tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12863767531801829352024-03-13T12:15:14.643-05:00Marv WeidnerMarv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-52186891847728089432012-05-01T12:49:00.010-05:002012-05-01T13:53:36.993-05:00Managing For Results - Critical Success Factors<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvq_NIR7wiVtxsLIekd72Bg3wuC0JRwwkTg6jLOcExqRX8bWG4G9QTJ7pvYYYZqrnr1oEcOoInM6N1tv0h3RABe6XAKGM5ZpSsm4cna4LAycZamV4h2N9mpMRolcLmuwLTTAOlAHKZeVg/s1600/1098662_68408492%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvq_NIR7wiVtxsLIekd72Bg3wuC0JRwwkTg6jLOcExqRX8bWG4G9QTJ7pvYYYZqrnr1oEcOoInM6N1tv0h3RABe6XAKGM5ZpSsm4cna4LAycZamV4h2N9mpMRolcLmuwLTTAOlAHKZeVg/s320/1098662_68408492%255B1%255D.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5737639377498089346" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:lucida grande;font-size:130%;">Managing for Results (MFR) is an integrated management systems that focuses all the components of the management system on results for customers. It is also characterized by an organizational culture where the language, beliefs and behavior are likewise focused on results for customers.<br /><br />Based on Weidner’s work in 60+ jurisdictions, the following are the critical success factors (CSF) for MFR implementation. This list of CSFs is a combination of observations by our customers, research conducted by various associations and organizations, and our own direct observations. Implementation by individual jurisdictions will be stronger in some CSFs than others. No single jurisdiction has all CSFs in play at the level they would want, nor does any single jurisdiction fall short in all of the CSFs.<br /><br />Here at Weidner, we are constantly learning from our customer jurisdictions about what works and does not work in specific organizational circumstances. What is important in one jurisdiction may be less important in another. MFR is a long term effort to change the organizational culture to focus on customers and to improve performance – nothing is static. In case studies posted on our website at <a href="http://weidnerinc.com">www.weidnerinc.com</a>, we highlight the success of our customer jurisdictions.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Employee Involvement in Development</span><br />When employees get involved three things happen. First, the Strategic Business Plan is theirs; they own it because they developed it. Second, they understand it because it came from them. Third, the employees deliver the service and interface with the customer, which means that the plan is doable, achievable and is created using the best possible operational expertise.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Visible Leadership</span><br />If there is one variable that tops all others, it is leadership. When the senior administrator is the sponsor of MFR, the chances of success are great. When top leadership is fully engaged in supporting MFR, then everyone easily gets on board and stays on board – or they find their way out of the organization. The level of commitment from top leadership is reflected throughout the organization. When the commitment of top leadership is not strong or is tentative, or if that commitment from the top changes because of turnover, MFR will be at risk simply because leadership is the single most important ingredient for success.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Clarity of Purpose</span><br />In MFR, purpose is defined at all levels within the organization. If a team of people is committed to a common goal, whether that is going to the moon or reducing response times, its chances of success is elevated because the entire team is trying to move in the same direction with the same result in mind and on paper. Purpose is defined at the department level in the Mission, and for a program or division, purpose is defined with a Purpose Statement according to the services delivered, the customer receiving those services, and the expected result for that customer. The customer experience is the unifying purpose of MFR. Without that focus on the customer, governments stay internally focused with little chance of improvement.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Specificity of Results</span><br />The clearer and more specific departments can be about who their customer is, the more specific and measurable their results will be. When goals or measures are written as general statements of intention, little or nothing actually happens or changes. When results are specific, measurable, achievable, results focused and time specific (SMART), then a department or program team will take action to achieve them. SMART goals drive action while general goals rarely do so.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Focus on Results that are Critical</span><br />Critical results may be defined as measuring the customer experience, core to the purpose of the services to be delivered, and aligned where appropriate to the higher goals of the organization. Nashville called their MFR initiative “Results Matter” for good reason. An organization cannot achieve everything, but it can achieve some things and it is essential to decide which results will receive the focus. Moving the water cooler projects garner little support or resources. Being focused on results that matter will help ensure public support for the effort and provide maximum motivation to staff.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Communications,Communications, Communications</span><br />If the goal is to engage employees in MFR and help them understand what it means to them, communications is the key. Communications in MFR address understanding, employee concerns, and how to use performance information in their daily work. The same is true for citizens – communications with citizens about the results the jurisdiction is achieving helps keep the credibility gap closed. It also means that you are telling your story of challenges and achievements in terms of results rather than someone else telling an alternative version.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Quality of Strategic Business Plans</span><br />Strategic Business Plans are the first step in MFR for departments. Quality Strategic Business Plans are clear about the strategic and operational results departments want their customers to experience and what services they deliver. Department Strategic Business Plans include the program structure that will be used to structure the budget and the accounting system. Performance measures developed in the Strategic Business Plans will be used to manage service delivery, create a performance based budget, and report performance to the City Manager and Council.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Process to Approve Strategic Business Plans</span><br />The Corporate Review process to approve Department Strategic Business Plans is the critical bridge between Strategic Business Plans and the Performance Budget. Strategic Business Plans are approved in Corporate Review before departments begin developing their budgets. This way plans structure and drive the budget and ensure that the budget ties resources to results. Corporate Review is the step that makes planning, performance and budgeting one process. Without this step, planning and budgeting remain separate processes and neither process is successful on its own.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Tie Resources to Results for Budget Decisions</span><br />Budgeting for Results, the name often given to the budget in MFR, is developing, approving and executing a budget where the money is tied directly to results. The conversation for developing and approving the budget changes from how much money did we get and spend last year and how much will be spent this year, to what results are we trying to achieve for our customer, what type and level of services will deliver those results and how much do those services cost. There is a direct relationship between a level of funding and a level of service delivery and customer experience. Without this critical step, it simply is not possible to Manage for Results because results cannot be achieved without applying resources.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Analysis and Forward Focused Reporting</span><br />Using performance information to manage service delivery and report performance is one of the highest value components of MFR. When departments look at the performance information on a regular basis and compare current and year-to-date performance to targets and project where they will be at the end of the year given the current level of performance, there is a very high likelihood that performance targets will be met – or you will know why. A performance database where information can be entered, tracked, analyzed and reported is important because it makes it easy to access the information. Without a database, it is less likely that managers will use and report the information.