Public Service Recognition Week recognizes a lot of hidden talent across the government. But is that talent always available when the government needs it? Sometimes, it is. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen was superb at handling big, complex challenges that reach across agency boundaries. He led the evacuation of lower Manhattan during 9/11. He tookRead… Read more »
When it rains, it pours! April saw a lot of action regarding the federal performance agenda. The big news for many was the announcement last week that Shelley Metzenbaum, who is the Office of Management and Budget official spearheading the Obama Administration’s performance management initiatives on a day-to-day basis, will be leaving to return homeRead… Read more »
Looking for an overview guide to understanding how the federal government goes about managing the performance of its many goals, missions, and programs? Here it is! The President’s fiscal year 2014 budget was released last week and emphasizes the creation of “a culture of performance improvement.” This is also the theme of a new IBMRead… Read more »
This is a question to which agencies will now have to come up with an answer. And it won’t be easy! Background Earlier this Spring, Senator Tom Coburn grilled an OMB witness at a hearing about why OMB had not yet implemented a provision in the GPRA Modernization Act requiring the creation of a government-wideRead… Read more »
OMB has released its long-awaited guidance for the implementation of new provisions in the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010. It describes a novel way to meet a statutory requirement to annually judge the performance of government programs. Agencies will have to put this new approach in place over the next two years. A provision buriedRead… Read more »
OMB has released a new performance framework for the federal government. It is embedded in its guidance to agencies on how they should prepare their budget requests for fiscal year 2014, which is called OMB Circular A-11. Last week, the Office of Management and Budget released its annual technical guidance to agencies regarding how theyRead… Read more »
The FY 2013 budget identifies 103 Agency Priority Goals. They were created in response to requirements in the new GPRA Modernization Act, but the creation of priority goals was initially inspired by an early Obama performance initiative that administratively identified agency “high priority performance goals” after he took office in 2009. It’s a solid start,Read… Read more »
The use of dashboards in the federal government took off when President Obama released his Open Government initiative in early 2009. Here’s a snapshot of where they are today, and some lessons learned from the pioneers. Vivek Kundra is leaving the federal government after having served as its first chief information officer. Probably one ofRead… Read more »
Obama signed the GPRA Modernization Act in January. While OMB has yet to issue any formal guidance to agencies on what they should do, there has been a flurry of conferences, forums, and seminars that have focused on the new law’s meaning and intent. In the past month, I’ve participated in more than a halfRead… Read more »
We applaud Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ recent announcement of his proposed initiative to cut costs, as we also applaud the Office of Management and Budget’s move to halt IT modernization efforts that have consistently cost more and delivered less than promised. We see a paradigm shift in how government is working – instead of justRead… Read more »