Translating Transportation Legislation into Action
On November 15th, 2021, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). This landmark law includes federal policy direction and funding for climate action, zero-emissions vehicle deployment, social equity, and multi-modal transportation investment – all critical initiatives for our State. In January 2022, the…
Read MoreCelebrating 20 Years!
This month we celebrate our 20th year in business and now coming to the realization that our firm is no longer a teenager. At the ripe age 20 we are just now coming into our own. We continue to improve our methodologies based on real…
Read MoreBeyond the Basics of Project Management
Since our founding in 2002, Highlands Consulting has provided project management services for public sector clients, including many large-scale projects for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, California Department of Public Health, and California Department of Water Resources. A key factor in our success is…
Read More3 Success Factors for Virtual Process Improvement Teams
Working remotely isn’t always easy, especially during real-time business process improvement (BPI) efforts involving many stakeholders. In the past year, we’ve evolved three success factors for facilitating BPI sessions virtually: Take time to scope the effort to avoid rework. Though it can be tempting to…
Read MoreLet’s All Rise to the Challenge
For over a year now, I’ve had the privilege of helping the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) respond to the COVID crisis. It’s been a colossal effort by CDPH and its partners to stand up new systems and processes to support the testing, contact…
Read More4 Reasons Why We Develop Custom Videos for Training
Video is a powerful and effective way to train staff and develop a team. Here are four reasons why: Videos are flexible You can customize videos for unique audiences. Different people learn and absorb information differently, and video accommodates everyone. You can make the video…
Read MoreImpact of COVID-19 on Transportation in California
Highlands Consulting has long served State transportation clients and has been closely following the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on this area. In September, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) released a new transportation policy post on the “Impact of COVID-19 on State Transportation Revenues.” It…
Read MoreDoing Organizational Change Management Remotely
“Change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end.” –Robin Sharma For most organizations, teams are facing a flurry of change in 2020 – not just technology and business changes, but also lifestyle changes due to the pandemic and working…
Read MoreFI$Cal: Beyond Fiscal Functionality
FI$Cal, or the Financial Information System for California, is far more than the state’s accounting, budgeting, and procurement system. As a robust enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, FI$Cal has unique capabilities that departments are beginning to realize. We’ve previously highlighted our work implementing FI$Cal functionality…
Read MoreFacilitating Business Process Improvement in a Virtual Setting
At Highlands, we have helped dozens of clients improve their business processes through facilitated meetings, in person. With stay-at-home orders, we knew we had to adapt to a fully digital setting. Here are three of our many lessons learned: Choose the platform wisely. There is…
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