The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has provided government agencies with great opportunities to spend money on their local projects. The President’s new initiatives also require accountability. With these new expectations in place, it would not be prudent to spend the funds wildly. However, as is often the case, the funds will only existRead… Read more »
Been a while since I’ve blogged but it was quite fruitful absence. I spent the time catching up on the latest developments in management including a fascinating book on Process Intelligence. What I like about process intelligence is that it is blending of business process management and business analytics that aids in designing an optimumRead… Read more »
I am interested in receiving feedback on how to implement the use of process maps throughout an organization. My office has done a great job and we have process maps for every action – these have helped greatly with new hires and we constantly review for changes resulting in higher efficiencies. Other offices within ourRead… Read more »
Wow, what a “newsy” sounding title… What I want to do is show how we will use Kanban to track all of our software maintenance activities. I’ll start with a couple of useful links about Kanban as a technique: http://www.developer.com/mgmt/article.php/11085_3776851_1/Managing-Change-Requests-Using-Lean-Methods-and-a-Kanban-Board.htm http://www.software.craftysims.com/?p=184 So I have been on board OPP for about a month. My observation isRead… Read more »
Over the weekend my father-in-law decided to take advantage of the Cash for Clunkers program and went car shopping. Unfortunately the Dodge dealer he went to in his home town of Paris, Illinois informed him that they had put the program on hold. Apparently they had sold five cars and had yet to be paidRead… Read more »
Ken Miller (author of “We Don’t Make Widgets” and monthly columnist for Governing Magazine) recently wrote an article discussing the impact of Lean in government. With budget constraints and travel restrictions across the board, times are tough for many federal, state and local government agencies. In these times, we need to focus more than everRead… Read more »
With the recent confirmation of the first federal Chief Performance Officer (CPO), Jeffrey Zients, a sprig of hope has emerged among the performance management and improvement crowd. The appointment marks the first time that a seasoned performance improvement leader has been selected to provide structure, vision and real, accountable results. Every administration has had aRead… Read more »
Information on recovery.gov recently reported that the Department of Agriculture was paying $1.2 million for 2 pounds of frozen ham. In fact the contract in question actually purchased 760,000 pounds of ham for $1.191 million for food banks and homeless shelters. In response to misstated information the board overseeing recovery.gov refused to correct the informationRead… Read more »
In a recent survey completed by Government Executive Magazine’s research arm, the Government Business Council, data revealed that only 66% of government managers who were aware of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) anticipated meeting or exceeding the expectations of the funding program. At the same time, only 11% of respondents of the surveyRead… Read more »
As pundits debate the effectiveness of the stimulus package, a new study released by the Government Business Council (GBC) says that agencies feel “overwhelmed” and “anxious” about the ability to successfully implement designed programs. These concerns reflect the current reality of an economy that continues to falter, with a rising unemployment rate, expected to exceedRead… Read more »