Finally, research shows why cross-functional collaboration is so important to getting things done. A recent survey of 400 global company CEOs found that executing their company’s strategy heads their list of challenges. Related studies show two-thirds to three-quarters of large organizations struggle to implement their strategies. What these studies found sounds very familiar to whatRead… Read more »
It can be nice to have a boss that’s easily pleased. If we’re late; if we miss deadlines; if we don’t push ourselves to put forth our best work, we can still manage to get good ratings on our performance reviews. But in reality, this type of practice can be detrimental for efficiency and productivity,Read… Read more »
Early Navigation When I discovered GovLoop 5 years ago, I had no idea that it would become one of my favorite communities on the web. As a government outsider, I stumbled onto GovLoop as a graduate student navigating the changing Presidential Management Fellowship application process in the fall of 2010. It was one of theRead… Read more »
Modern technology can be a total time suck, providing us with hours of distractions and novel ways to procrastinate. But the upside is that technology can help us reclaim that time, too. In my never-ending quest to squeeze more out of every day I’ve been hunting down time-saving productivity apps that help streamline your tasks,Read… Read more »
All of us have challenging public service environments, usually with more ups than downs and, hopefully, with a tolerable level of dramatic episodes. But every so often, we need to sort through some things. If you follow Midwest news, you know that a state elected official recently took his life. This happened in my homeRead… Read more »
Six months and a million dollars – it’s a bit of a running joke around the Washington, DC Capital Beltway. That’s what is often referred to as the minimum time and cost to get something done on a government contract. It’s the mantra that has made many businesses a handsome living for years. What’s surprisingRead… Read more »
If you do your job and do it well, you get rewards – better pay, a bonus, or a promotion. If you don’t, you get punishments – like a bad review or docked pay. Sound familiar? The “carrot-and-stick” approach to motivating employees is a venerable part of a manager’s toolkit, and most of us have experiencedRead… Read more »
With each edition of The Business of Government magazine, my goal is straightforward: to introduce readers to the works, insights, and advice from some of today’s key government executives, who are tackling significant management challenges and seizing opportunities to lead. To complement these examples of leadership in action, I also highlight the practical, actionable research… Read more »
When most people hear about workplace harassment, it’s likely to be sexual harassment because that’s traditionally been the most common and publicized form. However, harassment is much broader than that of a purely sexual nature. In fact, harassment may take many forms of which not everyone is aware. Under federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, harassmentRead… Read more »
Usually, when we hear the word ‘customer’, we think of patrons of for-profit businesses that provide services, ranging from Walmart, to small local coffee shops, all the way to Bain & Co. However, the U.S. government has customers as well – they’re just not often referred to as customers, because they compromise the whole population.Read… Read more »