Transforming Cross-Departmental Communication for a CA Commuter Rail Service
The Situation
A commuter rail service in Southern California was in need to further improve the ability of the Authority to deliver projects. In addition, the effort was to improve cross-departmental communication overall.
The Solution
As part of the project, MLC worked closely with the commuter rail service Program Management Office (PMO), Engineering & Ops Group, and the Executive Team. MLC conducted working sessions with the PMO and Executive Management team to define the PMO’s Vision, Mission, and Goals. MLC also developed a rolling 100-day Roadmap for the PMO to track major improvement efforts and progress towards the Authority’s goals. Further, MLC worked with the PMO and Engineering & Ops to streamline and consolidate the project portfolio and improve the tracking/monitoring process for projects. In addition, MLC developed an in-house project documentation tracking mechanism to allow the PMO to track progress and responsibilities for each step of the project approval process. Finally, MLC developed a customized Executive Dashboard to provide to the Executive Team and other stakeholders.
Benefit
MLC optimized and streamlined where possible the project delivery process so that the Rail Service could more effectively complete projects within scheduled time frames and budgets. MLC implemented a cross training program which led to a culture of cooperation that brought even greater efficiencies throughout the organization. The customized Roadmap was a guide that led to future growth and the Executive Dashboard that was provided to the Executive Team and other stakeholders, delivered a visual method for automatically tracking the status of transit programs and provide Key Performance Indicators to allow for improved decision-making and reporting.