Performance Management & Strategy Execution Blog: The Glue

Cutting Government Budgets With Scalpels (Instead of Axes)

State and local governments are really starting to feel the pinch of the current economic slowdown. Property tax revenues are down, layoffs are occurring, budgets are being cut almost everywhere. Big city mayors are even trying to get a piece of the $700 billion bailout package.

So how does a government cut its budget in a responsible, selective way, so that it can continue to deliver its most important and valued services to its citizens?

Information helps reduce the negative impact of revenue set-backs.

Now, more than ever, there is a big payoff for governments that are able to track their true outputs and outcomes. For these types of organizations, there need not be any draconian, across-the-board, "who knows what the effect will be" budget cuts.

An example: if you know the number of kids you are serving in after-school programs and have conducted satisfaction surveys of the kids and parents (with information on what they value and why), you have the data needed to start brainstorming how the same quality program can be delivered to the same number of children at a lower cost. Your folks are clever; they are likely to come up with programming options that cost less and are still fun for the kids. They might even ask the kids for ideas. Dodge ball might be a bigger hit (or at least as much fun for the kids) as the Karate instructor who comes in twice a week (and costs a lot more).

Of course, the reverse is also true. If you don't know the current service level, satisfaction levels, and drivers of those satisfaction levels, you can't assess the impact of a potential cut.

If you're not measuring now, you're behind the curve. But better late than never. 

Start with a few critical measures for each program. Use samples of data to get a baseline.

For instance, survey a sample of residents to get data on their satisfaction with government communication on events and programming. Make sure it is a representative sample (i.e. be sure that your survey is not limited to people who use computers -- you might have to make some calls). Also ask how they prefer to receive information on events and programming. It could be that including information in school newsletters or in the "Community" section of your newspaper works just as well as that expensive brochure you put out (and don't forget the labor and postage costs of your glossy magazine).

Make cost effective changes and monitor the satisfaction rating; if there is no slippage, you found a way to save with little or no negative impact on your outcome.

Remember: you'll need to keep measuring.

Even after we've passed through the current slow-down, you have to keep watching the numbers on your "Communication Scorecard." Community demographics and preferences change, so a very cost-effective (and citizen satisfying) solution for today may not be very cost-effective tomorrow. As more and more people turn to the web for information, for example, the newsletter/newspaper listings may not be enough to achieve the same levels of satisfaction.

Not to worry, though. If you track key performance measures, you will be the first to know when such change and savings opportunities occur.

Upcoming Webinar: Realigning & Recascading Scorecards Based on New Strategies

If your organization recently completed a strategic planning process or if you're facing new strategic challenges (due to the current economic slowdown, new competition, or other shifting market conditions), it's a good time to re-examine and possibly refine the content on your existing Balanced Scorecards.

If you've already created cascaded scorecards down several layers of an organization, how do you manage this process effectively? What should you change? What stays the same? How do you keep from reinventing the wheel, yet ensure that your scorecards are still effectively driving you toward your vision?

ActiveStrategy is hosting a free webinar on December 11 that discusses these topics.

The one-hour webinar will include:
-identifying significant strategic changes
-maturing the measures on your Balanced Scorecards
-how to "re-cascade" refreshed content down to lower levels
-who should be involved and what the process should entail
-live Q&A

Note: this webinar will be most helpful for organizations that already use a Balanced Scorecard management framework. For a refresher on basic Balanced Scorecard concepts, you may request a recording of "Balanced Scorecard Fundamentals" through our website: www.activestrategy.com/webinar

The webinar will be presented by Michael Brazukas, ActiveStrategy Consulting Practice Principal.

The webinar will occur from 2-3 pm EST (that's New York City time) on Thursday, December 11th. If you can't make the live event, you can go ahead and register and we'll send you a recording link after the live event.

Visit our registration page now to sign up for this free event.

We hope you'll join us to discuss this important topic!

Strategy Execution is a Change Process - Part III

In this series of posts, I am viewing a Strategy Execution implementation through a Change Management lens.

For those needing a review, I'm comparing the ESE concepts against Kotter's latest installment, where he outlined the eight "Stages of Change."  They include:

1. - Sense of Urgency
2. - Guiding Coalition
3. - Developing a Vision
4. - Communicating the Vision
5. - Empowering Employees
6. - Short Term Wins
7. - Consolidating Wins
8. - Anchoring in the Culture

In my last post (part 2) I wrote about the Guiding Coalition. So now let's discuss the Vision and how to Communicate it. This is all about defining where you're going, and then telling everyone, many, many times in multiple different ways how you're going to get there.

The first piece, in my humble opinion, is deceptively easy.  The Vision is the strategy execution journey.  The challenge is identifying where your organization currently sits in this long trek, what it's doing well, where the gaps reside, and how you're going to progress down the path.

Strategy Execution vs. Performance Management Software: What You Should Know (Part 7: Who Should Run the Software)

In my first post on this topic, I explained my basic premise that there are major differences between Strategy Execution software and the broader category of Performance Management software and why I believe that only Strategy Execution software really helps an organization become more performance-focused. I've since talked about accountability (Part 2), driving action (Part 3), performance improvement (Part 4), communication (part 5), and data (part 6). Today I'm going to address who should actually run this software in your organization.

If you're really going to drive a culture of performance using software, you need something that is simple enough to let the business users administer the system.

OK, that’s a scary statement to both business users and IT because we're talking about a system that almost everyone in the organization might use and whose content will change rapidly. If you're in IT, believe me you don’t want to be responsible to administer that system.

If you're a business user, you should be able to administer just your area of the system. Oh, and by the way -- when I talk about business users administering the system, I’m not talking about EVPs and CEOs doing it. Usually, it is a “power user” or business analyst-type person doing the hands-on job of creating new things and changing ownership wholesale. Users might do simpler things, like inviting other people to see their content.