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Organization Learns Performance Management Skills</span><br />Building capacity within the jurisdiction is essential to long-term success. When this does not occur and there is sole reliance on consultants to do all of the work, success will last as long as the consultant contract.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Entire Organization Involved</span><br />Every department and every level within a given department needs to be involved in developing the Strategic Business Plan as well as collecting and analyzing the data to continuously improve service delivery and customer experience.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Continuous Learning and Improvement of MFR</span><br />Major change initiatives take time and a lot of learning to successfully implement. The quality of the Strategic Business Plans, performance measures, reports and use of performance information for service delivery is a learned set of skills that can improve over time if the jurisdiction makes that a priority. If learning and improving is not a priority, then it is possible for the quality of MFR products and the focus on customer service to erode.<br /></span>Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-48772007540760162072011-07-11T13:04:00.048-05:002011-07-11T14:29:22.271-05:00Performance Contracting: Getting the "How" Right<a href="http://weidnerinc.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/shaking-hands1.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 198px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 170px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://weidnerinc.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/shaking-hands1.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:lucida grande;font-size:130%;">This is the third of three posts on Performance Contracting. The first post can be accessed by <a href="http://www.marvweidner.com/2011/05/performance-contracting-now-who-is.html">clicking here</a>; the second, by <a href="http://www.marvweidner.com/2011/07/performance-contracting-contracting-for.html">clicking here</a>.<br /><br />In my first two posts on performance contracting – what we call <strong>Partnering For Results</strong> – we identified the two key principles for successfully creating contracts to help you ensure your customers experience the results they require: </span><ul><li><span style="font-family:lucida grande;font-size:130%;">Be very clear on <span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">who the customer is</span>, and focus on the results they experience</span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:lucida grande;font-size:130%;">Be sure you build your contract(s) around <span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">results for your customer</span> and not something less</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:lucida grande;font-size:130%;">In this third and final post, we want to use these two principles to talk about the how – how you can successfully Partner for Results.<br /><br />Before beginning to Partner for Results, there are several important decisions that need to be made at the enterprise or jurisdiction level. These are essential to ensuring success. Two of the primary questions are: </span><ul><li><span style="font-family:lucida grande;font-size:130%;">What services will be contracted out?</span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:lucida grande;font-size:130%;">What approach will you take to Partnering for Results?</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:lucida grande;font-size:130%;">Your organization may elect to have its services delivered almost exclusively through contracts or choose to contract out for selected services. Each organization has to make this decision based on the services it provides, the results it needs to deliver, the best value for the money and what it knows of its community, culture, and politics. But the important thing is to be intentional about this choice and thoughtful in your approach..<br /><br />Once your organization is clear on which services it wishes to contract out, there are several important decisions regarding the approach to be taken . These include:<br /></span><ul><li><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">Is this a contract with a sole source</span> ? If so, particular care will need to be taken to structure the contract in a way that preserves the focus on customers and results. Remember that the customers are those who receive the service and experience the benefit – not the contractor.</span></span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">Is this contract to be put out for competitive bid? If so, will employees/employee groups be eligible to submit bids to deliver the results</span>? Many jurisdictions have found that employee groups can provide competitive, if not compelling, bids – and that the process of doing so helps the organization get very clear about the true cost of doing business.</span></span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">Will your performance contracts help to create a market place for your service delivery</span>? The establishment of performance contracts can create a broader market, with more players and more competition. We’ve seen this occur with performance contracting for child welfare services.</span></span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">Performance Contracting can be used to fund innovation</span>. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, with which we’ve worked extensively to create a powerful Partnering for Results system, is intentionally issuing RFP’s to fund innovation, leveraging the creativity of the community to drive new solutions to achieve Strategic Results around Income, Education and Health.</span></span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">Is cost a primary driver for your performance contracting</span>? We caution against using performance contracting primarily to drive down cost. Performance contracting provides an invaluable tool to understand the impact on customers and results – but performance contracting does not always automatically yield cost savings.</span></span></li></ul><span style="font-family:lucida grande;font-size:130%;">When the major policy decisions have been made, keep in mind these keys to operational success in using performance contracting:</span><ul><li><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">Establish clear, time-specific reporting requirements</span>. Make sure expectations are clearly established in the contract for what performance information will be reported, how, and when. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has licensed the use of our web-based performance software MFR Live for their contractors to use to report their performance information. This ensures definitions are consistent and makes compilation and review of the results much faster and easier.</span></span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">Establish a consistent process for monitoring performance and evaluating the contract</span>. Regular monitoring, feedback and follow-up with contractors helps to improve performance by ensuring the focus remains on the results in the contract and ensures accountability for performance measures in the contract. A performance contracting process that does not actually look at performance regularly is not going to deliver the same results as one that uses it as an active management tool. The Alcohol Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County, OH, holds regular “ProviderStat” sessions with their contractors to review and manage performance. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has two levels of review. A performance review is a desk review of performance reported against the contract. A performance evaluation is more extensive and is conducted on-site.</span></span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">Keep time frames in synch with your budget period</span>. Multi-year contracts for the delivery of services do not provide as effective a platform for managing performance as single year contracts, though it is sometimes necessary for very large projects to extend the contract period beyond the budget period. Multi-year contracts encourage a sense of entitlement for the vendor. Shorter time frames – particularly in the beginning of a performance contracting effort – help ensure accountability is at the appropriate levels.