Accountability and Performance Update – Jan 20-26, 2025

Posted on January 27, 2025 by aspacap

Maryland Seeks to Improve Government Performance

RouteFifty

Maryland governor Wes Moore signed an executive order directing departments to take a data-driven approach to improving their performance and decision making, including by tracking their progress against a soon-to-be-developed State Comprehensive Plan, holding regular reviews with executive leadership, identifying areas for improvement and building capacity to support what the order calls a “data-driven, action-oriented culture” in state government. The governor’s chief performance officer, Asma Mirza, will lead the effort.

Resource of the Week:  Managing for Results in Government

U.S. Government Accountability Office

Here’s a one-stop landing page for resources on the Federal Performance Framework and GAO’s work on improving government performance.

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Accountability and Performance Update – Jan 13-19, 2025

Posted on January 20, 2025 by aspacap

Government Reform Starts with Data & Evidence

IBM Center for The Business of Government (Kshmendra Paul)

The government must create, and use a government-wide common operating picture (COP) to serve as a centralized data hub, integrating information from various sources and providing a comprehensive view of government operations. 

Wrap Up of Biden Administration’s PMA Impact

Biden National Archives Site

The impact report summarizes the performance and progress the President’s Management Agenda made across its three priority areas: empowering the federal workforce, delivering excellent customer experiences, and managing the business of government

Q4 2024-2025 Agency Priority Goal Updates

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

Progress reports by agencies on the 85 Agency Priority Goals are posted on this website. This blog post highlights areas of real impact, such as streamlining certifications for small business by the SBA and HUD exceeding its halfway mark in making at-risk housing units lead-free.

Open Government Data Guidance

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

Memorandum M-25-05 provides guidance on data management and dissemination under the Evidence Act of 2018. It outlines a systematic “open by default” approach to government data that will provide better access to researchers, including innovation in artificial intelligence.

Promoting Performance in Multilevel Governance and Delivery of Homelessness Services

Public Administration Review (Jordy Coutin, Juliet Musso, and Woody Stanley)

The value of the performance system is less a carrot/stick relationship between principals and agents, and more a communicative opportunity for federal entities and localities regarding local achievements and constraints.

Evidence-Based Practices and US State Government Civil Servants

Public Administration Review (Yuan Cheng, et al)

Key barriers to implementing evidence-based  practices in state government include a lack of time for rigorous evaluations, insufficient resources, fragmented decision-making, and failure to include certain communities. But civil servants do prefer programs that identify outcomes over outputs, and are effective for diverse demographic groups.

A Fitness Agenda for Government: Cultivating Organizational Health

McKinsey & Co

Organizational strength depends on sustaining good performance. Our new survey shows that five practices could bolster long-term health.

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Accountability and Performance Update – Jan 6-12, 2025

Posted on January 13, 2025 by aspacap

Following are some “end of Administration” performance highlights from the Biden Administration. The links will probably be dead starting January 20 – so don’t hold off looking at them if you have any interest!

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

Launched in 2021, the PMA established three cross-agency priority goals: Strengthening Workforce, Customer Experience, and Business of Government.

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

This refresh expands the inventory of federal programs from 2,400 grant and contract programs to include about 200 federal credit and tax expenditure programs. Adding in interest on the debt, the database accounts for nearly $7 Trillion. For the entire inventory, it expands info to include program rules, regulations and new spending info (comparing outlays to obligations). In addition, user functionality has been enhanced by improving its search and user experience.

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

With the designation of 38 major federal services as “high impact” and an aggressive implementation strategy, the Biden Administration notes that its performance has “contributed to the highest four-year gain in public satisfaction with government services in 25 years.”

Colorado Governor’s 2025-2027 Operational Agenda

Office of Governor Jared Polis

As we look ahead to our last two years in office, we will solidify our operational legacy in the State by continuing to reimagine state government–making it more responsive to Coloradans’ needs, building best-in-class digital products, attracting and retaining top talent from all backgrounds, and doing our part to make government greener and more sustainable.

How to Do Strategic Planning Like a Futurist

Harvard Business Review

Chief strategy officers and those responsible for shaping the direction of their organizations are often asked to facilitate “visioning” meetings. This helps teams brainstorm ideas, but it isn’t a substitute for critical thinking about the future.

Performance of Federal Senior Execs

Government Executive (Howard Risher)

To help agencies better address their performance management, it could be time to take a fresh look at senior executives, and how they are compensated.

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Accountability and Performance Update – Jan 1 – 5, 2025

Posted on January 6, 2025 by aspacap

Applying Evaluation Thinking and Practice to Foresight

Association of Professional Futurists

Foresight evaluation is having a moment, characterized by an increased demand for assessment of foresight initiatives. Foresight evaluation needs to address specific challenges such as complexity, long-time horizons, the qualitative nature of the work, and documenting largely intangible and multiple foresight outcomes. This paper highlights theories and practices when designing a foresight evaluation.

Resource of the Week:  Happy Data New Year!

Data Foundation

This is absolute gold! Here’s a fun playlist of data-themed music with amazing lyrics! . . . “Data streams illuminate the night; Policy dreams come into sight . . .Statistical treasures, Clear and bright, Guiding us to get it right!”

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Accountability and Performance Update – Dec 23-31, 2024

Posted on December 31, 2024 by aspacap

Agency Priority Goals and the Challenge to Performance and Accountability

LinkedIn (Woody Stanley)

What happens when federal department leaders are encouraged to identify their short-term priorities and adopt measurable targets for program improvement by a set date? After a decade of reporting measures and targets for two agency priority goals (one for Transportation, the other for HUD), it is possible to draw some inferences about this mechanism for improving performance and accountability. 

Government Reform Starts with Data and Evidence

Federal News Network (Kshemendra Paul)

A governmentwide common operating picture (COP) of government programs and operations federated across agencies could be created by aiming modern data management and analytics, entity resolution and artificial intelligence technology at fragmented federal data. The COP would tie together authoritative federal budget, finance, procurement, payroll, human capital, investment, asset, program and performance data.

Dashboard to Reduce Medical Accidents

Federal News Network

Hospitals treat the sick and injured. But they can be dangerous places. A unit of the Health and Human Services Department aims to reduce the harm to the patient and health care workforce by 50%. So it’s set up a dashboard that aggregates safety information. 

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