Benefits of Boardroom Technology for Local Government
What does boardroom technology mean for the local government realm? Boardroom technology is what enables council members and administrative professionals to automate and streamline daily operations, meeting processes, and improve public transparency all while increasing efficiency across all aspects of municipal work. As digitization has been growing steadily across every industry, municipal governments can gain a substantial strategic advantage from adopting boardroom technology. The right software solutions give governments new and efficient ways to receive, store, secure and manage data so they can ultimately better serve the community. Increasing citizen engagement is a major priority for most local governments, and they often strive for this by establishing consistent transparency to strengthen public trust. Boardroom technology allows local governments to provide strong transparency through easy online access to key materials, announcements, video streaming and other helpful features.
Since local governments commonly work within longer procurement cycles and tight budgets, they tend to miss the ball on innovation. However, the great responsibility of managing systems and operations for hundreds or thousands of citizens certainly makes the case for prioritizing boardroom technology as a vessel for improving communication, reducing costs, increasing efficiency and creating better citizen relationships.
Technology for Public Transparency
In modern times, more and more citizens are becoming digital natives and are expecting to find information easily online. With the lag in boardroom technology adoption for local governments, it’s often difficult for citizens to access needed information in a centrally located place. The future of internet traffic is projected to largely revolve around video, meaning local governments would receive the most engagement from the public by providing videos of public meetings online. With budget constraints as a major roadblock, many smaller local government organizations struggle to meet the expectations and needs of their digital-minded citizens. However, new video streaming options that come with today’s boardroom technologies enable small local governments to provide council meetings online without wearing their budgets thin.
By providing needed information in a readily accessible space through boardroom technology, local governments can significantly improve public transparency and thus strengthen civic engagement. Applying new technologies creates new efficiencies that in turn yield cost-effectiveness, allowing council members, city managers, clerks and staff to focus on serving citizens effectively.
Applying Digital Tools for Meeting Management
Running productive, efficient council meetings greatly impacts the overall success of a local government organization in serving its community. City councils make many decisions every year, and quality decision-making depends on how well the council listens to the perspectives of their fellow council members, citizens’ groups, advisory committees, local chambers of commerce and other organizations. The council must analyze the community’s needs and identify available resources, as well as assess any viable alternatives. The right boardroom technology solution that’s designed with municipal governments in mind can help city councils manage municipal meetings more effectively.
Some councils use earlier technologies only to find that they produce poor audio or video quality and work inconsistently. When local governments invest in the wrong boardroom technology, this can cause even more disruptions and bring added confusion to meetings. Leveraging technology that allows council members to access their digital programs on any mobile device brings convenience and security to the meeting management process. Other functionalities like reliable, high-definition video streaming, easy-to-use agenda templates for clerks, and term and vacancy tracking for boards and commissions all contribute to the case for employing boardroom technology to improve meeting management activities overall.
Streamline Workload Management with Technology
City clerks and city managers regularly manage heavy workloads. City managers for local government organizations must juggle their workloads on top of their commitment of public duty to local citizens. According to an iCompass, a Diligent brand, survey, about 58% of city managers reported that their largest concern was managing a hefty workload. They also reported that technology was a high priority on their lists for the next 12 to 18 months to help them better handle the scope and breadth of their daily duties. The major benefits of boardroom technology for city managers are apparent, and this same sentiment is reflected among city clerks as well. The same survey revealed that just over 60% of clerks reported that they expect to face challenges with their workload in the next 12-18 months.
There are a number of key advantages to adopting boardroom technology for local government professionals who are bogged down by hefty workloads. The time clerks spend on building agendas and taking minutes can be cut in half, council members will enjoy readily accessible meeting materials and efficient voting, and city managers will be able to increase citizen engagement through an online portal that appeals to the needs of the community.