Crisis often leads to innovation. And in the last three years, governments have found that old saying to be true. Growing demand for information and services from a technologically-savvy public combined with the impact of pandemic-related restrictions placed government workers in a difficult position to meet the needs of the residents they serve.
Digital tools helped keep governments moving during that time. Public meetings was perhaps one of the areas where the impact of technology was felt the strongest. As many councils and boards had to create solutions that allowed both remote video and maintained access for all communities, technology, like that found in Granicus’ govMeetings solution, stepped up to make sure that these meetings could not only function but succeed.
The transition from that crisis has shown the long-lasting effects that innovation brings. There will undoubtedly be no return to “business as usual.” But for boards and councils, the adaptation proves to be a positive one. For as the public’s now-expected need for video streaming and increased demand for transparency increases, tools such as Granicus’ govMeetings makes it easy for staff to provide uninterrupted access to information. This not only helps meet the needs of shifting resident expectations, but also addresses new privacy and access regulations, such as those that are part of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Automated, secure, and reliable tools give a complete solution of modern capabilities to provide civic records quickly with less demand on staff to serve as a go-between or gatekeeper. These innovations not only increase access and transparency in ways that help to increase participation in meetings and build trust in government, they save governments time, resources and, importantly, money from staffs struggling to achieve more with dwindling budgets.
The need for a public meeting solution is clear. But what goes into determining the correct partner for a staff when it comes to implementing that solution? Some of the common benefits governments should look for in a public meeting partner, as well as some of the pitfalls of which staff should be aware before starting a partnership, include:
Finding strengths in all of these areas will help create long-term positive relationship with a public meetings software partner.
Public meeting tools offer a variety of automation processes that alleviate staff of time-intensive tasks. Every step of the public meeting process can be beneficially impacted by modern digital automations.
Preparing and distributing agendas digitally can realize significant resource savings for a staff, due to the reduction of staff hours spent on collation and distribution, as well as printing. At the same time, a digital approach makes it easier to track agendas, manage approvals, and provide easier public transparency before meetings.
During meetings, common automations in tools such as Granicus’ govMeetings solution help track meeting votes, record and publish minutes, and email subscribers meeting minutes to again help maintain a positive and transparent relationship with residents, while making it easier for council and board members to find relevant information.
Live streaming is a significant area of interest for residents engaging with public meetings both during and after pandemic-related restrictions. Easily accessible video of meetings either live-streamed or on-demand continue to be popular with the public. Automation processes in govMeetings allows staff to easily index relevant materials to the minutes of a meeting so that when viewers engage with a topic, they can easily access the portion of the meeting related to that topic, access supplemental information, and be better informed.
Automation also provides staff a way to make sure that common information related to boards and commissions is effectively maintained and always up to date. For example, govMeetings’ “Boards and Commissions” tool can provide automated maintenance of backend spreadsheets that track board appointments, term expirations, and other tasks that would otherwise demand the use of staff hours. This not only helps reduce strain on staff resources, but also provides a reliable digital process that helps ensure that information is accurate at all times.
A public meeting partner should provide automation and efficiency solutions that:
Automating common processes for public meetings realizes significant savings for cities and organizations around the country, regardless of size. Two such cities that have seen this impact are:
Find out how the right meeting partner can change your community engagement around public meetings for the better.