</span></span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">Publish the results</span>. Publishing the performance information of contractors is a powerful way to demonstrate transparency and accountability for you and for your contractors. It can also be a free and powerful way to foster innovation and to improve performance as your contractors will see who is performing better than they are – and what they can learn from those high performers to improve their own results. There is nothing like published results to foster a little friendly competition.</span></span></li></ul><span style="font-family:lucida grande;font-size:130%;">Partnering for Results provides an incredibly powerful tool to help you align your contractors to provide the greatest possible results for your customers. I hope you have found these posts to be helpful as you think about the challenges and opportunities in Partnering for Results. Let us know if I can help.</span>Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-62939289701010222502011-07-08T11:13:00.023-05:002011-07-08T11:41:27.542-05:00Performance Contracting: Contracting for Results...or Something Less<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; "><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; "><em>This is the second of three posts regarding Performance Contracting. The first post can be accessed <a href="http://www.marvweidner.com/2011/05/performance-contracting-now-who-is.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(34, 85, 170); text-decoration: none; ">by clicking here</a>. Keep an eye out early next week for the last installment.<br /><br /></em></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; ">Speaking events are a great way to connect with people and to find out what is really going on among government leaders. We often ask questions at the beginning of seminars and presentations, mostly to find out about the audience and to get a quick assessment of their progress in Managing for Results.<br /><br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; ">One of my favorite questions is: <em>Are your contracts performance based?<br /><br /></em></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; ">And a follow-up question for those who indicate their contracts <span style="text-decoration: underline; ">are</span> performance based: <em>Do you contract for outputs, or for results?<br /><br /></em></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; "><a href="http://weidnerinc.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/focus_charts-300x240.jpg" style="color: rgb(34, 85, 170); text-decoration: none; "><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-2542" title="focus_charts-300x240" src="http://weidnerinc.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/focus_charts-300x240.jpg" alt="" width="270" height="216" style="max-width: none; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; display: inline; " /></a>Over the years more and more hands have begun to raise in response to the first question – more governments are developing performance based contracts. The answers to the second question, though, are still nearly always “outputs.” Rarely is the answer that governments are contracting for “results.” That means at best most government contracts are contracts for outputs, and few if any are contracting for results to achieve a particular customer experience.<br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; "><br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; ">You may have read our statement that:<br /><br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 30px; text-decoration: none; ">“If you can think it clearly, you can write it clearly;<br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 30px; text-decoration: none; ">If you can write it clearly, then you can measure it;<br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 30px; text-decoration: none; ">And if you can measure it, you can get it done”©.<br /><br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; ">An old friend of mine in Iowa used to also say “you get what you inspect, not what you expect.” So, when contracting for services, what do you measure and what do you inspect, results or something less?<br /><br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; ">If contracts for service only count or measure how many services (outputs) are delivered or how many people are served, then you may never know what impact you are having on your customers. Remember in the first post on Performance Contracting, we said that customers are the people who receive your services and experience the intended result.<br /><br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; ">Results are a measure of the experience your customer have as a consequence of receiving your services – % fires contained to the room of origin, % of permits issued within 10 days, % of children in foster care not experiencing abuse, % of road miles plowed (snow) prior to the school bus schedule for those same miles.<br /><br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; ">If you want results for your customers, outputs alone will not get you there.<br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; ">If you want results, contracts will need to include clearly stated and measurable results.<br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; ">If you want results, you will have to monitor and inspect what you measure.<br /><br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; ">To contract for results, the organization doing the contracting will need to become very clear about three things:<br /><br /></p><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 25px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><li style="list-style-type: disc; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">Who is the customer?</li><li style="list-style-type: disc; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; position: static; ">What result are we trying to achieve for this customer?</li><li style="list-style-type: disc; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">What service or outputs will deliver that result?</li></ul><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; "><em>Watch for our third and final post in this series, coming soon: How to Contract for Results.<br /><br /></em></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; ">Read the first post in this series <span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.marvweidner.com/2011/05/performance-contracting-now-who-is.html">by clicking here</a></span><a href="http://weidnerinc.com/2011/04/12/performance-contracting-now-who-is-the-customer-again" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(34, 85, 170); text-decoration: none; ">.<br /></a><br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; ">Check out Weidner's recent webinar on Performance Contracting — you can <a href="http://weidnerinc.com/blogdocs/2-2011PerfContrWebinarFINAL.pdf" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(34, 85, 170); text-decoration: none; ">download the presentation by clicking here</a> and <a href="http://weidnerinc.com/blogdocs/FINALWebinar-PerformanceContracting.mp3" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(34, 85, 170); text-decoration: none; ">listen to the webinar audio by clicking here</a>.<br /><br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.693; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; ">And don’t miss this column – <a href="http://www.businessofgovernment.org/lesson/performance-contracting-turning-talk-action" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(34, 85, 170); text-decoration: none; ">“Performance Contracting: Turning Talk Into Action”</a> – by our friends Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene for the IBM Center for the Business of Government.</p></span>Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-25405335718650253742011-05-16T09:08:00.015-05:002011-05-16T09:38:30.522-05:00Performance Contracting: Now, Who Is the Customer, Again?<span style="font-size:130%;">Governments provide services and deliver results for customers in two basic ways: through employees, or through contractors.<br /><br />Aligning and integrating employee performance to advance your organization is a powerful way to “git ‘er done,” and it’s a big focus of our efforts as well. At Weidner, we’re in the middle of presenting a series of webinars on Employee Performance Management; you can check out what we’ve already shared by <a href="http://weidnerinc.com/media-library/webinars/">clicking here</a>, and you can sign up for one of our upcoming sessions by <a href="http://weidnerinc.com/category/events/">clicking here</a>.<br /><br />But with all the (deserved) attention to employees, organizations sometimes don’t focus enough on using their contracted vendors to accomplish results as well. <strong>Partnering for Results</strong> is a suggested way of talking about Performance Based Contracting, and I’ll be talking about that here and in a couple of blog posts to come.