Performance and Accountability Weekly: June 15 to 28, 2013
 
Performance Management
Cogan Schneier, Federal News Radio
Agency leaders must do more to fully implement provisions of the GPRA Modernization Act, according to a new report from GAO. Includes excerpts from, and a link to, an interview with Robert Shea, a former performance executive at OMB. 
 
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Though the Obama administration has made progress implementing the 2010 update to the central federal management performance law, agency managers continue to face obstacles in measuring improvements and the Office of Management and Budget has delayed issuing needed guidance, a new audit found.
 
Cory Bennett, FedScoop
Federal agencies still have ways to go in creating satisfactory performance metrics and making that information accessible and useful, a new report from the Government Accountability Office found.
 
Stephen Goldsmith, Better Faster, Cheaper
Louisville, Ky., is showing how a performance metrics initiative can transform a government’s operational culture.
 
Analytics
John Kamensky, Business of Government
There is a small, but growing effort to take a longer, more strategic look at how to manage austerity by finding what works and targeting dollars there instead of to programs that cannot demonstrate effectiveness.
 
John Bridgeland and Peter Orszag, The Atlantic
How a new era of fiscal scarcity could make Washington work better
 
Collaboration
Andy Feldman, GovInnovator Blog
Interview with Theresa Reno-Weber, Chief of Performance Improvement with the City of Louisville on initiatives to strengthen the city’s ability to improve on results and address challenges that span traditional agency silos.
 
Efficiency/Reorganization
Adam Mazmanian, Federal Computer Week
Montana’s junior senator has taken the helm of a new subcommittee overseeing the efficiency and effectiveness of federal programs.
 
Dan Chenok, Business of Government
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing on June 18 entitled “Reinventing Government”. Several leaders with great experience in Federal government leadership and management issues presented testimony and engaged in an extensive discussion with the Committee on both the general topic, and on the proposal for a Commission on Government Transformation.
 
Innovation
Michael Fletcher, Washington Post
Six states are moving to develop so-called social impact bonds, marking a broad expansion of an experiment that taps private investors to fund capital-hungry social programs.
 
Frank Konkel, Federal Computer Week
A new group of private-sector leading lights has been assembled to try to outdo last year’s class.
 
Open Government
Emily Jarvis, GovLoop
Interview with Hudson Hollister, Executive Director for the Data Transparency Coalition, on the administration’s Open Data Directive, which was released in May.
 
Emily Jarvis, GovLoop
Interview with Dennis D. McDonald, who has written a white paper on web-based performance metrics, “Developing Digital Strategies for Web-based Public Access.”
 
Posted on June 28, 2013 by aspacap | Comments Off on Performance and Accountability Weekly – June 15 to 28, 2013
Government Performance Community of Practice Update for May 18 to 24, 2013
 
This list, as well as lists from past weeks and other resources, is also available through the Performance CoP wiki athttp://wiki.gao.gov/wiki/index.php/Government_Performance_Community_of_Practice.
 
Performance Management
Adam Mazmanian, Federal Computer Week
Federal CIO will take over while a permanent replacement for Jeffrey Zients is found.
 
Jason Miller, Federal News Radio
The Office of Management and Budget is finalizing a new directive to change federal financial management processes.
 
Analytics
Stephen Goldsmith, Better, Faster, Cheaper
The ever-growing volume of information created and captured by the modern digitized world is an opportunity for government to reinvent itself.
 
Mark Rockwell, Federal Computer Week
Big data isn’t the deep well of critical information it’s cracked up to be if the person or systems peering into it don’t know what they’re looking for.

Efficiency/Reorganization
Molly Bernhart Walker, FierceGovernment
GAO’s annual report on overlap and duplication identifies 380 actions to make government more efficient. Despite White House efforts to make meaningful progress in this area, it is hamstrung, said GAO Comptroller General Eugene Dodaro.
 
John Kamensky, Business of Government
Benjamin Franklin famously said that “time is money.” But does government know how to implement this maxim seriously? Now there is a new study that shows how they can do it!
 
Amber Corrin, Federal Computer Week
A GAO report, echoing longstanding criticisms, diagnoses the causes of DOD’s sputtering modernization progress.
 
Charles Prow, ICM Center for the Business of Government
Through fast government, public-sector leaders make time a key performance metric in government efficiency and effectiveness initiatives—time saved by streamlining operations, improving the quality of government services, and reducing barriers to citizen engagement.
 
