More efficient public services across organisational boundaries

Public services often require the cooperation of public authorities across organisational boundaries between municipalities and the state. If the processes are inadequate or information does not flow properly, the quality of service experienced by citizens is not optimal. If the flow of information is poor, citizens may have to move from one government office to another, maybe many times.

The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities and the Ministry of Finance set out to solve such known challenges with a new series of workshops. In the so-called Municipal-State Refinery project, the actors of the municipalities and the various state actors considered in six groups how the activities and thus the quality of services could be developed, especially with the help of digitalisation. The agenda included streamlining the establishment of a company when the entrepreneur is a foreign national, and coordinating customer payments and basic social assistance between municipalities and Kela.

The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities was looking for a partner in the project who could help with service design in particular.

“We have good know-how on our own, but our own service designer Sofia Johansson was already fully employed in other projects,” says Elisa Kettunen, development manager at the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities.

Although the municipal-state refinery project was an experiment, according to Elisa Kettunen, good results were achieved both in solving the practical problems discussed by the groups and at the operating model level.

“The operating model received good feedback. About 90 per cent of those involved considered the workshop series successful in terms of work progress,” says Elisa Kettunen.

As expected, the method proved to be useful specifically for problem-solving challenges involving different actors. As group members opened up the processes of their own organisations in groups, mutual understanding of each other’s actions increased, which facilitated the development of interoperable service entities.

“We are still discussing the challenges in which the municipal-state refinery would benefit the most in the future. Although the tool kit has one good tool, not all problems can necessarily be fixed with it,” says Elisa Kettunen.

If, or perhaps when, the municipal-state refinery work continues with similar projects, the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities will ensure that the request for tenders is once again sent to Gofore.

“Heidi and Stella are top professionals. We are sincerely grateful for their work, which freed up our own resources to think about the bigger picture – what kind of follow-up is needed and how we will further develop the operating model,” says Kettunen. The analytical approach and communication skills of the people at Gofore were also praised.

“Because this was an experiment, it was important to do self-critical analysis along the way. Gofore’s service designers were able to do just that. We changed our plans flexibly according to what worked and what didn’t,” tells Sofia Johansson, the service designer of the Association of Finnish Municipalities.

The municipal-state refinery is a prime example of socially responsible development work in today’s digital world. Such projects increase the efficiency of the public sector and improve the quality of the services it provides. Citizens therefore benefit from the results of this work in their roles as both taxpayers and users of services.