<br /><a href="http://weidnerinc.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/contract-300x157.gif"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 268px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 216px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://weidnerinc.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/contract-300x157.gif" /></a><br />This <span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">first piece</span> focuses on being clear about <em>who the customer is</em> – is the customer the vendor, or the people receiving the service? In upcoming posts I’ll share some thoughts about what you want to actually contract for, and how you can build capacity in your organization and in your contractors to get the results you need.<br /><br />The first of three keys to successful Partnering for Results (code for Performance-Based Contracting):<br /><br />Be relentlessly clear about the answer to the question, “Who is the customer?”<br /><br />We are unequivocal about this: <span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">the people who receive the services provided through the contract are the customer</span>. <strong>Not</strong> vendors. Vendors who provide services are not the customer – they are your “performance partners.”<br /><br />Customers are not held accountable for results, and we do not measure their performance. But vendors should be held accountable, and their performance must be measured. In contracting relationships, staff can develop what I would call a co-dependent relationship with vendors that can soften expectations for performance. Listen, services providers would <strong>love</strong> for you to treat them like they are the customer!<br /><br />What’s the big deal about this? Contracts are intended to be an extension of your organization’s efforts to implement your strategic and business plans and achieve key results for your customers. So there is a great deal at stake in managing performance through contracts.<br /><br />What does it look like when vendors are considered to be the customer?<br /><br />•Contracts include few, if any, performance requirements.<br />•Little or no data is collected on the experiences of the people who receive the services.<br />•Contract or performance reviews are rare to nonexistent.<br />•Support services for vendors are first priority.<br />•Contracts tend to be multi-year and extended with little effort by the vendor.<br />•Performance reports are mostly about how much money is spent. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><a href="http://weidnerinc.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/contract-2-210x300.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 210px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://weidnerinc.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/contract-2-210x300.jpg" /></a> <span style="font-size:130%;">Not a pretty picture.<br /><br />By comparison, what does it look like if the people who receive the services are considered the customer?<br /><br />•Contracts have both output and results measures.<br />•Data is collected on both types of measures and reported at regular intervals.<br />•Contract reviews are primarily about performance and are conducted regularly.<br />•Performance is reviewed frequently.<br />•Reports connect money to the customer experience.<br />•Contracts are clearly and directly aligned to support your strategic and business plans.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />The Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health (ADAMH) Board in Franklin County, Ohio, has demonstrated best-in-class focus on results for the customer through their efforts to Partner For Results. They contract out, through service providers/vendors, more than 90% of the funding they receive each year. Over a decade ago they made the decision <strong>that the individuals and families receiving the services are the customer</strong>, <span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">not</span> the vendors who provide those services. The impact of that decision has been extraordinary.<br /><br />Check out our recent webinar in which Susan Lewis Kaylor, Vice President for Performance and Management at ADAMH, shared the story of their focus on results for customers. You can see the <a href="http://weidnerinc.com/blogdocs/2-2011PerfContrWebinarFINAL.pdf">presentation file </a>and listen to the <a href="http://weidnerinc.com/blogdocs/FINALWebinar-PerformanceContracting.mp3">webinar audio</a>.<br /><br />Get clear about who the customer really is, and then you can be clear about what you need your contracts to accomplish – results, or something less. I’ll talk about that next time.</span>Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-55470645959935405472011-05-02T11:26:00.006-05:002011-05-06T12:50:03.299-05:00No Surprises<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvcszeOdqLsqsY0fWh9qomvueSInTLoqznK1-d-cCG2lCepyMdybnLqYfDMJOy54DfTh38WoD-yOZNfg8pGnrj0jg36YuZb5VYSXd00__a4d6_kp571G6ONYHA9HbdYpTifchE8PjAIRQ/s1600/MP900414037.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 222px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602161181162852258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvcszeOdqLsqsY0fWh9qomvueSInTLoqznK1-d-cCG2lCepyMdybnLqYfDMJOy54DfTh38WoD-yOZNfg8pGnrj0jg36YuZb5VYSXd00__a4d6_kp571G6ONYHA9HbdYpTifchE8PjAIRQ/s320/MP900414037.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:130%;">This last post in the Five Rules for the Road on <a href="http://www.marvweidner.com/2011/04/managing-up.html">Managing Up</a> is all about dealing with ‘reality as it is’, communicating that reality and managing expectations. Whether your boss is a City Council, a County Commission or the Executive of the organization, except on their Birthday... nobody likes surprises.<br /><br />As much as anything, creating no surprises is best achieved by dealing with ‘reality as it is’ and communicating that reality. People can respond to reality if they know what it is. Way too often surprises occur because we haven’t told folks above us in the organization the reality of our situation. We are then set up to take reality like a punch. The truth is always best told early.<br /><br />Our dear friend and long time colleague, Charles Curry, has fun talking about the ‘temporary comfort of ambiguity’. A foggy sense that ‘everything is okay’ actually is comfortable for a while, until reality comes barging in. Apply this to performance. If you don’t know what your performance is, there isn’t much to worry about. Well, actually there is. Sooner or later your customer will tell you about your performance, and at that point it becomes a surprise. A couple of years ago, one of our favorite County Managers was surprised (ambushed may be a better term) at a meeting of business leaders when he was told how poor the county’s performance was in issuing permits on a timely basis. You can imagine that from that point forward, he asked for and received performance reports on the time it was taking the County to issue building permits.<br /><br />It takes time to communicate what to expect, and it’s worth it. Surprise your boss with an issue or problem and you are almost certain to get a negative response, especially if it is too late to do something about it. This requires us to think ahead, plan ahead, analyze ahead - anticipate and plan for what will actually happen – then communicate as you move forward. If you are the boss in a given situation, you can and should expect the same.<br /><br />Imagine the surprise of an elected Commission member (not in one of our customer jurisdictions) who was recently told that there was a multi-million dollar problem with the coming year budget, because the operating cost of a new facility was that much more than anticipated. You can imagine the conversation when that information was shared. Really? How did that happen? We knew the staffing levels, the utility costs, etc. How could we have been that far off? All those priorities that were lined up to receive money now won’t. Not good.<br /><br />Manage the expectations of your bosses away from surprises and expect the same from your direct reports.<br /><br />Managing Up. We all do it because we all have a boss or several. The question is how we manage up. Because this site is mostly for executives and senior managers, you no doubt have people managing up to you all the time. My advice is to be clear about what you expect. Your chances of getting what you want are that much better.<br /><br />These Five Rules of the Road have been with me a long time and have served me well. Let me know if they work for you or if you have some other ‘Rules for the Road’ for Managing Up that work for you.