Open Government
Adam Mazmanian, Federal Computer Week
U.S. CTO Todd Park believes the government’s Digital Government Strategy will create a ‘treasure trove’ of economic opportunity. One year in, that benefit is in short supply, but other gains are emerging.
 
Emily Jarvis, GovLoop
An interview with Sheila Campbell, the Director for Excellence in Digital Government at GSA, on how Challenge.gov is a place where government and the public can come together in an innovative way.
 
Posted on May 24, 2013 by aspacap | Comments Off on Government Performance Community of Practice Update for May

Government Performance Community of Practice Update for May 11 to 17, 2013

 

This list, as well as lists from past weeks and other resources, is also available through the Performance CoP wiki at http://wiki.gao.gov/wiki/index.php/Government_Performance_Community_of_Practice.

 

 

Performance Management

Public Management and the Challenge of the Last Mile of Service Delivery

Feather O’Connor Houstoun, Management Insights

Sometimes even the best program design and execution fail to get a government service to a recipient who needs it. There are ways to overcome those final hurdles.

 

Al Gore: Feds Have America’s Back

Kellie Lunney, Government Executive

Gore said the Clinton administration’s reinventing government movement during the 1990s started three “revolutions” that are embedded in government management today—a focus on results-oriented performance, innovation and customers.

 

Analytics

Are Dashboards Dead? Or is Big Data Making them Relevant Again?

Emily Jarvis, GovLoop

With the emergence of big data and data analytics, dashboards are making a resurgence.

 

Efficiency/Reorganization

Agencies Need Congress’ Help to Weed Out Duplicate Programs

Charles Clark, Government Executive

The success of any Obama administration bid to eliminate overlapping or duplicative programs may hinge on bipartisan cooperation from a turf-conscious Congress as well as clear and enduring metrics, a Senate panel was told.

 

Innovation

Reinventing Innovation

John Kamensky, Business of Government

How can government create a culture of innovation?

 

Invite Failure – What the Innovative Agencies Are Doing Right

Emily Jarvis, GovLoop

In order for an agency to be innovative you have to empower your employees and leave room for failure. So which agencies are doing that effectively?

 

Leadership

Why the SES Doesn’t Work, And How to Fix It

John Kamensky, Excellence in Government

America’s got talent, but it doesn’t work like it’s supposed to.

 

Developing Senior Executive Capabilities to Address National Priorities

Bruce Barkley, IBM Center for the Business of Government

This report is intended to spark a discussion of how to create a cadre of experienced career senior executives who can lead major, cross-agency initiatives on national priorities.

 

Open Government

Analysts Assess Federal Open Data Policy

Sarah Rich, Government Technology

Following the new Open Data Executive Order and the release of new Open Data Policy Guidelines, analysts have been speaking out, many of whom appear to be in favor of both the order and its new guidelines.

 

 

Government Performance Community of Practice Update for March 16 to 22, 2013

 

This list, as well as lists from past weeks and other resources, is also available through the Performance CoP wiki at http://wiki.gao.gov/wiki/index.php/Government_Performance_Community_of_Practice.

 

 

Performance Management 

Air Force meets fuel efficiency goal several years early

Jared Serbu, Federal News Radio

An example of how goal setting can drive improvements in processes and practices.

 

Trust and Confidence: The Fertile Soil for Effective Goal Setting

David Schmidtchen, Public Administration Review

The focus on “organizational citizenship behavior” moves away from the mechanics of developing goals or ticking boxes in a performance management process to thinking more deeply about how leaders and managers might structure work so that people willingly give their motivation, commitment, and engagement to achieve organizational goals.

 

Efficiency/Reorganization

Building a Culture of Efficiency in Government

Stephen Goldsmith, Better, Faster, Cheaper

Small savings can add up to real money–and better services.

 

Open Government/Transparency

What’s the Status of Gov 2.0?

Emily Jarvis, GovLoop

Insights from an expert panel on the use of Web 2.0 tools in government.

 

What Are The Gov 2.0 Biggest Challenges?

Bryce Bender, GovLoop

Experts also discuss the challenges facing the implementation of Web 2.0 tools at all levels of government.

