I always have to scratch my head at the curiosity of how the federal government operates in regards to budgetary matters. Although commercial best practices are all the rage in government, such as trying to leverage technologies and become more efficient, innovative, and agile, the one area that always seemed to be polar-opposite was theRead… Read more »
In line with its mission to ensure the careful use of Federal funds, OMB issued guidance on 5/11/12 to Federal agencies that requires them to make more efficient use of existing government real estate — in effect, “freezing the Federal footprint.” In a roundabout way, this is good news for Telework fans. By requiring agenciesRead… Read more »
One of the biggest reasons managers give for resisting the implementation of telework policies is that they do not believe that their employees will “really” work when they are not in the office. Those of us who have embraced a more flexible work design may consider this an “attitude adjustment” problem – on the partRead… Read more »
What are the key issues facing collaboration-minded managers in government? Two thoughtful academics identify what they think are the Top Ten and offer some advice on areas for future research. Drs. Rosemary O’Leary and Nidhi Vij presented a paper at the recent annual conference of the American Society for Public Administration, “Collaborative Public Management: WhereRead… Read more »
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 »
I was recently asked to present at an Institute For Employment Studies event for corporate HR and Heads of Learning & Development. The slides I used are embedded at the end of this bog, and also available at Slideshare and Authorstream. The title of the event was “Getting maximum business value from your L&D activity”,Read… Read more »
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 »
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 »
The political winds are blowing favorably for government reorganization for the first time since Jimmy Carter’s efforts in the 1970s. As a result, the conversation on government reorganization is shifting from “should we” to “how do we” reorganize. What are some of the lessons from past efforts? At one point, the advice was: don’t doRead… Read more »
One reason the word “telework” seems inadequate to describe how we want to change the workplace is that it suggests that our focus is only on how people can be effective when they work at home. But that’s not really what it’s all about. The Workplace of the Future is about people working where, when,Read… Read more »