<br /><br /><strong>Managing Up</strong> – Initiative, Take It! – Never Make Your Boss Ask or Wonder What You are Doing – Manage Expectations Around Deadlines – Never Reverse Delegate – No Surprises </span>Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-6446753925376872092011-04-26T10:11:00.007-05:002011-05-06T12:49:38.276-05:00Never Reverse Delegate<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIhzqymMWnLCeiCHhO4tP4QjWgcipfsWVpFkADDHSGO-U_VcuRyx8se1GAqQIMcZFLU9menwCp4nA1zakXbHT-ytu_nT8ASJHOCcSlRAruQ2YdBjiFfGVkK1WhDg_IdLc_5vhsjKkGKhk/s1600/MP900321187.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 228px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599918915582065890" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIhzqymMWnLCeiCHhO4tP4QjWgcipfsWVpFkADDHSGO-U_VcuRyx8se1GAqQIMcZFLU9menwCp4nA1zakXbHT-ytu_nT8ASJHOCcSlRAruQ2YdBjiFfGVkK1WhDg_IdLc_5vhsjKkGKhk/s320/MP900321187.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:130%;">When your boss asks you to do something, simple or complex, they are doing you several favors. Favors? At its most basic level, they are giving you a job to do so you can earn your pay. Assignments and responsibilities described in your job description give you a chance to prove yourself and your value to the organization. Each assignment, every project, is an opportunity to show what you can do. All of this is self-evident to any professional person.<br /><br />One of the points I want to make about reverse delegation is that giving your job back to your boss is essentially giving away your job and your opportunities.<br /><br />If you are the boss, be aware when reverse delegation is happening. In a moment, it might even feel good that one of your direct reports is essentially saying that ‘you are the only one who can do this’. Don’t buy that for a minute. Reverse delegation often comes disguised as a request for help, which turns into you doing the job, and if the reverse <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">delegator</span> is good at it they will make you feel important in the process.<br /><br />Worst case, reverse delegation happens when the person you gave the assignment to simply <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">doesn</span>’t perform, and you have to take it over. No doubt you feel the frustration of that situation. How much of that are you willing to tolerate? How much of that can the organization tolerate? What is the best thing for the organization? My advice is to take care of business, take care of the organization. Assignments are opportunities for your folks to prove themselves or not. Make the call if someone can’t do the job.<br /><br />Another form of reverse delegation is - If the boss has to think about and remind you to do your job and when to do it, they are doing your job for you. Any time I have to remind folks to do their job I’m doing their job.<br /><br />Reverse delegation comes in your door quietly. Often staff will come to you with a problem – but no solution. This is a subtle form of reverse delegation – expecting you, the boss, to come up with the solution. Either because of your experience or creativity, you may be able to come up with the solution yourself. Again, this is not the time to let your ego get in the way. Grow your people by making it clear that if they bring you a problem, they also need to bring the solution or at least some options. The job includes both problem identification and solution generation.<br /><br />This applies to collaborative team work. Most of the time folks will agree with the boss. If the boss always has the solution, then the organization can grow lazy and lose out on all of the stored up innovation within the team. Force your team to develop solutions. You will grow a much stronger organization in the long run and have much more creative solutions in the short run.<br /><br />A few remaining thoughts - Life is a writing and speaking contest. Look at every opportunity to develop a written product or make a presentation as your chance to shine.<br /><br />Writing something? Edit it yourself. Don’t make your boss find and make edits that you should know to make. And for heaven’s sake, remember and internalize feedback your boss gives you so he/she <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">doesn</span>’t have to repeat the same edits again next time.<br />Reverse delegation comes quietly.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.marvweidner.com/2011/04/managing-up.html">Managing Up</a>: Take the Initiative! - Never Make Your Boss Wonder What You are Doing - Manage Expectations Around Deadlines - Never Reverse Delegate </span>Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-43409197179275619272011-04-21T14:34:00.009-05:002011-05-06T12:48:57.415-05:00Manage Expectations Around Deadlines<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy9LC2oFT94uXWeAkSP5krf1a9Asv9yKks6j1TnV90HpiEkwEtRAaNa6O6pRPZLBsYm0xiY_RJTtvKKv1zXCr0Gw9Jmbjc-N1hTKSfExdt-l9_C-572V7I2o9AN9wE9q9852YZttqUQUA/s1600/MP900438870.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 304px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 208px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598125492892898386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy9LC2oFT94uXWeAkSP5krf1a9Asv9yKks6j1TnV90HpiEkwEtRAaNa6O6pRPZLBsYm0xiY_RJTtvKKv1zXCr0Gw9Jmbjc-N1hTKSfExdt-l9_C-572V7I2o9AN9wE9q9852YZttqUQUA/s320/MP900438870.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:130%;">When we measure results there are always two variables – how much and by when. This is the ‘by when’ part of Managing Up. If taking the Initiative is the most important aspect of <a href="http://www.marvweidner.com/2011/04/managing-up.html">Managing Up</a>, and not making your boss wonder what you are doing is the most basic, this one is the easiest to do.</span><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">A deadline is a deadline is a deadline. Whether you are issuing permits, delivering a budget or a performance report, submitting a grant or issuing an <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">rfp</span>, a deadline is set because timeliness is important. The essential truth about goals is that goals and deadlines drive performance and are a great lever to make happen whatever difference for customers is on the agenda. </span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Look at deadlines as a great opportunity to meet or exceed performance expectations. Because that’s what deadlines are – performance expectations. Remember – how much by when. If you meet or exceed the ‘by when’ part of the equation, you are managing up – managing to the expectations of the organization and presumably your boss.</span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">It’s pretty simple really. If you can meet the deadline, meet it and celebrate that. If for any reason, any reason, you cannot meet the deadline, communicate with your boss as soon as you know this. As hard as it is to do so, especially if the reason for not meeting the deadline may be your own performance, do it anyway. The alternative is much the worst. It’s a matter of honesty – just tell the truth. It always pays to do so – George was right about this. Ask any politician how it works to withhold the truth.</span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">A couple of more points about what not to do-- If you say you are going to deliver a product by a certain date, then do it. It will enhance your credibility as someone the boss can count on – and you do what you say you are going to do. Under promise and over deliver is one of my favorite sayings.</span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">If we promise something or agree to deliver something by a date and it looks like we can’t do that for any reason, then re-negotiate the deadline. This is so simple to do and is a great opportunity to communicate and build a bond of trust. Remember the earlier posting about not making your boss wonder or ask? Re-negotiating deadlines prevents the boss from being in that position.</span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">If you are the boss, you want to know the deadline is not going to be met so you can either bring additional resources to bear, help solve problems to come as close to the deadline as possible, and so you can manage expectations above you about what is happening and what to expect. If people know ahead of time that something is happening or not happening, they can adjust their thinking, expectations and communicate rationally.</span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Manage Deadlines, Manage Expectations, Manage Up. </span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Next is ‘Never Reverse Delegate”. </span></div>Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-9683741807244429842011-04-19T08:57:00.006-05:002011-05-06T12:48:40.844-05:00Never Make Your Boss Ask or Wonder What You are Doing!