The state of Missouri this week hosted a first-time summit to improve state government’s efficiency and effectiveness.
The state hosted its first Continuous Improvement Summit on Monday, according to a news release from the Office of Administration.
The summit is intended to build state government team members’ skills, and the state has worked across its 16 executive departments over the the past year “to establish common approaches to improve efficiency and effectiveness at the grassroots level,” according to the OA.
More than 300 team members at the summit — “from all 16 executive departments and from all levels, from frontline staff to department leadership” — did workshops on leadership, improving interactions between state government and citizens, improving workflow, gaining support from colleagues to create change and other topics.
“The summit also showcased recent project success stories. The projects ranged from improving customer service at a Department of Health and Senior Services call center to finding ways for the Department of Natural Resources to offer better and faster service to well system owners, drillers, and engineers,” according to the OA’s news release.
Summit attendees also heard from private industry and leaders of other state governments’ continuous improvement programs.
Doug Carlson, Nebraska’s deputy director of the Department of Administrative Services, gave the summit’s state government keynote address with Nebraska Director of Operational Excellence Matthew Singh.
Carlson said: “We are impressed by how far and how fast the State of Missouri has progressed in its own journey to make an impact for its citizens.”
Brittany Ruess, OA’s director of communications, told the News Tribune in an email Tuesday: “There is interest in having another summit, but I’m not sure when that will be.”