We’ve all heard the refrain about how government needs to be better at customer service. We’ve heard the horror stories from the DMV and IRS filings gone amuck. But David Hebert says in order for government to be a great provider of customer service to the public it first has to have good internal customerRead… Read more »
By now everyone has heard about the situation brewing over at the IRS. But here is a brief refresher: A Treasury Department inspector general criticized IRS management for not providing sufficient oversight for agency workers who evaluate applications for tax-exempt status. The report said that laxity contributed to workers screening for words like “tea party”Read… Read more »
The 2013 Next Generation of Government Summit includes a speaker contest where nominations were solicited for topics that identified an innovative project or a great idea to revolutionize government. The uniqueness of the contest is that the speakers only had “5 minutes” to sell their idea. Although my topic was not selected, the challenge inspiredRead… Read more »
It was the the tweet heard around the country: “CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody” The first official announcement that law enforcement agencies had concluded their manhunt for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev didn’t come at a press conference. ItRead… Read more »
Well, does your business or agency suck? I doubt you’ve asked yourself this question before in quite such a direct manner. This might sound harsh, and maybe it is. Lousy customer service, poor innovation, and bad leadership all contribute to terrible organizational culture- those things all impact your performance and how successful your business is.Read… Read more »
There’s a descriptive term which could result in more accurate communications: fixin’. You are fixin’ when you are not yet doing, are not yet planning to do, are not yet getting ready to do…you are almost ready to get ready to do something. A classic example is when a family gathering is winding down. DepartingRead… Read more »
Almost two weeks have passed since the Internal Revenue Service first publicly admitted to singling out conservative groups. What we know: In short, the IRS targeted certain conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status for extra scrutiny at beginning in 2010, according to an inspector general’s report. Lois G. Lerner, the agency official who oversees tax-exempt groups,Read… Read more »
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! Last week, President Obama signed a memo directing agencies to modernize their construction permitting and review processes in order to: “advance the goal ofRead… Read more »
One of the keys to a successful open data portal is to make it useful for the end user. Citizens and developers should be able to understand data sets without needing a PhD. I’ve been following the progress of Raleigh, North Carolina’s open data initiative, which launched a beta of their data.raleighnc.gov portal in MarchRead… Read more »
All politicians talks about their support for and the importance of small businesses. Every campaign season I hear new candidates and incumbents talk about lowering taxes and creating a one stop center to make life better for small businesses. Very few government officials go beyond this lip service and take a serious look at addressingRead… Read more »