PURPOSE & CHARTER · 2020-04-01 · Introducing the PWSA Watermark Program PURPOSE AND CHARTER 3....

PURPOSE & CHARTERPittsburgh Water and Sewer AuthorityWatermarkM A R C H | 2 0 1 8

INTRODUCTIONPWSA will soon become a regulated utility entity operating under the

requirements of the Pennsylvania Utility Commission. As a regulated utility entity,

our organization must ensure that we successfully respond to new requirements

and defined standards and levels of service. In some cases, this will require

enhancements to our infrastructure, technology systems, and operational

practices. To enable our organization’s capacity in meeting new regulatory

requirements we have created a new program called “Watermark.” Through

the Watermark program, PWSA will continue to make progress in “getting stuff

done” while focusing on an organizational culture of service excellence through

innovation and continuous improvement.

OUR PURPOSE

Creating a wave of innovation:

Introducing the PWSA Watermark Program

2 PITTSBURGH WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY

WHAT IS WATERMARK?Watermark is a program administered by fellow PWSA employees

whose mission is to help build organization wide capacity and

instill a culture of organizational performance improvement. The

Watermark team introduces new tools and processes and trains

employees on their use. Techniques associated with LEAN methods

for continuous process improvement are emphasized.

KEY OBJECTIVES• Increase organizational awareness and employee

engagement to successfully implement PWSA’s current

Focusing on the Future Plan

• Build PWSA workforce skills and competencies to

empower employees to identify and implement

process improvement opportunities

• Track and analyze metric data to measure

performance effectiveness and communicate results

internally and externally

• Consult and administer specific performance

improvement training and development to ensure

understanding of project priorities and timelines

• Work with the PWSA Communication Department

to inspire further staff capabilities and customer

appreciation.

WATERMARK SERVICES• Training & Development – The Watermark staff will facilitate staff professional growth using LEAN methods of

process optimization.

• Measuring Success – The Watermark staff will develop and administer the PWSA online performance

reporting dashboard portal.

• Support Services – The Watermark staff will provide in-house consulting and assistance to facilitate staff growth

and development. The level of support will vary from advisory to full project management and execution.

Creating a wave of innovation:

Introducing the PWSA Watermark Program

PURPOSE AND CHARTER 3

OUR FOCUS/CHARTER


OUR OPPORTUNITYPWSA is now a regulated utility, operating under the requirements of the Pennsylvania Utility Commission. As a

newly regulated entity the organization must meet specific standards and levels of service. These objectives will

require enhancements to our infrastructure, technology systems, and operational practices. The pace of change

in our organization to fully meet these new regulatory requirements will challenge our historic processes. We must

realign around a culture of continious improvements. The Watermark program is a key component to helping us

meet our new regulatory obligations.

OUR VISIONThe Watermark program and its staff will be strong PWSA advocates, promoting and facilitating continuous improve-

ment to protect public health, safety, and the environment.

The Watermark Vision: “Creating a wave of Innovation”

OUR GOALTo ensure that PWSA has a committed, engaged workforce that supports and participates in continuous improve-

ment initiatives, to grow our staff professionally, and accomplish the desired outcomes contained within the (Focus-

ing on the Future) plan.

OUR APPROACH

Establish and commit to a framework for change that works for PWSA – The Watermark staff will follow

a framework for continuous process improvement.

Communicate broadly, transparently and often –

The Watermark staff will work closely with PWSA’s

communication team to ensure that open and effec-

tive communication on all aspects of the Watermark

program is happening. The communication focus will

seek to ensure that successful improvement out-

comes are shared through timely progress reporting.

Framework for Improvement

8. Institutionalize New Approaches

2. Form a Powerful Guiding

Coalition

4. Communicate the Vision

5. Empower Others to Act on

the Vision

6. Plan for and Create Short Term Wins

7. Consolidate Improvements & Produce More Change

3. Create a Vision

COMMITTEDLEADERSHIP

Building Momentum

1. Establish a Sense of Urgency

Seeing the Need

Knowing the DirectionTaking Action


OUR PERFORMANCEA key aspect of Watermark’s communication efforts will

be associated with communication of performance within

the organization. The effort will seek to ensure that PWSA

is establishing sustainable measures of performance.

Tracking and communicating our overall organizational

performance is critical to ensure that PWSA is realizing the

results of our ongoing focus of enhanced performance to

achieve PUC compliance.

Measures will be tracked and shared with internal and

external stakeholders through an online dashboard built

specifically for PWSA. The performance metrics will be

mapped to associated with the major goals defined within

the Focusing on the Future Plan. Focusing on measure-

ment will be an important factor for PWSA to ensure that

the organization successfully improves outcomes over

time on behalf of its customers and employees.

for


TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENTChange must happen from within. The Watermark staff will work to identify, engage, and celebrate PWSA staff

members who commit to participating in the PWSA Champion for Change “Gold-Belt” Training.

