I FORESAW IT Plan for The Parking Lot Problem

 Interests
(Firm)
Productive employees
Morale
Conserve costs
Conserve cash outflow
Avoid government hassles
Avoid lengthy distractions over this issue
Insurance and liability
Ability to adapt to changing situation
Sound LR solution
Quick SR solution

(Employees)
Quick convenient access to work- avoid frustrating searches
Avoid highly disruptive solutions
Convenience
Ability to get home quickly in case of emergency
Fairness

(Neighbors)
No damage to property
No unwanted parking
No damage to property values
Avoid traffic snarls

(Landlord)
Rent revenue
Control costs
Avoid hassles with commercial tenant
Avoid hassles with government

(Government)
Traffic flow
Tax revenue
Respond to community complaints
Protect pedestrian safety

Factual Research
*Cost of building additional parking?
*Time/productivity lost due to overcrowding?
*How have other firms handled matter?
*What do employees want? Feel?
*What do neighbors want? Feel?
*Cost of various technological solutions?
*Cost of various allocation arrangements- lottery, auction, queuing, shuttle, car pool
*Terms of lease
*P&Z regulations governing parking
*Maximum cash expenditures firm can afford?
*How can we measure employee satisfaction before and after we change things?

Options
Simple Allocation Arrangements
Free market auction system- employees can buy, resell, rent out parking rights
Free market auction system- using ration coupons
Free market auction system with rules against scalping
Free market auction system with subsidies so rich and poor get fairer opportunity
Ration using allocation formula for each department
Seniority system
Lottery system
Parking meters
Airline style reverse auction program- firm pays employees for not using parking

 Other Creative Solutions
Encourage spirit of sharing and cooperation
Shuttle from off site parking
Dig below-ground garage
Negotiate with landlord for more parking in exchange for higher rent (using marginality)
Car pool system
Post information about parking and transportaiton alternatives
Lease vans for vanpools and charge employees
Lease vans for vanpools free of charge to employees have cabs for daytime emergncy
Time shifting
Flex time
Telecommuting
Relocate to site with better parking, location to mass transit
Rent space from neighbors
Bicycle program with showers, lockers, and secure parking
Preferred and reserved parking for carpools and vanpools
Computerized Parking Guidance sinage to direct drivers to best lots
Day care and restaurants on site so less need for coming and going
Share with nearby firm that uses parking space later in the evening
Offer bonuses to employees with smaller cars

Reactions and Responses (do this last)
(Here imagine how each interested group will react to the Options you are seriously thinking of proposing. Test the idea with a few people. Adjust accordingly.)

Empathy and Ethics
Empathy
(CEO) "Why are we looking at spending a fortune on parking? We pay a fortune in rent as it is. Why are we so paralyzed getting our people to work each morning? Can't we get our people here on time without spending a fortune? Isn't there a simple way we can solve this one and get on with our lives without ruining morale in the process?"

(Junior employee) "First they hire me and tell me how important it is to put in a full day and be here on time and so on and then they make me circle around for the better part of an hour each morning. Then they 'solve' the problem by asking me to pay for the right to get to work? Why should they profit on their own inability to let me do my job? It's outrageous! Then somebody decides to let the 'important' people have all the good spots? I guess that tells me how I rate here." (do same for other interested parties).

Ethics:
What does the firm owe its employees? What do they owe the firm? What is the firm's duty to the community

Setting & Scheduling
When, where, and how will we decide this? By management committee? Employee survey? Employee contest? Let each department's employees decide? Focus group? Vote? CEO decision? When will we decide? This week? This month? This year? When the lease is up for renewal? During the next election?

Alternatives
(Here compare the Option(s) you are seriously considering to your best alternative. If you do nothing, what will the loss in productivity equal? Assume the average employee now spends 10 extra minutes per day looking for parking and that the firm loses this time. Assume the value to the firm of 10 minutes of an average employee's time is $2.50. Assume the firm has 500 employees. Thus each day the firm loses $1250 (500 x $2.50). Assuming 20 business days a month, the firm is losing $300,000 a year ($1250x20 x 12) due to overcrowding. If so, a solution which costs the firm $200,000 a year and reduces average parking time by 10 minutes will be economically efficient.)

Who

Independent Criteria
-Industry standards
-Consultants' assessment
-Cost/per car
-Time spent parking under each arrangement
-Traffic projections
-Employee surveys

Topics, Targets & Tradeoffs
(i.e., what tradeoffs are you facing and what are your priorities?)

Topics	Targets (Best- Worst)	Tradeoffs
Net productivity gains	$300,000/year-$0/year	1 (tie)
Employee Satisfaction	5% improvement-0%	2
Adaptability	Instantly - quarterly	4
Neighbor Satisfaction	5% improvement-0%	5
Time Needed to Implement	1 week - 2 months	3
Net cash outflow	$0 - $50,000/quarter	1 (tie)

Now pick your favorite Options and see how well it satisfies your priorities. Is there another Option or mix of Options that would satisfy your priorities better? Is there a solution that would cost us a bit on our first priority but that would hugely improve one of our lesser priorities?

Finally, take your proposal and test it by getting Reactions and responses and then assessing how well the proposal satisfies the different interests people have.