Tag Archives: resolutions

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Increasing Parking Supply When Supply Is Constrained

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Increasing Parking Supply When Supply Is Constrained

 

By Cynthia Lang, CAPP, MPA 

In urban areas where land use is littered with mixed-use buildings, shopping malls and high-rise apartments there are few options to increase parking supply.  As cities increase multi-modal options in efforts to reduce the number of vehicles on the road, there remains the demand for parking and there never seem to be enough.  Limited parking options could be caused by zoning constraints, or simply because the area is already saturated with no land remaining to use for parking. This is where creativity is needed.

What initiatives can be implemented to support unconventional businesses providing free parking, but have few options to build more garages or open lots?  One solution to consider is hoteling. This is a space management method where multiple people are allowed to use the same parking space.  Hoteling is not a new concept. The concept was introduced in the early 90’s used by businesses with many teleworkers. This concept has yielded benefits to many companies; one being a reduction in annual facilities cost.

There is a renewed interest in hoteling across today’s workforce coming out of COVID as many employees now work remotely and are only required to come into the office 1 to 2 times a week, or per month. With the increased number of remote workers, parking managers are offering a 3:1 ratio to support customers with limited parking supply.  One challenge with hoteling is the parking system’s ability to track which customer/employee comes in on the first Monday of the Month and last Friday of the Month versus the customer or employee coming in on Tuesday and Thursday. What role does enforcement play in managing hoteling? What other considerations are there to ensure fair and equitable support to the employees?

Cynthia Lang, CAPP, MPA is a Portfolio Manager, National Capital Region for JASINT Consulting and Technologies, LLC.  She can be reached at  clang@jasint.com.

IPMI Blog

Benefits of Cooperative Purchasing

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Benefits of Cooperative Purchasing

 

By Paul Whetzel, CAPP 

After attending a couple of conferences this year, I am still amazed by how many vendors and end users are not aware of cooperative purchasing.  For those that don’t know how it works, it basically allows you to bypass your organization’s normal procurement procedures.  By doing this, you do not have to place projects out for bid, develop/create RFP’s, etc.  State agencies, city municipalities, and counties have different guidelines to follow.  Some agencies allow you to “piggy back” off of other states cooperative purchasing agreements.

According to FEMA,  a “cooperative purchasing program” is a cooperative arrangement for acquiring goods or services that involves aggregating the demand of two or more entities in an effort to obtain a more economical purchase.

Entities typically sign up to use cooperative purchasing programs through a cooperative purchasing agreement. Program membership may provide entities with access to lists of agreements or contracts for goods and services at pre-negotiated rates or prices. Typically, the member then purchases the goods or services by negotiating with participating vendors and placing purchase orders or entering into contracts based on the rates or prices listed in the cooperative purchasing program’s agreements or contracts with vendors.

Here at Charleston County, we use it frequently for many projects.  This method has saved us significant amount of time and money.  Our procurement department recommends we try to go this route before issuing bids and RFP’s.  Some organizations we have used are Sourcewell and www.procurement.sc.gov/contracts.

Paul Whetzel, CAPP is the Parking Operations Manager for the County of Charleston, South Carolina. He can be reached at pwhetzel@charlestoncounty.org .

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IPMI Blog, Resources

Making Resolutions Successful

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2022 Goals text on note padBy Cindy Campbell

I heard an interesting statistic this week about how quickly we tend to ditch our annual New Year’s resolutions. Oh sure, we have great intentions, but our follow through seems to be tripping us up. According to an Inc. article, 80 percent of the people who make New Year’s resolutions abandon them by the second week in February. Needless to say, there’s a whole lotta quitting goin’ on right now.

In IPMI’s January Frontline Fundamentals session, industry expert Vicki Pero reviewed the annual goal-setting ritual along with the breakneck speed in which we abandon those goals. She also discussed the relationship between formally setting our goals and ultimately accomplishing them. Did you know that the simple act of writing your goals down and posting them where you can regularly see them can make it 10 times more likely you’ll be successful? Sounds easy if not obvious, but–are we actually doing it?

