INNOVATION
The Park District of Oak Park is continually piloting projects and adapting ideas from outside of the field of parks & recreation. These projects are designed to have measurable outcomes and have the potential to be duplicated, whether at a larger scale in our own community, or by other park & recreation agencies and local governments across the country. Some ideas are big and others are small, but all have been implemented in an attempt to make a positive impact on the way that we serve and collaborate with our community.Â
The Park Distirct of Oak Park received the J. Robert Havlick Award for Innovation in Local Government from the Alliance for Innovation for our submission, “Launch Pad: Getting Good Ideas Off the Ground.”
How is innovation promoted at the Park District of Oak Park?
The Park District utilizes an idea-sharing platform, Launchpad, where all employees can post ideas big or small. All employees are introduced to Launchpad during their new hire orientation. To promote engagement with the platform, awards are distributed for posting ideas, commenting, and assisting in launching ideas.
The Innovation Commitee meets monthly and is responsible for carrying out ideas posted on Launchpad.
FEATURED PROJECTS RESULTS
POP-UP BIKE
Strategic Objective:
Customer and Community Focus: To engage the community
Overview:
The Park District sought a way to engage the public in the parks with activities and games to make recreation accessible to all.
2019 Plans:
During the Alliance for Innovation Transforming Local Government Conference, staff learned about the engagement van project from Goodyear, AZ. The Park District launched the Pop-Up-Bike program in the summer of 2019 where staff engage park patrons with new recreation activities every week.
In 2024, the Park District expanded the Pop Up Park program, transforming an old van into another pop up park vehicle.
WATER CONSERVATION
Cistern Installation for Water Conservation
In a response to rising water costs, a desire to conserve this natural resource, and the recognition of the energy consumed in pumping and treating water from Lake Michigan, the Park District recognized the opportunity to collect water for use in parks & facilities. Three below ground water cisterns have been installed and are collecting water from the splash pad and being repurposed into the irrigation system:
- Austin Gardens - A tank was installed to collect rainwater and divert it for use in flushing toilets at the Environmental Education Center
- Longfellow Park - A tank has been installed and is currently being tested to collect and treat water from the park's splash pad to reuse for athletic field irrigation
- Field Park - A tank is scheduled to be installed in 2017 to collect and treat water from the park's splash pad to reuse for athletic field irrigation
Using sensors and utility use data, the Park District will be able to measure the amount and cost of the water saved by these cisterns in order to determine the effectiveness of the pilot.
Since the launch of this idea, the cisterns have proved to be a valuable sustainability tool. Additional cisterns have been installed at the Oak Park Conservatory.
More Information:
- Wednesday Journal Article - "Cisterns Planned for Several Parks"
LAUNCHPAD (EMPLOYEE IDEA BOARD)
Strategic Objective:
Organizational Excellence: To strive for innovative operational excellence.
Overview:
Based on feedback given by both staff and the public in prior studies and plans, the Park District recognized that there was a desire to proactively support and share innovative ideas for improving Park District operations and programs, parks, and services provided to the community. As part of these efforts, an innovation leader and team was designated and goals were developed. One of these goals included finding a way to allow staff to identify, share, and fund new ideas at the Park District.
History:
2014
The innovation team decided to create a web-based platform that would allow staff from all levels to share, vote and comment on ideas. Using a portion of non-resident fees, the Innovation Team would decide what ideas to launch. The program was called Launch Pad.
2015
Launch Pad was rolled out to staff in January 2015. At the end of 2015, staff had submitted 187 ideas with 29 selected for further investigation and future implementation. The software solution worked well for the innovation team, although it was more difficult to both grant and encourage use of by our seasonal staff (lifeguards, camp counselors, etc.).
2017
The program received the J. Robert Havlick Award for Innovation in Local Government from the Alliance for Innovation for our submission: "Launch Pad: Getting Good Ideas Off the Ground".
2018
The Innovation Team responded to a decrease in engagement on Launch Pad by implementing Launch Pad 2.0 with a new process, engagement strategies, and tracking mechanisms. These included:
- Engaging departments individually
- Streamlining the idea selection process
- Implementing a new criteria of feasibility, connectivity, and effectiveness in deciding what ideas to fund
- Awarding incentives for ideas launched, posted, and comments and votes
- Holding a Big Idea contest where staff pitch and vote on certain ideas directly at all-staff meetings
- Introducing the Le Good Try Award showcasing ideas that didn't work and what we learned from them
- Challenge of the Month to encourage more ideas
- Introducing a new dashboard and all-staff survey to determine effectiveness of program
2019
The Park District of Oak Park presented on Launch Pad at the Alliance for Innovation's Transforming Local Government Conference in April.
2025 and beyond
Launch Pad continues to serve as a highly effective way for employees to make their ideas heard, garnering dozens of innovative ideas every year.
More Information:
- Software Vendor:Â UserEcho
PERFORMANCE DASHBOARD
Strategic Objective:
Organizational Excellence: To strive for innovative operational excellence.
Overview:
The Park District sought a way to measure performance, providing an objective and quantifiable way to see successes and areas in need of improvement. The Park District performance management program allows us to:
- Communicate priorities internally among employees, as well as externally to the Board of Commissioners, citizen committees, and the public;
- Learn how the Park District’s present state relates to past performance and future plans;
- Demonstrate progress towards meeting its mission, goals, and objectives;
- Determine which policies, programs, facilities, and services most effectively serve the community’s needs;
- Provide direction for allocation of funds, staff, and other resources, and;
- Offer transparency and accountability to the public.
History:
2013
The Park District implemented a new performance management system. Specific performance indicators were selected centered around the Park District’s mission and strategic initiatives.
In an effort to minimize the amount of time spent by staff manually collecting and reporting data to submit for on-going performance measurement updates, the Park District decided to add the implementation of dashboard software to this project. Staff selected software that had the potential to:
- Allow the Park District to determine & display its own custom performance measures (versus choosing from a pre-determined list)
- Automatically pull live data directly from Park District databases (when available)
- Display data visually for all staff to see
- Analyze data for quicker use by staff
2014
The performance measurement program and accompanying dashboards were introduced to staff. Staff had access to the dashboards on a daily basis and refinements were made throughout the year. The public also has real-time access to data on the website as well. Quarterly meetings were held with management staff to specifically discuss the status of the performance measures with updates then presented to the Park District's Board of Commissioners.
2018
We redesigned the staff quarterly meetings to focus on the story behind the data, identifying what challenges/opportunities the Park District faced/faces and what actions will be/were taken to improve. This analysis was added to the website along with quarterly and annual Board reports. Department dashboards were also launched focused on metrics impacting them such as Special Facilities, Marketing, Customer Service, Conservatory, and Recreation.Â
More Information:
Check out our public performance dashboards by clicking here.