As employees start to return to normal after the government shutdown, managers are finding it difficult to effectively communicate with employees. Leaders are tasked with toeing a fine line between talking about the impacts of the shutdown and engaging people in the work that needs to be done. The key to effectively navigating the lineRead… Read more »
On one of my favorite shows, Mad Men, the executives of a 1960s advertising firm spend hours trying to get into the mind of their clients’ customers to come up with the perfect pitch. Just imagine what Don, Peggy, and Megan could have done with big data. Of course, data alone is not enough forRead… Read more »
GovLoop and Integrity Management Consulting are proud to present a 12-part series called “Conscientious Contracting: A Thoughtful Approach to Acquisition and Program Management,” that aims to address common challenges and achieve new efficiencies in government procurement. Happy New Year! I know, I know, FY14 got off to a rocky start because of the people overRead… Read more »
On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER: The 16 day government shutdown may be over but resentments and fears remain for many federal employees. So how do you get through the low morale and motivate your workforce? Insights from Tom Fox from the Partnership for Public Service. But First: HealthCare.gov’s continued problems The Hill reports that HealthCare.gov crashedRead… Read more »
One of my history professors in college used to always say “Do not condescend to the people of the past.” This is a hard rule to follow, especially when learning about how our ancestors perceived technological changes. It is difficult to take seriously historical fears that the advent of the telephone would tear apart theRead… Read more »
We’ve been away for some time now, so please don’t expect that we can return to normalcy in a day or even a week. We need each of you to take time, each hour, to check on your co workers and offer encouragement and comfort where necessary. We are one team, the best team inRead… Read more »
Leaders are trying to use measurements as their swimming goggles. It is the major technique they are relying on. My beef with measures is that we are not applying them proportionally. – Martha Johnson. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “measure twice and cut once.” But in government it seems like we are measuring eight times.Read… Read more »
The economic pressures government agencies feel from the uncertainty of budget cuts, real-time shut downs, and sequestration affects every part of an organization. The Project Management Office (PMO) is no exception. In a recent blog post, I discussed a new approach, Project Intelligence (PI), which seeks to improve project execution by providing project managers withRead… Read more »
After owning my laptop for 5 years, strange things started happening. My nightly ritual of watching The Daily Show on Hulu ended when flash player stopped working. As new technology grew incompatible with my 5-year-old operating system, every item I had downloaded stopped working. The solution was clear, it was time to buy a newRead… Read more »
On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER: Back in the 1800s the US passed legislation that created the civil service. The civil service was meant to be a group of people that were performing for the country and because that could put them into all sorts of political crosshairs they were afforded some protections. To this day theRead… Read more »