On Tuesday, July 9, I discussed the “10 Best Practices to Utilize When Designing an Effective Survey.” To complement this post, I will outline a few simple practices to follow when designing survey questions. These practices are overall meant to increase response rates and ensure validity is maintained. 1. Short as Possible: Questions should beRead… Read more »
“To optimize both your market share and your margins, you must provide customers with consistent, compelling experiences—before, during, and after their purchases—across all channels.” – Oracle, Seven Power Lessons for Customer Experience Leaders With the increasing use of social media, it is more important than ever for organizations, both public and private, to provide theirRead… Read more »
When it comes down to it acquisition should be every bargain shoppers dream job. Think about it, you get to research, locate and buy the best goods and services for the federal government at the best price. But it isn’t that simple. The Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), the timetable and options are very limiting toRead… Read more »
People often seem surprised by the decisions local public officials make. It’s not uncommon to hear community residents say, “What the heck were they thinking about when they …???” Since I enjoyed the privilege of a lengthy career in local government, I was able to personally observe the process many local government bodies used toRead… Read more »
The IRS has never been the most popular kid in the lunch room. The current IRS scandal shows an agency experiencing organizational and leadership issues. I suppose they provide a necessary function, but who hasn’t complained bitterly in the spring about the amount of money and time it takes to meet their demands? I’ve beenRead… Read more »
Today I wanted to focus on the connection between authenticity and complexity but before jumping to the meat of it I wanted to recap how we got here. Whether you’ve noticed or not, we’ve been deliberately walking you down a very deliberate path recently: I asked a thought provoking question about the tenuous relationship betweenRead… Read more »
The planning session was a success – plenty of energy, ideas flowed freely, all captured on the flip chart, everyone added to the conversation. At the end, the notes were reviewed, consolidated, prioritized, summarized as bullets on a new flip chart – which were typed up and distributed – a record of the session. DuringRead… Read more »
The White House issued its “new management agenda.” Cynics, of course, will note that the President is announcing a “new” management agenda in the fifth year of his presidency. And, in fact, there wasn’t much new in Monday’s announcement outside of saying that the new director of the Office of Management and Budget Sylvia MathewsRead… Read more »
The Erie County Clerk’s Office (Buffalo, NY) spends $3,000 per year to purchase 10,000 pens. The office loses nearly 5,000 pens a year, due to customers walking off with them. The office has tried tying the pens to clip boards, but that still did not solve the problem. At 30 cents a piece, lost pensRead… Read more »
Often times it seems like the government’s answer to a problem is to add more regulations or requirements. To pile on the problem rather than really look for a solution. AGA and six national associations of government officials released a call-to-action guide designed to help promote trust in government by limiting government requirements to thoseRead… Read more »