COMMUNICATION
Administrator's Message: It's CTP Tour Season!

Late last month we started the Consolidated Transportation Plan (CTP) tour across all 23 counties and Baltimore City. The tour happens every year, and it is a critical part of our mission. These CTP tours let us engage with our customers and elected officials about their transportation priorities. The tours also provide our District Engineers and me a chance to reiterate the priorities for the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration. Those priorities include delivering innovative and modernized solutions, empathetic and effective communication, as well as an enhanced customer service experience.

Greg Slater

That is what the CTP is all about. We are crisscrossing the state to listen to our customers, talk about our projects and continue a dialogue with citizens about what is important to them. CTP tours are an opportunity to hear about how we are serving communities locally.

It also allows me an opportunity to tell the people of Maryland how hard the men and women of this organization are working to deliver transportation solutions. I am in the middle of my 11th CTP season, and I have yet to go to one of these meetings where the district team did not receive kudos and compliments from the local elected officials.

We have a record level of construction underway across Maryland. Under Governor Hogan's leadership and his commitment to investing in highways and bridges, we are making great strides and delivering projects more efficiently and economically. We deliver that 24/7 365. Night work. Through snow. In the heat. And through a record-setting spring and summer of epic rainfall.

Our team does all of this out of a sense of service for the people of Maryland. These are selfless servants of character and consequence. And they are in harm's way. They endure and serve through work zone crashes and other dangerous incidents on the road. And I'd be remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to tell all of you how much I appreciate what you do. I appreciate what ALL of you do for our mission and for Maryland.

MODERNIZATION
NEW Knowledge Management Platform Now in Implementation Phase

Leila Wallace smiles with Administrator Greg Slater after giving her green-lighted project presentation.

When District 5's Unit Training Coordinator Leila Wallace learned that Project Green Light - MDOT SHA's version of popular television show Shark Tank - was hosting their third session, she quickly signed up!

In Leila's first few months here, she noticed that standard operating procedures were difficult to find. To learn the necessary information to perform her daily tasks, she often needed to ask three or four of her coworkers for help. In an attempt to ease the onboarding process for new hires, Leila had always had an idea. Why didn't MDOT SHA put all standard operating procedures in one, universal, easy-to-find place?

The open-access Knowledge Management Platform is now in its early implementation phases! The Organizational Excellence and Strategy Division (OXSD) is partnering with Leila to ensure employees have access to the helpful tool as soon as possible.

The platform will include office-specific standard operating procedures such as training requests, an MTRACK and travel request guide, Financial Management Information System (FMIS) overview, procurement specifics, conference scheduling, human resources packages and onboarding protocols conveniently provided on the Intranet. The new and improved Knowledge Management Platform will also show which office to contact for more information regarding specific subjects.

"If [retiree] knowledge is not passed down to the next generation, we have to start over again with knowledge acquisition," Leila tells us. "This is a counterproductive method. [...] Having a place where knowledge can be preserved, updated, and passed on will help boost employee confidence, efficiency, and productivity."

INNOVATION
UPDATE: Round Three of Project Green Light Complete

Efrain Tacoronte (Left) presents his idea to implement a new and more efficient Property Management System to the panel.

On August 24th, the Freedman Conference Room was buzzing with creative, innovative ideas. Project Green Light Round Three had just seen excellent presentations from Henry Alfred, John Dodson and Joseph Navarra - to name a few. A panel of judges including Administrator Greg Slater; Deputy Administrators Betty Conners, Jason Ridgway and Tim Smith and Directors Valerie Burnette Edgar (OC), Laurie Goudy (OIT) and Jeff Cleland (OXSD) listened intently as each presenter proposed out-of-the-box solutions to move MDOT SHA forward.

After mulling over each idea and asking pertinent questions, the judges green-lighted five out of 10 presentations! In addition to the Knowledge Management Platform mentioned above, other presentations included a GIS Collector Application that keeps track of utility inventory and a new MDOT SHA property notification system. Presenters Jeremy Gornto and Sondisa Obie suggested modernizing maintenance recruitment examinations, and Matthew Franceschini recommended revamping office design to stimulate productivity. Henry Alfred proposed a safety departmental reorganization where a separate department handles Workers' Compensation claims.

Each and every idea was accepted with praise and admiration. Thank you to all who participated in Round Three of Project Green Light! Moving our agency forward is hearing your innovative ideas! You know your jobs best, so you can be a change-agent! Look out for upcoming emails to apply for your chance to show off your departmental expertise. Round Four will be held Spring 2019!

CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE
The Princess Anne Shop Makes a Difference at Local Library's Touch-A-Truck Event

Telly Farrare shows an Eastern Shore family how MDOT SHA dump trucks work.

To give District 1's neighbors and community members the opportunity to meet MDOT SHA staff, ask questions and see roadway equipment up close, Somerset County's Crisfield and Princess Anne Libraries recently hosted Touch-A-Truck events. Local families had the opportunity to come out and interact with heavy equipment operators in partnership with MDOT SHA's Princess Anne Shop. A perfect opportunity for children to better understand safety, Maryland's future transportation professionals were able to climb inside MDOT SHA dump trucks and see how they work.

FMTs Andrew Pittman and Deserey Manuel helped families explore MDOT SHA equipment at the Princess Anne Library while FMT Telly Farrare attended the Crisfield Library event. Both libraries were very appreciative of the team's commitment to customer service. For example, Jamie Bradshaw with the Somerset County Library System Crisfield Branch writes,

"We would like to recognize your employee Telly Farrare. His willingness to engage with our community is admirable, and we would like to graciously thank him for coming and supporting the event."

Thank you, Telly, Andrew and Deresey for your continued dedication to supporting MDOT SHA's Customer Service Promise and delivering the new MDOT SHA customer experience. The Touch-A-Truck event is the perfect platform to educate families about the outstanding work we do here at MDOT SHA!

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

From left to right: The Fairland Shop's Schnavia Cook, Katrina Ravnall, William Blair and Claire Somir link arms around food collections for MDOT SHA's Operation Orange Food Drive 2018!