Inspired leaders at all levels of the organization will be critical to effective change management. The Watermark

staff will engage and collaborate with “Champions for Change” who seek support and skills development to ad-

vance their ability to help drive innovation. Watermark will use LEAN methodology training to introduce PWSA

employees to a number of tools available to assist in the identification and implementation of ideas and innovations

to improve individual, department, or organizational performance.

Upon completion of the “Gold-Belt” Training, class graduates will be recognized as a “Champion for Change” and

will proudly wear a Champions for Change pin. Upon execution of a quantifiable process optimization project, se-

lect Champion of Change employees will have the opportunity to become part of the Gold-Belt Training program by

presenting their innovations to subsequent classes.

Using an approach that has worked for public organizations across the nation, the Watermark training and develop-

ment efforts will result in building a cadre of PWSA change agents committed to improving business processes that

affect performance across the entire organization.


ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING, EXPERIMENTATION AND INNOVATIONThe Watermark Champion for Change Training Program will ensure that participants become empowered, encour-

aged and comfortable with a structured experimentation process. Not all innovations will work; however, it is the

mission of the Watermark staff to support and coach the PWSA staff members who are willing to try. Using LEAN

methods training, Watermark staff will provide a structured pathway for PWSA Champions for Change to identify

opportunities to improve existing workflows and processes. The Watermark Process Improvement Framework is the

template to implement identified improvement opportunities. This approach will serve to build our team of process

improvement minded PWSA staff members, and an inventory of documented improvement projects.


IMPROVE PROCESSES – EVERYWHERE!The Watermark staff will work with Champions for

Change to identify opportunities to improve key

processes…Everywhere! Proven methods for process

analysis and improvement will be used.

The Watermark process improvement focus will be to

systematically seek out and eliminate the eight wastes

of all organizations including:

1. Defects - Rework

2. Overproduction – Chemicals, energy, unbilled

water

3. Waiting – Unproductive/Downtime

4. Non-Utilized Talent – Underutilizing people’s tal-

ents and skills

5. Transportation – Low wrench time

6. Inventory – Excess or wrong inventory

7. Motion – Inefficient work flows

8. Processing – Redundant processing systems or

work practices

Workflow mapping techniques will be used as a first step in identifying improvement opportunities.

DEFECTSEfforts caused by rework,

scrap, and inccorect information.

WAITINGWasted time waiting for

the next step in a process.

TRANSPORTATIONUnnecessary movements of products & materials.

MOTIONUnnecessary movements by people (e.g., walking).

OVERPRODUCTIONProduction is more than

needed or before it is needed.

NON-UTILIZED TALENTUnderutilizing people’s tal-ents, skills, & knowledge.

INVENTORYExcess products and mate-rials not being processed.

EXTRA-PROCESSINGMore work or higher qual-ity than is required by the

customer.


ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIESThe Watermark Staff

WHO ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES

Director of PWSA Office of Per-formance Improvement – Darin Thomas (interim Director)

E: [email protected]: 336.209.1347

Serve as PWSA’s primary Change Leader focused on building organizational capaci-ty and a culture that embraces continuous process improve-ment.

• Office administration• Change management

leadership• Project management• Training• On-site consulting• Facilitation

Process Improvement Analyst – PWSA Office of Performance Improvement – Townsend Col-lins (Interim Process Analyst)

E: [email protected]: 865.310.9837

Provide project level process improvement analysis and implementation leadership as well as manage and maintain PWSA’s organizational perfor-mance metrics database system

• Process Improvement project specific execution and support

• Performance metric data system administration and management

• On-site consulting• Training• Facilitation

DOCUMENT AND CELEBRATE SUCCESSES!The Watermark staff will serve as the clearinghouse for tracking and recording successes. No matter how small or

large cost savings or efficiency gains are, when combined they add up. Through Watermark programming PWSA

will keep track of improvements, large and small. These process improvement victories will be communicated and

celebrated. By building the framework for change, a culture of continuous improvement will emerge. The Water-

mark Program will be a driving force to ensure that PWSA takes time to celebrate success! By doing so, PWSA will

be well on its way toward its future as a highly responsive and trusted public utility, recognized for excellence and

valued by the community.


WWW.PGH2O.COM1200 PENN AVE, P ITTSBURGH, PA 15222

PURPOSE & CHARTER · 2020-04-01 · Introducing the PWSA Watermark Program PURPOSE AND CHARTER 3....

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Transcript of PURPOSE & CHARTER · 2020-04-01 · Introducing the PWSA Watermark Program PURPOSE AND CHARTER 3....