Welcome Project Stingray!
On
Friday, May 29th, the Economic Assistance and Employment Services Branch
proudly celebrated the retirement of Google Sheets as our Equalization tool—a
system that supported us through years of balancing workloads, tracking
assignments, and keeping intake operations moving smoothly across offices. It
wasn’t always easy: broken fields, slowdowns from multiple users, and endless
scrolling tested everyone’s patience. And yet, Google Sheets carried us further
than anyone should ever expect from a spreadsheet, and it taught us a great
deal along the way.
Those
lessons paved the way for something better.
This March, we launched Project Stingray—a web‑based
replacement system designed to transform the way we manage Equalization. Built with
collaboration from line staff, AOPs, supervisors, and management, Stingray
automates case assignments, supports balanced workloads, and brings clarity and
consistency to assignment tracking. Its development reflects the collective
expertise of our teams and our shared commitment to improving daily operations.
The
move to Stingray is more than just a technical upgrade—it’s a milestone that
celebrates innovation, partnership, and the ongoing evolution of our branch.
After testing and training, Project Stingray official launched on Monday, June
1st. The following weeks involved soliciting
feedback from users and management to make improvements, add certain reports,
and collect ideas for future enhancements.
We look forward to the continued growth of this tool and the smoother,
more efficient workflows it brings (in addition to some financial savings by
eliminating our reliance on Google licenses for each user!).
Here’s to progress, teamwork, and a future of
streamlined Equalization!
Special recognition goes to the workgroup for their
contributions to design, ideation, testing, and implementation: Blanca Diaz,
John McLaughlin, Julio Gonzalez Garcia, Francisco Hernandez, Jordan Jamison,
Daniel Barajas, and Rudolph D’Souza. This accomplishment builds on earlier
initiatives to transition appointment scheduling from the Google Sheets
Equalizer and reflects the ongoing commitment to process improvement and
departmental efficiency.
