City of Pittsburg

ABOUT THE CITY OF PITTSBURG

Pittsburg, a vibrant city in Northern California's Bay Area, boasts a diverse population of over 76,000 residents, projected to reach 90,000 in the next two decades. Situated conveniently for access to San Francisco, Napa Valley, Sacramento, Sierra Nevada Mountains, and Lake Tahoe, it offers a wealth of cultural and recreational opportunities. From waterfront homes to a growing arts scene, diverse shopping opportunities, and an extensive park system, Pittsburg caters to many interests. With its focus on community well-being, Pittsburg is an ideal destination for living, working, and recreation.

LIFE IS GOOD

The City heavily relied on Smartsheet as a cornerstone tool for overseeing and managing goals and performance metrics. Within this framework, department directors took on the primary responsibility of monitoring and promptly addressing inquiries concerning the status of various goals. This arrangement placed a significant emphasis on their role in ensuring the alignment of departmental efforts with broader organizational objectives.

BIG CHALLENGE

Over the course of the year, priorities evolved, and it became evident that there wasn't a robust system in place to effectively document performance and progress towards goals. Department directors found themselves primarily occupied with monitoring and addressing inquiries about goal status, leading to unclear responsibilities for specific performance metrics within departments. Consequently, this ambiguity often resulted in confusion and inefficiencies when attempting to address performance issues.

HELP ARRIVES

So, staff turned to AchieveIt. The platform enabled them to establish a more streamlined and public-facing process for aligning City Council goals with departmental objectives. This approach also facilitated precise tracking of success against set targets. AchieveIt streamlined what had previously been a laborious task of gathering data and reporting outcomes, condensing it into a few simple steps. Updating goals now requires only a matter of minutes and is seamlessly linked to publicly accessible dashboards on the City’s website, ensuring the community has access to real-time results. Through AchieveIt, the City effectively brought to life the City Council's vision of enhancing transparency and communication regarding priorities, goals, and performance measures.

LIFE IS EVEN BETTER

Now, AchieveIt has been instrumental in supporting the City's endeavors to align its goals and objectives, both for public awareness and internal cohesion among staff. Through the implementation of publicly accessible dashboards, each page features a feedback link, which the City Council members have found to be a valuable resource in addressing inquiries from constituents about City affairs. In a bid to uphold transparency, the City has proactively shared these dashboards across social media platforms, in City Council meetings, and during the Mayor's State of the City Address.

With this framework in place, the City has gained the capacity to step back and gain a holistic perspective and can now easily identify areas for further action. It has streamlined the evaluation of annual projects and laid down a systematic blueprint for strategic planning. Looking ahead, Pittsburg aims to deepen the connection between the staff's daily tasks and the broader mission of community service. With reclaimed time, the focus shifts towards empowering staff to grasp how their daily tasks contribute to meeting community expectations, thus enhancing overall effectiveness and alignment.