President Obama has said he will sign new legislation that will have far-reaching effects on federal agencies and hundreds of thousands of recipient of federal funds – grantees, contractors, universities, non-profits, states, and localities. The new law gives agencies three years to implement a set of new reporting requirements to track federal spending, but itRead… Read more »
Reformers have promoted the notion of performance budgeting since it was introduced by the 1949 Hoover Commission. Major initiatives have been attempted and incremental progress has been achieved. But not enough has happened. A Government Accountability Office survey last year reports that the percentage of federal managers saying they used performance information in allocating resourcesRead… Read more »
Agency chief operating officers are required to conduct quarterly progress reviews on priority goals. Sometimes called “PerformanceStat” meetings, they can be effective problem-solving sessions or terrifying blame games. So, how do you make PerformancStat meetings effective? OMB says that these review meetings should be constructive and focus on learning. Astute observers, such as Harry HatryRead… Read more »
Last month, the White House publicly released a list of 92 priority goals that agencies have committed to achieve by the end of 2015. They also named individuals responsible for implementing these goals, as required by law. What are these goals? Who are these people? The 2010 revision of the Government Performance and Results ActRead… Read more »
When times are tight and states have effect performance budgeting processes, they are less likely to use across-the-board cuts. Are there lessons here for the federal government? New research findings by a team led Dr. Daniel Mullins at American University examine recent state-level trends in the use of performance budgeting or “budgeting for results” approaches.Read… Read more »
OMB released a refreshed list of cross-agency priority goals for the remainder of the Obama Administration. There are 15 goals, seven mission-related and eight management-related. Only three carry over from the previous set of commitments. Following are edited excerpts from Performance.gov. An earlier post provides excerpts from the seven mission-related cross-agency priority goals. This postRead… Read more »
OMB released a refreshed list of cross-agency priority goals for the remainder of the Obama Administration. There are 15 goals, seven mission-related and eight management-related. Only three carry over from the previous set of commitments. Following are edited excerpts from Performance.gov. Cross-Agency Priority goals address the longstanding challenge of tackling horizontal problems across vertical organizationalRead… Read more »
“Start with what you have,” is the advice consultants recommend to organizations that are just launching a performance measurement initiative. And OMB has now issued guidance to that effect, encouraging agencies to use existing program administrative data in new ways. The Obama Administration has championed “open data” by encouraging agencies to make a wider rangeRead… Read more »
Federal agencies this year will be subject to a new statutory requirement. A new law requires the Office of Management and Budget to annually determine if agency programs meet goals set out in their annual performance plans. To do this, OMB has created a new review process. A provision of the Government Performance and ResultsRead… Read more »
Set your New Year’s resolutions now! In early 2014, for the first time federal agencies will simultaneously submit refreshed strategic plans to Congress, covering the next four years. You should put them on your “must read” list for the new year. Many agencies have been quietly posting their draft strategic plans on-line for public comments,Read… Read more »