Yearly Archives: 2012

How to Overcome Cultural Barriers to Improve Customer Service

GovLoop Research Report: Re-Imagining Customer Service In Government GovLoop is proud to announce our latest resource, The GovLoop Research Report: Re-Imagining Customer Service in Government. In this report, experts in the field provide insights and best practices to improve customer service in government. Be sure to check out the home page to view additional resourcesRead… Read more »

This Idea Is Sticky

It delights me every time I discover a way that the world of knowledge available to human kind is applicable across disciplines. Granted, the book Made to Stick is intended to apply as a guideline without any particular discipline in mind, only communication and retention of ideas in general. I’m working right now to makeRead… Read more »

Social Media for Public Participation: Step 1 – Inform

There are many roles for social media within government agencies. Joshua Joseph of the Partnership for Public Service is spearheading research into one area: improving operations. We had a lively, discursive conversation yesterday not only about how social media can be used at various points in an agency’s project life-cycle, but about how the PartnershipRead… Read more »

Sentiment Analysis Symposium call for speakers, and free videos from New York

The Call for Speakers is open for the next Sentiment Analysis Symposium, slated for October 30, 2012 in San Francisco. Whether you’re an experienced user or technologist, please consider proposing a presentation. Submit your proposal, by July 6, 2012 please, at sentimentsymposium.com/call-for-speakers.html. Choose from among the suggested topics listed there, or surprise us! The SanRead… Read more »

The Government Man – Some (Hopefully) Final Words About the GSA Ex-Scandal

The Government Man has been pretty quiet lately, save for an occasional blog or You Tube posting. The GSA scandal has been long out of the news. My insiders tell me that GSA has taken disciplinary action against those implicated in the alleged wrongdoing. As I said before, I am not attempting to defend thoseRead… Read more »

Aphorism 69

Things only become possible after you are bored to death of talking about them. Ben Goldacre, quoted by Hakim Yadi Original post

Should Local Governments Pay Bonuses To Employees For Their Ideas?

Many local governments on paper have a Employee Suggestion Review Committee, but few actually utilize such committees successfully. The Town of Amherst, NY as I mentioned in a previous post has such a Committee along with wooden suggestion boxes, which had not been opened in years. According to an Arizona Republic news article at theRead… Read more »

Why do we struggle with Workforce Planning?

To answer this question, I checked in with my former colleague and friend, Dr. Barbara Male. Dr. Male retired from the federal government in April 2008 after 25 years of federal service, most recently serving as a Deputy Assistant Secretary with the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM). She was a career memberRead… Read more »

PVA Kids Day 2012: Veterans Continue to Give Back

Today I had the pleasure of attending the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) “Kids Day” event. The event was a wonderful and inspiring event to attend. Kids Day is an annual special event that is part of the National Veterans Wheelchair Games. Each year a day is set aside to introduce children with disabilities toRead… Read more »