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZy2p_51m2gl03L-g4nk5oGiP0B4c57I3EuNw7LUMnXJu6VQ5hfmOKdVEZmXTmH6taLNw0kN2U1r4hVCjrdD0zpB6pETia3ic-yo3MNqKwD5LnyLJ0FbZZArWRmqCOdbwHmoF8wYjqyvM/s1600/MP900386161.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 213px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597298357674853730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZy2p_51m2gl03L-g4nk5oGiP0B4c57I3EuNw7LUMnXJu6VQ5hfmOKdVEZmXTmH6taLNw0kN2U1r4hVCjrdD0zpB6pETia3ic-yo3MNqKwD5LnyLJ0FbZZArWRmqCOdbwHmoF8wYjqyvM/s320/MP900386161.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:130%;">If taking the </span><a href="http://www.marvweidner.com/2011/04/initiative-take-it.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">Initiative</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> is the most important aspect of </span><a href="http://www.marvweidner.com/2011/04/managing-up.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">Managing Up</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">, this one is the most basic. If you are the boss and you have to wonder what a member of your team is doing, something is wrong. If your boss has to ask you what you are doing, something is missing.<br /><br />Right off the top, this is an important issue when managing up. If your boss is wondering or asking what is happening or what you are doing, you have a problem. That is not the state of mind or the state of the relationship that is best for you, for the boss or the organization. The boss does not want to spend his or her time wondering – he or she has plenty to think about. Never make your boss wonder what you are doing! Don’t even make them ask. If they are asking, somewhere there is a lack of Initiative on your part to make sure they know.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Proactively communicate with your boss. As a boss, I appreciate this so much. Yours will too. And if you are communicating too much, you’ll sense it or they will tell you. Make sure the boss sees the value of your contributions, your leadership, your products, the productivity of your staff and the key relationships you bring to the organization. Never make them wonder.<br /><br />Oh, one last point – if your boss has to think of and remind you of what you are supposed to be doing (your job), the boss is doing your job for you.<br /><br />Next in Managing Up – manage expectations around deadlines.</span>Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-7048916129107852392011-04-13T08:59:00.014-05:002011-05-06T12:47:49.846-05:00Initiative - Take It!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs-CNCKu-02ANWNWByNRpAAy67uXv_KOJKD77Ss7okC01OVUKKFEOgy9JpYHHBkaW_gv4lNFAHiActoJBgyI8FnOuMaGmAfbDJUaaSuVRiHGMnsD8bj_WTW5XN1VLfoZhuBE91q6HRS7g/s1600/MP900386802.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595087576260837602" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs-CNCKu-02ANWNWByNRpAAy67uXv_KOJKD77Ss7okC01OVUKKFEOgy9JpYHHBkaW_gv4lNFAHiActoJBgyI8FnOuMaGmAfbDJUaaSuVRiHGMnsD8bj_WTW5XN1VLfoZhuBE91q6HRS7g/s320/MP900386802.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:130%;">As you read this series I want to encourage you to think not only about how you manage up, but how you want people to manage up to you! Whether it be my <a href="http://www.marvweidner.com/2011/04/managing-up.html">5 Rules for the Road </a>or your own, it pays, as always, to be clear about what you expect.<br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Initiative is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as ‘The power or ability to begin or to follow through energetically with a plan or task; enterprise and determination.’<br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Initiative is power, energy and determination unleashed and directed. Taking the Initiative means that you aren’t waiting to be told what or how to do what needs to be done. Instead it means moving forward what needs to be moved at or ahead of when its expected or required.<br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />You do have to observe the extent of your authority. However, I’m a fan of asking forgiveness for high performance rather than asking permission.<br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Initiative is the polar opposite of resistance, especially passive aggressive behavior, which happens to rank at the very top of my list of unacceptable behaviors.<br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Manage your boss’s expectations by exceeding them. What I look for in employees is that they are continuously taking the Initiative, expanding the job they’ve been given and surprising me with unexpected results. Delivering products or results before I even asked for them or before they were due to arrive in my inbox will win my confidence. How about you? These are the folks we want in our organizations and these are the folks who will ultimately lead our organizations.<br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Courage and Confidence. It takes a fair amount of both of these to actually take the Initiative. It requires a little courage to move forward more or less without being told to do so. It takes a little confidence to believe in yourself to move forward without your boss looking on. Grow both of these in life and work and you’ll have no problems Managing Up.</span>Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-17052267578458558162011-04-06T09:37:00.015-05:002011-05-10T11:12:50.951-05:00Managing UpAll of us have a boss - or several. I've been working for money since my first paper route at age 7 and have been both a boss and had many bosses since then. Yeah...that's a few bosses, a few years and a lot of employees.<br /><br /><span style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">Managing Up</span> is worth talking about because we all have to do it. How the relationship with the boss is managed has everything to do with how much we can get done, how we feel about the job and, at the very least, our short term success. So here are my five Managing Up - Rules for the Road:<br /><br /><ol><br /><li><strong>Initiative - Take It!</strong></li><br /><br /><li><strong>Never make your boss ask or wonder what you are doing</strong></li><br /><br /><li><strong>Manage expectations around deadlines</strong></li><br /><br /><li><strong>Never reverse delegate</strong></li><br /><br /><li><strong>No surprises</strong></li></ol>Coming up are my comments about each of the 'Rules'.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p>Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-46451007654019528722011-03-29T10:57:00.004-05:002011-05-06T12:47:10.368-05:00The Essential Principles: Focus Everything You Do on Results<div align="left">The third of three lessons learned during my 20 years in government is that if government focuses everything it does on results, then the chances of success go up significantly.</div><br /><br /><p align="center"><iframe height="400" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/20101539?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=59a5d1" frameborder="0" width="533"></iframe></p>Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-81654648348852334232011-03-16T12:37:00.006-05:002011-05-06T12:46:49.222-05:00Results Conversations: Clyde Namuo, Office of Hawaiian AffairsIn 2009, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs developed a new Strategic Plan, built on the input of over 3,000 individual and very much focused on measurable results for Native Hawaiians. To take a look at OHA’s a remarkable <a href="http://www.oha.org/stratplan/">Strategic Plan</a>. Now, throughout 2010 and 2011, OHA is implementing Managing for Results (MFR) at all levels in their operations including Budgeting, Business Plans, Work Plans, Performance Measures, Individual Performance Plans and Performance Based Contracting - and they are using MFR Live and MFR People to support the effort.<br /><br />While on a recent on-site visit, I sat down with OHA CEO, Clyde Namuo, to reflect on their considerable accomplishments and what it all means to OHA and to the Native Hawaiian community. Listen in while Clyde shares the OHA story.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><br /><object width="640" height="390"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8aNwd86iLGs?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="576" height="351"></embed></object></div>Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-90505078563129636882011-03-10T10:53:00.005-06:002011-05-06T12:46:09.397-05:00The Essential Principles: Focus on the Right ResultsThe second of three lessons learned during my 20 years in government is that if government focuses on the right results, you will get the results you desire.