Public works teams have enough challenges to face just to keep up with the day-to-day needs of the communities they serve.
They’re tasked with managing high volumes of work orders — and they often have limited staff to get this work done.
Manual or disconnected systems can make this even harder, leading to slow response times, increased risk, and higher administrative burden.
Modern work order management software can make all the difference, helping departments stay proactive rather than reactive with:
- Centralized digital work orders
- Mobile-friendly field work
- Smarter scheduling and routing
- Built-in reporting and dashboards
Bottlenecks Slowing Down the Public Works Work Orders Process
Each public works team is unique, reflecting the specific challenges and needs of its community.
Still, there are some all-too-common bottlenecks that tend to make the work order process slower than it needs to be:
- Tracking with paper or spreadsheets
- Poor scheduling and assigning
- Disconnected complaints and work orders
- Limited reporting and historical data
Let’s explore how each potential hurdle can affect local teams.
1. Tracking with Paper or Spreadsheets
If your work order process is all about digging through paper files or trying to find the right version of the right spreadsheet, every step of the process can be slowed down.
Using these outdated workflows can all too easily lead to lost requests, delayed follow-ups, and no real-time visibility — and that’s going to affect everything the staff is trying to do.
2. Poor Scheduling and Assigning
A slim staff needs to be as efficient as possible — and it’s hard to do that if their scheduling slows them down.
Manually trying to determine optimal routes and schedules, and making changes as things come up each day, could be a full-time job if your current system can’t help you.
3. Disconnected Complaints and Work Orders
Complaints and work orders go hand in hand, so it’s easy to see how disconnected systems can make the process harder for everyone.
Citizen requests can become difficult to manage if they’re not linked to real-time inspection or repair information, leading to delays and confusion.
4. Limited Reporting and Historical Data
Public works teams get a lot done, but it’s hard to make their case for a stronger budget or taking on big preventative maintenance projects without the data to back it up.
Poor reporting and limited available information can prevent important work from starting, with consequences for the community in the years to come.
How Modern Work Order Software Solves These Issues
These potential problems might be common, but that doesn’t mean you just have to accept them as hindrances to doing your job.
The best work order management software today can help even a slim staff step up to the challenge and get more done.
Centralized Digital Work Orders
Work orders should be managed digitally, not in disconnected spreadsheets or paper files, to keep up more efficiently.
The right software for public works permitting and work orders provides municipalities with a unified system for requests, inspections, attachments, and status updates. With these digital tools, there’s no need to hunt down data.
Mobile-Friendly Field Work
Fieldwork should be the focus of your staff’s time, not driving back and forth to the office to re-enter updates, notes, and photos.
Look for work order management software that fully enables mobile-friendly work order assignment, updates, and closure from the site — and automatically syncs it all back into a centralized system to keep everyone on the same page.
Smarter Scheduling and Routing
Staff time is limited, and you can’t afford to waste precious minutes or hours working through an inefficient plan for work orders in the community.
Modern software should offer GIS-based routing and powerful property data management tools that make scheduling and assigning work more efficient than ever, reducing drive time and fuel costs every day.
Built-In Reporting and Dashboards
Documenting and reporting your team's work is an ongoing task, and it’s a vitally important way to show your impact on the community.
Reporting doesn’t have to eat up valuable time if you use the right digital tools that can streamline tracking of backlogs, response times, and recurring issues.
Generating a report or sharing key figures can be as simple as just a few clicks if you’re using the right software.
Move From Bottlenecks to Better Service with Cloudpermit
Municipalities need to get more done with less, and there’s no time to waste. That's why many towns and cities are turning to Cloudpermit to streamline their community development and public works management with online software.
Our work order management software gives your team powerful new digital tools, including:
- Online work order intake and tracking
- Seamless integration with citizen complaints and GIS data
- A comprehensive mobile inspections app that works online or offline
- Configurable workflows to perfectly match local processes
More often than not, work order delays aren’t a staffing problem — they’re a systems problem.
It’s time to look for the right public works software that helps teams do more with less.
Book a demo with us today to see how Cloudpermit’s online platform can upgrade your municipality’s approach to work orders.
