The Challenge
Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) is a city-owned public utility serving Seattle, Washington, providing essential water, waste, and environmental services to the city.
SPU was implementing an online portal for its Utility Assistance Program (UAP) — a project that brought together diverse stakeholders across multiple business units, each with unique needs and priorities. The complexity of the initiative meant that achieving the intended return on investment required a structured plan to engage cross-functional and multi-disciplinary teams quickly and effectively. Without strong governance and change management, misalignment across teams threatened to slow the rollout and dilute the impact.
The Solution
Motive Power brought structure, accountability, and alignment to a complex multi-stakeholder program, coordinating across seven business units and over 30 stakeholders from day one.
Aligned seven business units and 30+ stakeholders to enhance governance, streamline accountability, and strengthen cross-functional coordination.
Delivered updated accountability plans and metrics, and conducted recurring surveys with 70+ participants to track sentiment and adoption readiness.
Developed a comprehensive Change Management Plan for Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and Housing Providers.
Built outreach processes to track metrics across 16 business groups, supporting external communications and marketing efforts.
Partnered with 28+ IT staff and 30+ business leaders to produce end-to-end training materials.
Finalized resistance mitigation strategies and established the updated UAP governance structure.
Key Metrics
The Results
Successfully coordinated cross-functional teams across seven business units to navigate the complexities of the UAP Automation System Governance Project.
Improved communication and strengthened stakeholder engagement across all participating organizations.
Reduced resistance to change through targeted mitigation strategies and consistent stakeholder touchpoints.
Established a robust, updated governance structure for the UAP program that will support ongoing operations beyond the initial rollout.
Accelerated ROI by efficiently managing organizational change and meeting the distinct needs of each stakeholder group.