<br /><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><iframe height="400" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/20048192?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=59a5d1" frameborder="0" width="533"></iframe></div><br /><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/20048192"></a></p>Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-35778695683507110912011-02-18T20:58:00.007-06:002011-05-06T12:45:22.103-05:00The Essential Principles: Focus on ResultsIn 20 years working in government, I have learned three, (yes three) things that I call the essential principles. The first is that if government focuses on results, those results are achievable...<br /><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><iframe height="400" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/19764116?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=59a5d1" frameborder="0" width="533"></iframe></div><br /><p></p>Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-90516591056916963512010-12-10T11:58:00.004-06:002011-05-06T12:45:45.840-05:00Awards: Beware of Committees Bearing GiftsOk, let’s admit it: we all like recognition. Awards and honors are nice. They’re especially rewarding when they come from outside the organization. Even more so when they come from a professional organization or sanctioning body.<br /><br />Awards are a nice way to tell your story of hard work and accomplishment. They tell everyone within earshot that you are doing a good job. They sum up affirmation of what you thought – that you are doing a good job. It’s a nice addition to the discussion of your performance.<br /><br />It is also a contributing factor to the evaluation of team efforts, such as putting the budget together or building an energy efficient building. Everybody wins when a meaningful award is won.<br /><br />Mike Reagan, who was the Commissioner of Human Services in Iowa when I worked there, was the best I ever saw at leveraging awards and telling that story of our ‘award-winning services’. It played very well in the legislature – especially if we didn’t have any performance information! The impact of that story was emotional and impressionistic. Of course, the most persuasive arguments are those that both appeal to emotions and values -- and are informed with performance information.<br /><br />But there’s a serious caution about awards - use them sparingly and thoughtfully once received. As much as awards can affirm good or even high performance, awards can also be used to justify and sustain the status quo.<br /><br />Let’s think about the message being sent when awards are referenced in testimony or presentations. Is the message that “our efforts were recognized and here is what we are going to surpass that next time”? Or is the message that“our efforts were recognized, we are very good at what we do, we don’t need to change, now leave us alone”?<br /><br />The first message presents a leadership style that is continuously improving performance. The second is a leadership style focused on defending our record and status quo. The trajectory of the first is that, well, the sky is the limit. The trajectory of the second is little or no progress past where we are today.<br /><br />This is somewhat a personal style question for leaders. Do you wish to manage to the status quo or manage to the next leap forward in the performance of the organization?<br /><br />Our observation is that, too often, the more often awards are referenced the more likely they are being used to defend the status quo.<br /><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">A few questions to help you evaluate awards:</span><br /><br />1.Does the award do anything for our customers?<br />2.Did the effort to achieve the award improve our performance?<br />3.How have we used the award, after receiving it, to improve performance?<br />4.What’s the long term benefit of receiving the award?<br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Good luck in winning lots of awards and putting them to limited use!</p><br /><p></p><br /><br /><p></p>Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-38897800785959812222010-11-18T09:37:00.004-06:002011-05-06T12:43:06.711-05:00Ship of State PlanningNewly elected officials and their appointed managers are about to take office all over the Nation. And many incumbents – though fewer in number this time around – are set to continue to work on their priorities.<br /><br />We think of this beginning point in an administration as a time to do “Ship of State Planning” – that is, what do we want to be able to say we accomplished when we are done and ready to pass the baton to the next set of leaders?<br /><br />We are elected/appointed - <strong>Now What?</strong> This is always the question when we cross the bridge from politics to policy, from campaigns to governing. What to do now with the Ship of State/County/City/Town? What to do first?<br /><br />First, as quickly as possible, fill the key positions with the best possible people. People are Job One.<br /><br />For Job Two, I have an unequivocal recommendation: get very clear about your<strong> Priorities</strong> and the measurable <strong>Strategic Results</strong> you want to achieve within this election cycle.<br /><br />You will be asked: Why do we need to mess around with strategic planning when we have all this work to do?<br /><br />Think of where you want to be at the end of your term. What story do you want to be able to tell about your leadership? What achievements do you want to be able to point to as proof of your performance?<br /><br />A Strategic Plan will guide the trajectory of your term in office. Think of it as your <strong><em>Leadership Agenda.</em></strong> Think of the work NASA does to calculate a mission to the moon. The work of governing is not nearly that precise, but you will stand a greater chance of landing on your moon – that is, of achieving your <strong>Priorities</strong> – if you start out knowing where you want to go. Knowing your destination will minimize mid-course corrections and wasted energy.<br /><br />We have had the privilege of working with hundreds of elected officials over the past twelve years and they have taught us so much. One of the key points of learning is that incumbents need to make two cases for re-election. One is that you are aligned to the right issues and the right people. The second is the value proposition - I spent your money in this way and achieved these results. The first is a political case for re-election and the second is the business case for re-election.<br /><br /><strong>Priorities</strong> and <strong>Strategic Results</strong> will define your agenda and fuel community and employee participation in achieving your Priorities. The <strong>Priorities</strong> can easily transfer from a well-developed campaign platform; we’ve seen this happen many times.<br /><br />Measurable <strong>Strategic Results</strong> will give direction to the organization to begin right away aligning the budget, departmental plans, initiatives and people to achieve your <strong>Priorities</strong>. You will have a very limited number of budgets to align to your agenda so get started early. The <strong>Strategic Results</strong> will provide measurable accountability back to the community for results achieved and give departments specific, measurable goals to shoot for.<br /><br />In cities and counties across the Nation where we have worked, elected officials have relentlessly used their Strategic Plans to rally community support, align their budgets and communicate expectations throughout their organizations.<br /><br />I encourage you to take a look at Maricopa County’s Strategic Plan, an excellent example of a jurisdiction-wide plan -- <a href="http://www.maricopa.gov/mfr/PDF/StrategicPlan.pdf">http://www.maricopa.gov/mfr/PDF/StrategicPlan.pdf</a>Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-21033978294421556182010-10-18T16:46:00.003-05:002011-05-06T12:35:34.698-05:00Is the future a priority for your organization?How much time do you spend doing strategic planning?<br /><br />Awhile back I was speaking at a national conference which included executives from both the public and private sectors. We were focused on management initiatives that make a real difference: strategic planning, performance measurement, process improvement, performance budgeting, and so on.<br /><br />After my presentation, the Director of Strategic Planning for Sprint Nextel Corporation led another workshop. He shared his company’s strategic planning process, who was involved, how and why they did it and what they got out of it. I asked a question and remember his answer all too well.<br /><br />I asked how many days his senior management spent each year in strategic planning. He said that his senior management spent 16 days per year doing strategic planning. As the CEO of Weidner, Inc. – obviously a much smaller company – I spend 3 weeks or 15 days per year doing strategic planning.