ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Performance Management
Getting Real About Performance Management
David Ammons, Public Management
Using performance information to improve services is key.

Analytics/Evaluation
There’s New Hope for Proponents of Evidence-Based Policy
Patrick Lester, Government Executive
A federal commission’s top task may be setting a truly bipartisan agenda.
GAO: Data problems could be costing feds billions
Zach Noble, Federal Computer Week
With billions of dollars on the line, agencies are struggling to streamline their data collection and processing.

Efficiency/Reorganization
Congress Has a Worse Track Record on Following Advice to Cut Waste Than Agencies Themselves
Erik Katz, Government Executive
While agencies have saved $56 billion since 2011 by taking actions recommended by GAO hundreds of recommendations remain unaddressed.

Leadership
Government Gone Agile: How “Agile Management” Can Enhance Agency Success
Dan Chenok and Joiwind Roinen, Business of Government
With the coming change in Administrations, solidifying agile as an effective and go-to approach will help to strengthen the management of programs, both now and in the future.

Risk Management
How the Next Administration Could Substantially Reduce Risk During the Next Crisis
Leon Fuerth, Government Executive
Options for how to integrate strategic foresight and policy.

Performance Management
How to Design Contracts that Deliver Results
John Kamensky, Government Executive
“Pay for success” is starting to take hold at the federal, state, and local levels, but a prerequisite is having some way of measuring success—and ensuring that funding models encourage it.
Defense Department begins new employee performance rating system
Eric Yoder, Washington Post
DOD will begin another overhaul of how it evaluates its civilian federal employees, this time with the support of employee unions whose opposition doomed the previous program.
4 issues the government needs to tackle to ensure accountability
Carten Cordell, Federal Times
Of all the buzzwords applied to how the federal government works, accountability is having a moment.
Why Public Executives Need To Focus On Obliterating Worst Practices
Robert Behn, Government Executive
Your worst practices might be undermining your best ones.

Analytics/Evaluation
‘Culture of evidence’ should be preserved as government prepares for new administration
Meredith Somers, Federal News Radio
Access to data and government transparency have built a “culture of evidence” that should not just be sustained during the presidential transition, but also continually promoted for federal accountability.
Crunch time for Data Act guidance
Zach Noble, Federal Computer Week
To implement the DATA Act agencies need clear guidance, and they should get some in the coming weeks.
Senate Author of DATA Act Presses Agencies on Follow-Up
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Standardization of spending numbers seen as crucial to efficient financial management.
Three strategies to promote relevance in program evaluations so that findings are useful to policymakers and practitioners
Andy Feldman, Gov Innovator
In program evaluation, using the most rigorous methods possible is essential for producing credible research findings. But beyond the goal of rigor, relevance is important too.

Customer Service
IRS Crowdsources Future of the Taxpayer Experience
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Designers, developers will reimagine future John Q. Public’s interaction with agency.
Driving Citizen-Centric Engagement
Mark Fisk, Business of Government
A citizen-centric government experience is going to be the new normal in today’s digital world.

Leadership
Why You Can’t Run Government Like a Business
George Bishop, Government Executive
While there are some leadership commonalities, there are plenty of key differences.

Performance Management
Does Performance Matter?
John Kamensky, Business of Government
Performance measurement is about measuring the performance of government and its programs – but what about measuring the effectiveness of performance measures themselves? Ironically, it turns out that it is harder than you might think.

Analytics/Evlauation
The long war for data standards
Zach Noble, Federal Computer Week
Getting the right underpinning governance isn’t glamorous, but proponents say hashing out details will help unleash data’s true potential.

Collaboration
New technologies for knowledge sharing
Steve Kelman, Federal Computer Week
The potential, and limitations, of the “social intranet.”

Customer Service
OMB Creates Inter-Agency Customer Service Council
Charles Clark, Government Executive
OMB director Shaun Donovan announced the establishment of a council to coordinate agency customer service and continue progress toward cross-agency priority goals.

Innovation
FEMA, HHS turn to ‘social listening’ for better disaster response
Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Radio
Emergency management agencies say existing social media channels are often their best way to crowdsource and collect important information during a major weather event or natural disaster. Agencies such as FEMA and the Health and Human Services Department are adapting their strategy to embrace the “social listening” concept.

Analytics/Evaluation
Government’s Data-Driven Frenemies
Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene, Governing
There’s a long-standing rivalry between the people who do performance measurement and the people who evaluate programs.
Insights from the City of New Orleans’ analytics unit, NOLAlytics, about using data to improve city services
Andy Feldman, Gov Innovator Blog
The City of New Orleans under Mayor Mitch Landrieu has gained a reputation as being one of the most innovative and data-driven city governments. An important element in those efforts is the Office of Performance and Accountability, launched in 2011.

Collaboration
The “De-Siloization” of Knowledge in Government
John Kamensky, Business of Government
Most of an organization’s collective wisdom is locked in people’s heads, and not written down for others to search for and use. So, how do you increase the ability of people to know the expertise of their professional colleagues and share it with each other within a large organization?

Innovation
A New Twist on ‘Pay for Success’ Programs
Liz Farmer, Governing
A variation on the existing model would provide a money back guarantee should a project fail.

Presidential Transition
Obama Signs Bipartisan Bill to Smooth Presidential Transition
Charles Clark, Government Executive
New law clarifies GSA role and creates interagency council by this summer.

Performance Management
Results-Driven Contracting: An Overview
Harvard Government Performance Lab
Results-driven contracting in government is a continuum of practices that incorporates specific goals, measurement, active management using performance data, and the strategic use of performance incentives.

Analytics/Evaluation
Translating Research into Action
Brandee McHale and Tim Ogden, Stanford Social Innovation Review
There is no doubt that social change efforts are accelerated by data, but investing in high-quality, cutting-edge research alone isn’t enough to produce solutions. Funders and researchers have to invest more in translating research into action.

Collaboration
Next White House Should Create an Enterprise Government
Dan Chenok and Alan Howze, Business of Government
Regardless of the specific policies, implementation in many cases will require working across agency boundaries. Addressing cross-agency priorities with a common approach can enable success.
Agency Collaboration Could Make or Break Next Presidential Administration
Charles Clark, Government Executive
Report urges transition teams to get the government to operate as a single entity.

Customer Service
If Improving Government Services Is Such a Good Idea, Why Aren’t Elected Officials Doing It?
Donald Kettl, Government Executive
Three big reasons why the focus on delivery makes sense for elected officials.

Innovation
Obama Looks to Outsiders to Fix “Big and Bloated” Government
Tom Shoop, Government Executive
The president is making the case that outsiders – specifically, tech-savvy citizens – must step in and show federal agencies the way to a digital future.