Obtaining Client Feedback. This workshop covers the fundamentals of survey research, focus groups, interviewing and other methods of determining what clients think about the performance of a government program, what they feel their needs are.  

Results Oriented Performance Appraisal. This two day workshop helps front line managers and supervisors in managing the performance of individuals who report directly to them.

CONSULTING

Another major service is direct consulting to specific programs to assist them in designing and implementing performance measurement and results oriented management processes, including the design of data collection procedures and reporting processes. The techniques we employ will vary according to the needs and situations of the client, but can include internet and library research, document review and analysis, interviewing managers and staff, quantitative analysis and many other methods. However, we always aim for two features in any process we develop:

the process must be designed with management's needs in mind because the primary purpose of  any performance information system or management process must be to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of service to the program's clients;

the costs of the process must be kept low both in terms of resources and managers' time,     so we try to develop a very concise set of performance measures, simple and straightforward procedures, and use existing data as much as possible.

We have assisted a wide variety of government clients in developing performance measurement processes, benchmarking, strategic and business planning processes, operational planning and control processes, and performance appraisal processes for managers and staff. In addition we have assisted clients in developing and enhancing sources of non-tax revenue.

Of course, most government organizations already have some form of performance reporting,  strategic or business planning, operational planning and control, and performance appraisal processes. But how rigorous are they really? Too often these processes are done simply to satisfy a central agency requirement. They are often paper exercises that have little real impact on program operations. We believe that to make a management process effective the use of performance measurement is essential. Without this precision there is no way of knowing the extent to which objectives are being accomplished, and thus where to direct attention and resources. Performance measurement ensures that management processes are results oriented.

IMPLEMENTATION OF PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT

We have managed or played a central role in the design and implementation of many government wide or department wide performance measurement projects, most notably with the City of Toronto, the City of Seattle, Montgomery County in Maryland, the State of Oklahoma, the Province of Ontario, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Department of the Environment, the Ontario Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton, and many others.

In the implementation of a government or department wide results measurement process, our work tends to fall into three categories:

First, we can help in the creation of an implementation plan which is thorough and oriented toward achieving "buy-in" by government managers. We believe that managers must perceive performance measurement as a tool which will directly help accomplish the goals of their own programs; accountability alone will not be sufficient motivation to sustain a performance measurement system. Therefore the implementation plan must anticipate every opportunity to get the performance indicators into use.

Second, we are able to assist in the design and development of the performance measurement process itself. The process should be documented in a concise way, in the form of a Performance Measurement Handbook, comprehensible to managers and illustrated with real government examples. It should address not only how performance measures can be developed, but also how they can be used in a variety of management processes.

Third, we can undertake any task identified in the implementation plan. This has normally included a training program aimed at government employees who will     themselves be responsible for implementing performance measurement within departments. Such a "train the trainers" workshop is important to ensure that the government has the capability of continuing to implement and maintain the performance measurement initiative without the consultant's help. We can also supply a training kit, mentioned in the previous section, so our clients can conduct their own training.

PROGRAM EVALUATION  

Performance measurement is a means of evaluating, as well as planning and monitoring, program performance. However, ongoing performance measurement has limitations. 

•  Performance measurement does not typically prove causality. To what extent are strategic outcomes the result of program operations?

• Performance measurement does not prove need. Should the government be in the business addressed by the program?

•  Performance measurement does not always account for unintended consequences. Is the program having impacts, positive or negative, beyond those which were intended when the program was designed?  

• Performance measurement methods may be limited by cost, political sensitivity or other issues of feasibility. Are there other data collection methods that might be more accurate and representative but which can only be employed on a special case basis? 

To answer these questions properly requires program evaluation. Program evaluation refers to special, in-depth studies of program effectiveness. There are two main types of program evaluation. One type is known as Asummative@, which asks whether the program is still needed, whether it has been effective over time, whether there have been unintended consequences, and whether the program is the primary cause of the intended strategic outcomes. The other type of evaluation is called Aprocess@, which asks whether the program has been implemented as intended, and whether there may be alternative program delivery methods that might produce better results. Our team has an outstanding track record of conducting rigorous program evaluations which produce important and useful findings for our clients.

A related service we also offer is Program Review. This term has generally come to refer to studies which are specifically aimed at reducing government expenditure. When we undertake a program review we look for potential savings in the following areas:

• Activities that do not fit with the program mission. Over time government programs can undertake activities that might be useful, even successful, in their own terms, but that lie outside the mandate of the program.

• Activities that might be done in partnership with other stakeholders. Government has had a tendency to try to "do it all", but a case can often be made that certain stakeholders benefit or are affected more than others, and thus ought to be expected to contribute to program delivery.