<br /><br />By contrast and with a bare few exceptions, the government executives we have worked with over the past twelve years have felt uneasy spending more than a day or two away from operations to do Strategic Planning. This is usually a cue that strategic planning is not viewed as part of the job.<br /><br />How many days this year will you devote to strategic planning? The inherent value of that number alone, as an output, is limited. But what it says is invaluable. If we take a close look at how we spend our time, we will have a pretty clear picture of our priorities.<br /><br /><br /><li>How much time do you spend considering the issues and trends impacting your customers and your organization, then developing goals and strategies for staying in front of them?</li><br /><br /><li>How much time does your executive team spend on setting strategic direction that informs short term decisions to create that future or achieve those longer term results?</li><br /><br /><li>Are you clear about the results you want?</li><br /><br /><li>How much effort do you put into communicating the strategic direction of the organization to your workforce?, Without this, how can the people in your organization use their creativity to contribute to the future goals of the organization?</li><br />As we all know, the pace of change is staggering and is only increasing. Governments are truly challenged to stay abreast of those changes, let alone stay out in front and lead them. Strategic planning helps to ensure that we are regularly and systematically “looking around the corner” at what is emerging and deciding what to do about it. Strategic planning helps us be clear about how we focus that rarest of resources: our attention.<br /><br />Governments struggle to make decisions that keep pace with the needs of our community or state. Strategic Planning keeps us looking forward and making decisions today that will create the future we want.<br /><br />So, how much of a priority is strategic planning for you and your executive team and is it part of the job?<br /><br />Strategic planning – it can only be as timely as the time you give it.Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-57589755859113201102010-09-13T11:22:00.004-05:002011-05-06T12:34:48.447-05:00Executive Coaching TranslatedNow, more than at any time in my decades of working in and for government, public sector executives are experiencing extraordinary levels of stress and pressure. Some are feeling under siege. There is so much pressure to do more with less. Doing more with less is not an altogether bad thing, of course (but staying sane is a good thing, too!).<br /><br />Being a senior executive and leader in government today is an incredibly difficult job – and it’s made even harder because it’s too often a “solo” gig. There’s little, if any, support and coaching.<br /><br />The spoken and unspoken expectation of public sector executives is that they should know their job, their business, and therefore don’t need any coaching.<br /><br />It’s funny, though, that almost no one in the private sector believes that. Nearly all of the top executives in Fortune 500 companies – and indeed, <strong><em>many</em></strong> leaders in the private sector – have one or more executive coaches.<br /><br />(I certainly have my own coaches. Two of the most active of my coaches are Terrell Blodgett, former leader with the City of Austin, a lifetime member of the International City-County Management Association (ICMA), and a Professor Emeritus at the LBJ School for Public Services; and Joel Fleschman – psychologist, facilitator and regular “in my face” guy.)<br /><br />I’ve had the opportunity to work with some distinguished government leaders as an Executive Coach. My approach begins and ends with <strong><em>listening</em></strong>.<br /><br /><br /><li><strong>First, listen, and listen good!</strong> And by that, I mean listen deeply – listen deeply to what is really going on for the executive and for the organization. The focus here is on the executive. If a coach can help the executive be more effective, the entire organization will become more effective.</li><br /><br /><li><strong>Second, listen for the solutions.</strong> My experience is that the answers are more often within you than not. It sometimes takes a little playback, some thinking-out-loud, and a few of the right questions to get a handle on the issues and the solutions/strategies.</li><br /><br /><li><strong>Third, listen for results.</strong> What do you need to make happen? All effective strategies begin with a clear, complete understanding of the needed results. A coach must be sure you are very, very clear about what results you are after – otherwise, you may get to a different result than what you need.</li><br /><br /><li><strong>Fourth, listen for the worst enemy:</strong> yourself. We all have self-defeating thoughts or behaviors that limit success. What we believe often becomes reality. Recognition of those self-limiting thought habits and patterns – and working with the executive to ensure they are understood and addressed – is critical.</li><br /><br /><li><strong>Fifth, listen for the obstacles.</strong> There are always impediments and barriers to progress in the environment. Those have to be managed, including difficult relationships. An effective coach is experienced enough to help develop short and long term relationship strategies.</li><br /><br /><li><strong>Sixth, listen for the culture.</strong> Successful coaches can pick up on markers of the organizational culture and the history of the organization, and then use that information to help leaders see how to make things move forward in your particular environment. This will help create the road map for leading and managing change. This is something my coach, Joel Fleschman, has taught me and is particularly skilled at doing. The language, beliefs and behaviors of the organization are what we have to work with – so we had better understand it quickly, and well.</li><br /><br /><li><strong>Seventh, listen for partners.</strong> No leader accomplishes results that truly matter by herself or himself. They seek out and enlist the help of performance partners inside and outside of their organizations than can help the executive achieve his or her results.</li><br />If you’re a government executive dealing with some of the extraordinary pressures and challenges in the field, get some reinforcements! I’m happy to talk with you about how I can help, or you may choose to work with someone else – but regardless, enlist an effective coach who can strengthen you. Your work is only going to get more challenging, not less – and people are depending on you to be as effective as you can, so that you can make your organizations as effective as they can be.Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1286376753180182935.post-31135045577556425322010-08-30T07:37:00.001-05:002011-05-06T12:33:44.958-05:00"This Old Guy Knows Results!"Over the past 12 years our company, Weidner, Inc., has worked with 50+ governments at the city, county, state and federal levels. That means I have worked directly with the executives who lead those governments, their elected officials, the hundreds of department directors and thousands of program and activity managers, along with their staff, manage those governments.<br /><br />I was tied to the hip of most of the executives and many of the elected officials in those customer jurisdictions as they developed and implemented Managing for Results. Listening and understanding those leaders’ desire for change was a natural. Experiencing those challenges and opportunities side by side with leaders in 50+ jurisdictions gives me perspective that few people have.<br /><br />This builds on years of senior government service in Iowa State Government where I held three positions over 20 years – Working directly with the Governor as Director Strategic Planning and Policy, Administrator Economic Assistance & Director of Welfare Reform in the Department of Human Services, and Director Office of Refugee Resettlement, also reporting to the Governor.<br /><br />So, why this website now? More than at any time in my 30+ years of working for government, appointed and elected officials are looking for answers, advice and perspective to navigate through these times, to make decisions that will have economic, political and organizational implications for years to come. Our customers have engaged me in all three service offerings as part of Managing for Results. Creating the web site will make both me and the services that much more recognizable and easier to access.Marv Weidnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15623801453878734388noreply@blogger.com