Merging Councils?

Decide early to collaborate in one tool

Voluntary or forced, many district councils are beginning to work together intensively or even merge, which can be a long and challenging process. A service management tool like TOPdesk can support the work of local authorities before, during and after a fusion.
TEXT: TIMME HOS

Many local authorities are, or will soon be part of a fusion or collaboration project. Last October, for example, three London councils announced plans to share services to avoid cuts to frontline services, and maximize buying power in the IT marketplace. An effort to work together by two or more councils is often voluntary, but sometimes fusions are forced. As a result, not everyone involved has the same positive experience of collaboration. It costs councils a lot of time and energy to bring multiple processes and organizational cultures into harmony with each other. Therefore it is important to keep an overview of which person from which organization and which department is responsible for what. A lack of transparency is not uncommon.

Deciding earlier makes things easier

To ensure that a fusion or collaboration goes smoothly, you have to choose a good service management tool in an early stage of the fusion. It is not enough to say: First lets wait for the fusion, and then well have renewed energy to set up our services. Unfortunately, a software package does not make agreements for you. A good service management tool can, however, help you monitor the progress of those agreements, delegate work and pinpoint problems at an early stage. The tool then acts as a foothold for changing (government) organizations. TOPdesk can provide invaluable support for merging councils, with both software and consultancy. Before, during and after the merging process, TOPdesk helps organizations to establish plans and collaborate. Below, you can read a few reasons why (merging) councils use TOPdesk.

22

Why (merging) councils use TOPdesk

70% of councils in the Netherlands already use TOPdesk
In the Netherlands, the majority of city councils already use TOPdesk to support their services. TOPdesk is not only used to provide internal support, for example within the IT and facilities department, but also to support citizens. Local authorities already have a broad knowledge of TOPdesk, and how to get the most out of it. During a merger there is a significant chance that the other council employees are already experienced with TOPdesk. Councils who already use TOPdesk can therefore get straight to work. They are also able to help councils who arent yet experienced with TOPdesk, making it much easier to get off to a flying start.

Make and monitor agreements with ease

Modules such as Project Management and Change Management help councils to coordinate changes within the organization. Creating a schedule is easy; you can even include authorization points if desired. Throughout the entire process you can follow the progress of the project. Setting and monitoring agreements with suppliers and customers is also made simple with the Contract Management and SLM module.

Consultants who are experienced with councils and mergers

During a merger, you often see varying organizational cultures and working methods that do not always fit in with each other. As a result, a merger can cause quite some unrest. Consultants at TOPdesk have a lot of experience with both councils and mergers involving several different parts of an organization. They know what factors make collaboration successful and exactly how councils can make clever use of all the possibilities that TOPdesk offers.

TOPdesk is the ideal tool for collaboration

In TOPdesk, various departments such as IT, Facilities and HR can manage their processes universally. This means that different departments can easily work together on one project; for example during a relocation or when hiring a new employee. This also applies to projects such as the amalgamation of supporting departments. Because TOPdesk is fully web-based, people in different locations can work together with ease. The extensive filter system in TOPdesk means that various branches or departments can use one database without getting in the way of each other, and that everyone has insight into the organizations plans. It is also easy to allocate tasks and all employees and teams involved in a project get their own workflow.

TOPdesk as a virtual town hall

Councils can implement TOPdesk as an online knowledge and information resource for citizens. This enables employees to process registrations and complaints from citizens or businesses methodically. And, with the Self Service Desk, you give citizens the opportunity to register calls themselves and the ability to check their status at any given point in time.

TOPdesk saves money

One of the priorities for councils is to keep costs low, especially in the current economic environment. Not only will TOPdesks excellent value for money help you save costs, but because different departments or branches use the same application, you save a lot in acquisition and maintenance costs. Furthermore, you can work with an unlimited number of users in TOPdesk without having to pay more.

23