The holidays are over. Gifts have been opened, the eggnog is gone, relatives have packed up and headed out, and there’s just a faint dusting of pine needles left on your carpet. For the most part holidays are about the memories – and hopefully good ones – but more likely than not along with theRead… Read more »
Happy New Year everyone…now let’s get down to business. This is the first of a five part series on top priorities for government agencies in calendar year 2015. Please note the issues being addressed in this series are by no means exhaustive. Rather, they reflect a sampling of the many challenges facing government at allRead… Read more »
Dear readers over the holiday season I did my fair share of shopping. Presents for my family were a must, but I also might have added one or two small gifts for myself. Maybe. But here’s the thing, as I hit up the mall and battled my fellow last minute shoppers, I was struck withRead… Read more »
I know some people despise New Years Resolutions, but I’m a huge fan of setting yourself up for the year ahead. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve only had middling success with my resolutions in the past, but over time I’ve noticed a pattern in the ones that have succeeded. It goes somethingRead… Read more »
Writing from the Midwest…last month is memorable because: 1) the good people at GovLoop invited me to guest blog, and I am honored; 2) I joined Medicare Nation, and I wonder how that happened; and 3) I saw some of the founding, public documents important to history as I know it, and I have gooseRead… Read more »
If you set only one professional new year’s resolution, consider making it this: to improve your organization’s email effectiveness as early as Q2 2015. Whether you’re new to the world of email marketing or a seasoned professional, whether email is a small part of your job description or you run a team dedicated to email… Read more »
If you’ve been employed by a government entity, the odds are that you have been assaulted by hurtful or simply ridiculous remarks. Especially when someone at a party or gathering learns for the first time that you are ‘one of them’: ‘the lazy drains on society and their personal pocketbook’. Well, I’m about to giveRead… Read more »
Greetings all, This is my first post (like, ever) so be kind. I was tempted to write up a piece on how resolutions are mostly meaningless without well thought-out objectives and milestones. I’d make a clever connection to how organizations often make the same mistake when taking on major change management or training initiatives. AsRead… Read more »
The Joint Information Environment (JIE) is an unbelievably ambitious yet necessary DoD initiative. Earlier, we shared a few statistics about the size and scale of the department’s IT shop, but here’s some additional context: DoD hosts more than 6,000 locations, supports 40 agencies and manages about 3.7 million people with cyber identity credentials. If those statisticsRead… Read more »
We all know them – the long (or short) term career bureaucrat, counting down the days (months, decades) to retirement, seething in negativity and boredom. These employees contribute to poor public perception, engage in bristly customer service and their negativity can bring others down with them, creating a toxic work environment. Here are some tipsRead… Read more »