 

Posted on May 24, 2013 by aspacap | Comments Off on Government Performance Community of Practice Update for May
Government Performance Community of Practice Update for May 4 to 10, 2013
 
This list, as well as lists from past weeks and other resources, is also available through the Performance CoP wiki athttp://wiki.gao.gov/wiki/index.php/Government_Performance_Community_of_Practice.
 
 
Performance Management
Theodore H. Poister, Obed Q. Pasha, and Lauren Hamilton Edwards, Public Administration Review
Although performance management processes are widely assumed to be beneficial in improving organizational performance in the public sector, there is insufficient empirical evidence to back this claim. In this article, the authors examine the impact of performance management practices on organizational effectiveness in a particular segment of the public transit industry in the United States.
 
Dan Chenok, Business of Government
Among the IBM Center’s main activities is the sponsorship of research on issues affecting government leaders that points to practical recommendations for government.
 
Innovation
Steve Towns, Government Technology
When it comes to innovation in government, Ted Gaebler literally wrote the book. His 1992 best-seller, Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit Is Transforming the Public Sector, influenced a generation of public policy experts and managers. In it, the authors argued that governments needed to rethink industrial-era bureaucracies and develop new techniques suited to the Information Age.
 
Innovategov
Many advocates in both government and private enterprise seek to bring about a transformation to the relationship between government and citizenry. Recently, one of the highest profile figures in state government has led a charge to create the next generation of government-public interaction through technology
 
Open Government/Transparency
Jason Miller, Federal News Radio
The administration’s new policy and executive order released Thursday are the forcing functions to make data accessible and open that has been missing over the last decade.
 
Adam Mazmanian, Federal Computer Week
Under an executive order, civilian agencies must produce data in open, machine-readable form to promote public access and commercial use.
 
Mark Micheli, Excellence in Government
Podcast on how the the White House’s “We the People” initiative is creating a new model for citizen engagement.
 
Performance Budgeting
Paul Posner, Management Insights
Making spending decisions based on evidence and analysis can be hardest to do in times of austerity, but that’s precisely when these tools are most useful.
Posted on May 10, 2013 by aspacap | Comments Off on Government Performance Community of Practice Update for May

Accountability and Performance Weekly (Apr. 13-19, 2013)

Posted on April 19, 2013 by aspacap

Performance Management 

Agencies Have Elevated Performance Management Leadership Roles, but Additional Training Is Needed

Government Accountability Office

The designation of senior-level officials to key performance management roles with responsibilities under the GPRA Modernization Act has helped elevate accountability for performance management within federal agencies and ensure high-level involvement.

 

The 6 Ways Government Needs to Improve Performance Management

John Kamensky, Government Executive

An overview of how the federal government needs to start managing performance.

 

The New Federal Performance System: Implementing the GPRA Modernization Act

Donald Moynihan, IBM Center for the Business of Government

Professor Moynihan describes the evolution of the federal performance management system over the past 20 years since the passage of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA).

 

Can we have an evidence-based government?

Jim Tankersley and Dylan Matthews, Wonkblog

If Washington ever hopes to provide the services voters say they want, at the tax rates voters say they’re willing to pay, economists say the government will need to ramp up its efforts to figure out which programs work and which ones don’t, and shift resources accordingly.

 

Analytics

Sketching the big picture on big data

Frank Konkel, Federal Computer Week

Experts may not yet agree on a clear-cut definition of big data, but new report suggests that this IT buzzword is chock-full of potential if several key challenges can be overcome.

 

Open Government/Transparency

Study: Citizen Budgeting Related to Better Outcomes

J.B. Wogan, Governing

Inviting public comment early in the budget process, and doing so in multiple ways, is closely associated with better performance outcomes, according to a new study in The American Review of Public Administration.

 

Performance Budgeting

Flaws in the Social Impact Bond/Pay for Success Craze

Jon Pratt, Nonprofit Quarterly

The concept of Social Impact Bonds is definitely taking off, with some big money and very well known supporters, but the author argues that two main claims for SIBs, more resources and better results, are admirable but speculative.

 

Performance budgeting in Austria

Andy Feldman, GovInnovator Blog

Podcast with Gerhard Steger, Budget Director for the Austrian Ministry of Finance, which has recently shifted its budget process from one focused on the question, “How much do we spend?” to one focused on “What results are we producing?

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Accountability and Performance Weekly (Apr. 13-19, 2013)