A recent white paper suggests standards for agencies to use—in particular, once the new presidential administration is in place—to guide their performance improvement initiatives.
The report from the National Academy of Public Administration and the Volcker Alliance, found that several key threshold questions underlie the government performance improvement initiatives of the last several administrations. It said that to improve chances of success, both career and political appointees should ask:
What problem are we trying to solve and why, and how important is the problem compared to others?
What strategies and tactics should we use, what have others done in the past, what factors can we influence and what cultural constraints do we need to consider?
How will we know if we are making progress and making it fast enough?
What other information do we have that should inform our priorities and what should we start to gather?
Do we have the right people in the discussion to find ways to improve”?
What training is needed and for whom?
How do we motivate people to find ways to improve and hold them accountable for doing that?
