In my Web Manager University course, “Delivering Great Customer Service – Essentials for Government Web Managers,” I do a section on “metrics that matter.” I often start by asking folks if they collect performance data. Heads nod. Then I ask them what they do with it – how they use it. Most use stats toRead… Read more »
BlackBerry teased the world with its Playbook offering yesterday and the geek world exploded between hails of “the iPad Killer hath arrived” to “meh”. BlackBerry has made some interesting choices with the Playbook. My personal thought is that in the end, the design by committee approach won over the hard core fanatics within Blackberry. TheRead… Read more »
Everybody knows what the high-three is – right? – but who knows how to calculate the high-three? Definition. The high-three is the highest average salary obtained by averaging an employee’s salary over a consecutive 36-month period, with each salary weighted for the time it was in effect. In calculating the high-three, use basic salary only,Read… Read more »
I’m back in my office after another successful NAGW conference. I’m tired, hopeful and excited. Tired because planning and executing a national conference is a lot of work! Hopeful because I met a lot of great government web people who are passionate about what they do; and excited because this year’s speakers challenged our sometimesRead… Read more »
I’m speaking to you as a Survivor, something I never thought I would be but I’m proud to say it and I want everyone to remember that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Sure, we make jokes about “saving the Ta-Ta’s” and “yeah, I check my wife’s all the time” but let’s get serious forRead… Read more »
This summer has been packed with opportunities for us to get involved with our nation’s true heroes: soldiers who serve our country and the veterans who have fought to keep our nation as strong as it is today. This year we’ve been able to equip the Disabled American Veterans mobile service offices with HP notebooksRead… Read more »
An interesting article from a construction industry magazine is quoted below. It’s a tricky subject for govenment agencies. As a consultant who provides software solutions to manage these types of public bid issues, i’m interested in your experience and opinion with this issue. Thanks. ———————-article—————————- Alternative Bidding: Wise Budget Management or Manipulation? Alternative bidding isRead… Read more »
I posted the last update to my ‘grandpa’ — now ‘great-grandpa’– stories in July, 2009. The first, an all-thumbs illustrated paper edition, was in 1987, the second in 1992, also paper, unillustrated, followed by the Gutenberg Archive Edition in 2000 at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2737 and now the last, ‘Grandma! Grandpa! You’re Too Far Away!’ a copy freelyRead… Read more »
*********************************************** Not Yet a Member? JOIN GOVLOOP!(It’s free and takes 30 seconds) ************************************************ If we were analyzing federal holidays in a Six Sigma class, we’d cross off Columbus Day right away. How can the federal government get more bang for its buck? Well, easy…let’s work on Columbus Day. Does this mean eliminating a national holiday?Read… Read more »
A soon to be retired fed contacted me last month about an estimate they received from their HR department with a grossly incorrect survivor benefit cost estimate. The employee was advised that a full survivor benefit for their spouse would reduce their monthly benefit by one third! Incorrect high estimates like this can put theRead… Read more »