Posts Tagged: Reorganization

7 Ways to Survive and Thrive a Reorganization

What is the word that inspires the biggest groan from government employees? That’s right, reorganization. When you work at any level of government, agency reorganizations can hit like a hurricane, leaving us feeling like we have been buried under a ton of debris. As today’s government works toward adopting a more agile and businesslike environment,Read… Read more »

Mapping the Government

There is a new “map” of the Federal Government, courtesy of the Administrative Conference of the U.S. It is an update of an earlier “map” created in 1980 by the Congressional Research Service. The National Geographic periodically publishes updated maps of the contours of the U.S. but there is no institution that takes on aRead… Read more »

Federal Government Reform Resources: GAO’s List

This holiday season, the Government Accountability Office is compiling a list and checking it twice – of all the government programs it deems as potentially duplicative or overlapping. Three years ago, GAO was required by law to annually publish a report detailing duplicative, overlapping, and fragmented federal programs. It will be issuing its third reportRead… Read more »

Federal Government Reform Resources: Memos to National Leaders

President Obama said in his first post-election press conference that he was going to ask Governor Romney’s advice on government reform. There has been a lot of advice developed in recent months! Here are some potential resources for them to draw upon. If President Obama meets with Governor Romney to discuss ways to reform theRead… Read more »

Reorganizing Management Functions: A Manager’s Checklist for Doing It Right

Here’s a terrific checklist of questions managers should be able to answer as they undertake a consolidation of infrastructure or management functions. It is buried in a new report by the Government Accountability Office. Sometimes GAO does terrific work but couches it in ways that its value may not be immediately obvious to busy readers.Read… Read more »

Should Government Reorganize Itself? (Part VI)

Are there legislative options beyond (or in addition to) presidential reorganization authority that could encourage collaboration and not just move boxes? Typically, the cultural, administrative, and legal barriers to working together collaboratively inside the federal government are too high and they discourage efforts to collaborate (more on this in a future post). The Obama AdministrationRead… Read more »

Should Government Reorganize Itself? (Part V)

Should government use Legos to inspire its reorganization approach? Structural reorganization initiatives – like the creation of the Department of Homeland Security — are slow, take an enormous amount of effort, and require years to become effective. Ultimately, the new structure becomes rigid and needs to be revisited. Many observers advocate creating more adaptable approachesRead… Read more »

Should Government Reorganize Itself? (Part IV)

Would “virtual agencies” be an effective alternative to traditional structural reorganization initiatives? If so, what needs done to make them happen? When Vice President Gore’s reinventing government team was being formed in the early 1990s, he encouraged it to not focus on reorganizing agencies and programs, but rather to fix what’s inside the agencies. HeRead… Read more »