Over the Shoulder Review

About the Program

Category: Transportation (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

Beginning in 2013, eight counties in Oregon and Washington agreed to collaborate and review each other’s road maintenance practices in great detail and transparency. The intent was to improve and effectively deliver our individual agencies’ services to our citizens. Anticipating this being a three-year project, we borrowed the military term for officers’ reviews of other units and titled the program “Over the Shoulder Review” (OTS). The participating agencies are: Deschutes, Jackson, Marion, and Washington counties from Oregon with Oregon Association of County Engineers and Surveyors (OACES); and Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane, and Yakima counties from Washington with Washington State County Road Administration Board (CRAB). The project has been very exciting with unpredictable positive impacts. The participants’ frank and open dialogues have shed valuable insights on processes and decision-making in how we deliver our road maintenance services. All have learned from each other, with most implementing some changes or tweaks in their processes, purchase selections, or how they perform their operations. Extensive note-taking captures the discussions. These are processed and posted with the hope of other public works agencies discovering and learning from these peer-to-peer interactions. www.co.Marion.or.us/PW/Roads/OTS/