The session was interesting and included lots of great takeaways. If this topic sounds like something you and your team could use to start 2022 off on a positive note, log in to your IPMI member portal and register for future sessions. All of the Frontline Fundamentals sessions are free and available live or on-demand to all member organizations. You can find all of the Frontline Fundamental sessions here.

Cindy Campbell is IPMI’s senior training and development specialist. She is available for in-person or virtual training.

IPMI Blog, Resources

Four Tips to Achieve Your Goals

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By Vicki Pero, SPHR

As a new year begins, many people and organizations are focused on goal setting. Often, sometime in the first few months of the year, goals are modified or abandoned because we’ve fallen off track and achieving them seems out of reach. Instead of sharing a bunch of tips on how to set goals, here are a few strategies to help achieve them.

1: Write Down Your Goals.

Research has shown that simply writing down your goals will increase the likelihood of achievement by as much as 42 percent. There is something about putting goals to paper that increases accountability. It also offers a point of reference to go back to and refresh yourself on your commitments.

2: Don’t Try to Eat the Elephant in One Bite.

One of the biggest pitfalls people fall into when setting goals is making them extremely challenging, which sets us up for failure. If you set a goal to go to the gym every day, for example, the first day you are too busy, have a head cold, or some other life event, it’s no longer possible to achieve, and this can be self-defeating.

Set smaller, more attainable goals that will lead to the bigger achievement you are working toward. You will gain momentum as you go and increase the likelihood of achieving your bigger-picture objective.

3: Less is More.

On the theme of avoiding over-commitment, don’t set too many goals at one time. One to three goals strikes a good balance. Anything more than this dilutes focus and jeopardizes the chance you will complete any of them. If you’re not convinced, read “The Four Disciplines of Execution.”

4: Celebrate Successes.

Most of us are really good at beating ourselves up when we don’t achieve a goal, but move right on to the next thing when we have a success. Take a moment to recognize when you achieve a milestone or achieve a goal. Even identify a reward for yourself for when you achieve a goal and follow through when you succeed.

Think of these tips as building blocks in your strategy to achieve your goals. Using any one or any combination of them will help you to make sure 2019 is a success personally and professionally!

Vicki Pero, SPHR, is principal with Marlyn Group.

IPMI Blog, Resources

New Year, New You?

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By Michelle W. Jones, CMP

The phrase “auld lang syne” literally translates to “old long since,” and basically means “days gone by.’”* And like in the movie “When Harry Met Sally,” most of don’t really understand the song’s meaning and fake the lyrics as we attempt to sing along each New Year’s Eve.

Another cursory tradition each new year is to make resolutions, like lose 10 pounds, de-clutter your home, call your parents more often, etc.  Sort of a grown-up version of a do-over. We like to think we can make lots of instant changes in our lives. Instead of setting difficult or nebulous goals, however, try to make small changes that are more likely to stick long-term.

I’m focusing on better health–meaning physically, emotionally, professionally, and environmentally.  Working to be healthier, I’m reading Get Lit, by Dr. Lisa Saff Koche, who leads Spectra Wellness Solutions in Tampa, Fla. I’m also committed to walking more this year, and to working out regularly.  This is a better approach than saying, “I must lose X pounds by X date.”

I subscribe to a weekly email called “Take 5 With Mel Robbins,” by the author of The 5 Second Rule, her approach to being more confident and productive. If you are unfamiliar with her, I recommend her TEDx talk. I have also committed to attaining an additional professional designation this year. As a passionate believer in lifelong learning, I think it helps you grow as a person and makes you a better asset to your team.

Whatever you’ve committed to changing or doing this new year, take small steps… minor changes that are easier to apply. This approach will lessen frustration and will increase your chance of success.

*Brandon Specktor, in Reader’s Digest

Michelle W. Jones, CMP, is IPMI’s director of convention and meeting services.