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April 24, 1998
First Thinking, Getting & Staying Competitive Workshops a Success
AMSA launched the first two of nine Thinking, Getting & Staying Competitive Workshops this week — Tuesday and Wednesday in Providence, R.I., and Thursday and Friday in Philadelphia, Penn. All 161 who have experienced these workshops so far have been excited about the content and eager to share what they’ve learned with colleagues. "Improvement is possible!" said one enthusiastic participant.
Team Participation Seen as Essential
AMSA has been encouraging participating agencies to send multi-level staff teams of employees in order to gain the maximum benefit from the workshop. Participants at the Providence workshops heartily endorsed this recommendation, noting that without a team, attendees and ultimately their agency will not experience the full value of the interactive nature of the workshop. One of the benefits of team participation is that utility employees from various functional areas become sensitized to the workings and objectives of the entire organization, which positively impacts their ability to work as genuine team players.
Participants Learn to Quickly Seize Financial Opportunities
The portion of the workshop called "Financial Opportunities: How to Compete" exposed all levels of partic-ipating employees to the real costs of running a public utility. Prior to coming to the workshop registrants were told to bring portions of their budget to be analyzed as a team. Teams looked for "low hanging fruit," which are those opportunities for savings that can be made right away and make an immediate difference. Not only does this improve operational efficiency, this demonstration of quick success encourages others in the utility that getting competitive can indeed be done!
Personalized Action Plans Bring Lessons Home
All attending teams developed a high level, first-cut action plan based on their own assessment of their own situation, which they will begin to implement and expand upon as soon as they return to their agencies. Workshop participants said they were excited to use their action plans as a tool to teach other people at their agencies how to think, get and stay competitive.
In their workshop evaluation forms, most Providence participants wrote that they would continue the compet-itiveness effort at their utilities. Their plans include: setting up teams to explore work practices, opportunities for savings, and identifying areas of improvement; implementing teamwork in specific sections of the utility; establishing a steering committee; and continuing their action plans.
Hotel Cut-off Dates Approaching for Next 3 Workshops On West Coast
The next Thinking, Getting, Staying Competitive Workshops will take place during the month of June: June 2-3 in San Francisco, June 4-5 in Los Angeles, and June 8-9 in Seattle. The hotel cut-off date for Los Angeles has been extended to May 13. The cut-off date for San Francisco is May 2, and Seattle is May 18. AMSA members can register online on AMSA’s web site: http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org, or call AMSA for more information at 202/833-2672.
Ø AMSA learned this week that EPA has decided to withdraw its proposed rule for maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standard POTWs under section 112 of the Clean Air Act. In light of recent evidence provided by AMSA, EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning & Standards has said it will resubmit a new rule at a later time. (See AMSA FaxAlert 2-27-98 for more information on AMSA's recent negotiations with EPA on this issue.)