What Does a Digitally-Transformed Government Look Like?

More than 4,500 local, state and federal agencies are using Docusign to replace paper-based processes and simplify workflows so staff can more efficiently, and citizens receive a better experience.

Using Docusign eSignature, the City of Henderson was able to:

• Reduce the time it takes to complete time-sensitive warrant authorizations down to minutes

• Accelerate procurement cycle times by over 86%—with dynamic workflows based on purchase thresholds

• Significantly minimize the risk of contract voids due to errors or missing signatures

• Improve government services for the public

• Enable interactive accident reports for city-owned vehicles using eSignature Drawing feature

• Streamline access to 800+ self-service PowerForms and templates in SharePoint

From the city’s Office of Performance and Innovation, Addah Moritz-Smith and her team are leading the charge to transform how government works.

Read on to hear from Addah as she speaks to Shonte Eldrige, Senior Director and Strategy Leader at Docusign, about how the City of Henderson is using eSignature across different departments. You can also watch the full on-demand webinar here.

Tell us about yourself and your role in city government.

I’ve been in city government for 23 years. I've been through two municipalities, four mayors and six city managers for different departments. Currently, I’m in the Office of Performance and Innovation in the city manager's office, which allows me to touch a lot of different departments. Prior to being in government, I was a hotel director for quite a few years. Operations and making things quicker, simpler, easier are what I love doing—and Docusign allows us to do that every day.

What were some of the problems the City of Henderson was facing that Docusign eSignature helped solve?

One of the issues we were dealing with was contract inconsistencies. Does this contract need to go to council? Does the city attorney need to see this? Who is the bottleneck? So, one of the first things the team did was look at how long things were taking us for contracts—and we realized there's gotta be a better way. We evaluated the top 50 forms, and we're now at over 850 forms, documents and templates that we route through Docusign eSignature.

What’s changed since going digital? How are you better able to help the mayor operate the city?

Documents are no longer buried in somebody's email or in stacks of paper on somebody's desk. If we've got the mayor or council breathing down our neck looking for something that’s time sensitive, we can track it. We can follow up on things that we were never able to before. During COVID, it was so easy for us to click over. In the first three months alone we created an additional 60 forms with Docusign—so, we didn't feel like the sky was falling. 

What are some other benefits that you're seeing citywide?

We're at over 52,000 documents a year with a five day average completion time across all city departments. And no more paper. Every single warrant is now electronic. We had a two-hour window to get warrants for blood draws authorized. That's now done in minutes. We’re saving a bunch of time and labor for our employees. In purchasing, for example, we created automated workflows for certain pricing levels. When we first started tracking cycle times, we were at 59 days. Now, it’s an hour and a half for contracts under $10,000, which only require a director’s signature, and about five hours for $100,000 or less. It’s been a great experience and time saver for everyone—both internal and external customers.

How critical was it to have a business plan? Why are key KPIs so important when you're doing this type of transformation?

It gives you a roadmap. We all need a goal—so we know whether or not something was a success. For us, it was a very collaborative process. When we started with the blood draw warrants, for example, we got the judges and outside municipalities together to talk about how we were going to do it and get buy-in from everybody.

How have people adjusted? 

It's just kind of second nature now. I am getting attorneys and judges saying “Can you please make this a Docusign contract so I can sign it on my phone?”

What’s an average day as a Docusign administrator like?

Really, it's just reaching out and making sure that the forms and the documents are correct, that we're not running into any bottlenecks. And if we are running into bottlenecks, or things aren't flowing as we need them to, we step back and figure out an alternative. A lot of it is touching base. I do both one-on-one and group training a couple of times a week just so people understand that it's not rocket science; it’s really quite simple and easy to use.

What’s that one lesson learned you’d give someone who’s thinking about using Docusign? 

Don't overthink it. You're going to learn a lot of things along the way. Just get started. It’s a great tool that makes people's lives so much easier.

Learn more about Docusign solutions for government agencies.