure. Incorporating input from 2022 and 2023 customer surveys. Identifying issues to address from the 2023 employee survey. Capturing direction from public advisory board meetings. Addressing issues identified in a detailed draft utility assessment. Refining all inputs through multiple Water Utilities leadership team meetings. Analyzing these inputs through the framework of the organization's mission, vision, values, and goals, as well as industry standards like the AWWA Ten Attributes, the Water Utilities leadership team developed a strategic plan that reflects customer priorities and is likely to endure as a reliable governing document throughout the next decade. Benefits and Significance: This presentation will focus on the process of developing the strategic plan as the key step in developing a relevant, integrated, and actionable work plan. Key process steps that will be highlighted include: 1)How the Water Utilities Strategic Plan is linked to the community's IGNITE! Strategic Plan. 2)How the Water Utilities Advisory Board provided crucial input on public priorities and concerns. 3)How the AWWA's Ten Attributes inform the process. 4)How the Water Utilities Strategic Plan drove the creation of the more finely grained Tactical Plan, which serves to direct Water Utilities' daily operations with 25 strategies and 98 measurable tactics. 5)How the Strategic Plan and Tactical Plans incorporate timely topics like resiliency, proactive asset management, workforce development, and diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) concerns. 6)How Water Utilities leadership worked with numerous stakeholders to generate support for the entire endeavor. It will also explain major elements of the Strategic Plan, including: 1)Introducing Water Utilities and telling the organization's story. 2)Speaking about accomplishments and strengths, but also presenting opportunities for improvement. 3)Addressing challenging topics like financial viability and rate increases. 4)Developing the roadmap, which explicitly connects the Ten Attributes with Water Utilities' goals and its operational strategies. The Strategic and Tactical Plans that result from this effort are firmly grounded in customer expectations and the community's topline priorities, providing direction and justification for the crucial role that Water Utilities plays in the continued growth of this thriving community in the Kansas City area.