This is the title of one of my favorite books on this topic, authored by Mary Jenkins and Tom Coens. Many people have strong opinions about how to do performance appraisals, what improvements we can make and whether they even work at all. One of the best management thinkers of our time said: “(The annualRead… Read more »
By Dennis D. McDonald, Ph.D. There are many discussions going on about the OMB’s recently issued Social Media, Web-Based Interactive Technologies, and the Paperwork Reduction Act. Basically, this guidance makes it easier for Federal agencies to use variety of social media and “web 2.0” tools for interacting with the public without having to go throughRead… Read more »
Officials are urging nonessential federal workers who work in downtown Washington to take leave, telework or work at an alternate site in the suburbs Monday and Tuesday when President Obama’s big nuclear safety summit is expected to tie up downtown traffic. Federal agencies will open and operate as normal on Monday, but the Office ofRead… Read more »
Happy Thursday! As rescuers prepare to enter West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch Mine and investigators prepare to probe the cause of Monday’s blast, attention is beginning to focus on whether the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration did everything in its power to help avoid the disaster. Though Congress passed major mine safety reforms followingRead… Read more »
Last week I hosted a session for the BC Public Service community on the topic, ‘The Future of Social Media in Government,’ in which Steve Ressler was a guest presenter. As Steve has mentioned, I opened the session listing the top 10 reasons for why we shouldn’t use social media in government. Being the CommunityRead… Read more »
Executive orders and “green IT” directives have trickled steadily out of Washington, D.C. in the past few years, culminating most recently with Executive Order 13514. Signed by President Obama in October 2009, EO 13514 builds on earlier legislation such as the “Green the Capitol” initiative, and, according to the White House, “…expands the energy reductionRead… Read more »
Today is an exciting day at USDA – and across the government – as we release our Open Gov Plan that formalizes plans to integrate openness, transparency, participation and collaboration into our every day activities. The path has been an exciting one, and USDA has met the Open Government Directive deliverables with help from employeesRead… Read more »
In today’s column, I talk with Daniel Tangherlini, the Departmernt of Treasury’s assistant secretary for management. Says Tangherlini: ‘My job is to try to find the right team, invest in that team and give them support so that they can be successful.’ Q: How do you balance your large management porfolio at Treasury? A: TheRead… Read more »
What does the Defense Information Systems Agency Campaign Plan say about DISA? The surface of the ocean may seem static with only the ripples of waves on its surface, but underneath it is teeming with life and large currents acting like enormous rivers circulating and pulsing throughout. If our ocean was in the form ofRead… Read more »
When my son turned three, we got him a bike with training wheels. He did quite well, but when it came time to take off those training wheels, he violently refused. Even a three year old knew that going from four wheels down to two would increase his chances of falling from zero to incrediblyRead… Read more »