Zoetermeer shifts from financial to business control

The municipality of Zoetermeer

The municipality of Zoetermeer, in the Western Netherlands, has embarked on the path to make their internal management and control more transparent by establishing an internal management cycle, in addition to their planning & control cycle.

This management cycle is supported by business advisors from the Finance and Control Department. This represents a development in various areas, including:

• management for results and defined clear targets using reporting and BI tools;
• management discussion as a basis for management and control;
• a different advisory style, from financial control to business control.

The new role

Mark van Lier, Team Manager for Consulting, Finance & Control for the municipality of Zoetermeer, sheds light on the new role of business advice: “The business consultant develops a broad view and supports the department in achieving its goals and results. This also means developing competencies, including in the area of communication and persuasion. It’s also important that the focus shift from the hectic pace of today to a point where we can look calmly at future issues.”

Collaboration plays a key role

Through this change, the Consulting, Finance & Control team, consisting of business intelligence consultants, project consultants, and information specialists, was looking for its role in 2014. Collaboration within the consulting team on the translation of performance management and result-oriented work in the organization plays a key role.

Collaboration is also essential to take the next step in implementing the new management cycle and the shift towards business consulting. For the management cycle, the municipality of Zoetermeer chose to work with the A3 methodology and the A3 form to support the discussions in the management cycle. The most important questions about the above changes were:

• What exactly does the chosen A3 methodology mean in the management cycle?
• Where does it come from and why?
• How do you work with it?
• What is your role as consultant?

Better and more enjoyable

The expansion of the consultant role makes the work more enjoyable. You help in various policy areas and feel co-responsible for policy documents and advice. In this way, you’re more concerned with the content of the policy rather than with the policy finances. “Collaborating with the policy department makes the documents more integrated and therefore just better,” says Annette de Croo (Management Information Coordinator with the municipality of Zoetermeer).

Limits and added value

Naturally, there are also limits to this, says Mark van Lier. “We should not take over the policy area, but if we want to have added value we need to be able to have a say from a different perspective. Creating a trusting relationship with management and directors is of vital importance hereby. This makes it easier to talk about where conflicts could arise and how they might be resolved.”

Municipality of Zoetermeer & Passionned Group

In September 2014, contact began between Passionned Group and the municipality of Zoetermeer. After a brief survey and introduction, a two-day interactive performance management masterclass was prepared together with Leo Kerklaan (PDCA expert) and customized for the municipality of Zoetermeer. The focus was on the backgrounds of Performance Management, the A3 method, PDCA improvement circles, strategy mapping, KPI defining, and finally the role of commitment in the implementation.

Results of the municipality of Zoetermeer

The municipality of Zoetermeer is happy with the result achieved. They describe here the milestones achieved:

• “The masterclass made the consultants spar together more consciously and get a discussion started about something.”
• “There was more awareness about working with a tool (A3 method) and what that entails.”
• “That sped things up when it came to the clarification in imaging”.
• “There was more awareness of your own role and what is expected of you in it.”

The new roles of the consultants got more life

The masterclass initiated an evaluation round of the A3 method in order to increase quality community wide. “We are now busy as a small group with laying out all the A3 plans next to each other. This is useful and fun to do together.”

“The PDCA cycle explanation was quite enlightening.” For the municipality of Zoetermeer, PDCA means: start, try out, evaluate/reflect and adjust.

The support

The role of trainer Leo Kerklaan from Passionned Group was important during the workshop. “Leo’s strength was that he capitalized on questions and ambiguities in the group. In this way, he put the needs of the group over the program.”

Essential questions

He has an eye for the essential questions: What exactly does this method entail? What is the background of the methodology, how do you work with it in practice, and what is your role? “Backed by plenty of practical experience, good knowledge of the material, recognizable examples, and radiating calm, Leo Kerklaan responded well in the situation.” Perhaps the most important gain afterwards was that participants said to each other: “This is going to help us and it calls for more in-depth exploration.”

5 Tips for municipalities

These developments also play an important role in other municipalities. How can they learn from the experiences of the municipality of Zoetermeer? Annette and Mark give some practical advice:

1. Pay extra attention to the why of new tools and changes. And record this in a visually clear strategy. Once these are clear, new energy and movement are created to work concretely and to get started with them right away.
2. Just begin! This does not mean rushing into it, but instead choosing an approach together and starting with it and improving it.
3. Many small steps are preferable to something large-scale (the small PDCA). “Keep it small and manageable.”
4. “It’s not about the technique or the model, but often about having the right discussions.” It’s important to keep this in mind at the start.
5. “Ensure support among your board and the managers involved. This means entering into a discussion together, being aware of your purpose and giving each other time to learn.”

Interested in Passionned Group’s approach?

Would you like a no-obligation talk with our consultants about the challenges outlined above and the chosen approach including training? Working on improving in small steps using the PDCA method and interested in what performance management can do for your municipality? Please feel free to contact us.