IBM, SEA Release Special Report on Measuring Management Quality, Announce Task Force on Assessing Management Quality

The Senior Executives Association announced a new task force last week to develop management assessment models for federal agencies. The task force marks the second phase of the Project on Assessing Management Quality. The first phase recently concluded with a special report on how agencies can determine if their offices are well managed.

“Now more than ever, as our nation battles a public health crisis, we see the importance of a well-managed federal workforce to deliver critical services to the American people. And while our federal government is comprised of millions of dedicated civil servants, outdated systems and a lack of quality data inhibit our government’s ability to ensure that our federal leaders can best serve the American people,” Karl Schneider, Chair of the SEA Board of Directors explained in a statement.

“SEA is proud to announce, in partnership with the IBM Center for the Business of Government and the University of Illinois, Chicago and with participation from a variety of government and industry stakeholders, the formation of a specialized task force as the second step for the SEA Project on Assessing Management Quality,” Schneider continued.

The Project on Assessing Management Quality began with a workshop and subsequent report on assessing management quality, which concluded in May.

The authors of the report explain a challenge within government to determine which management measures are most effective for servicing the American people and meeting employee needs. This challenge leaves missed opportunities to better serve the American people.

“Agency managers would gain knowledge and insight from a conversation around the development and ongoing use of a measurement protocol. The American people would benefit from a government that includes high-performing organizations permeated by an ethic of management excellence that a system of measures would promote,” the report explains.

To meet the end, the report outlines six building blocks “that could serve as a foundation for designing and implementing a governmentwide initiative to measure the management quality of federal agencies.” These are:

1.       Have the Design of a Measurement Protocol Serve as a Learning Opportunity

2.       Balance “Bottom-Up” with “Top-Down” in the Design of a Measurement Initiative

3.       Engage the Federal Management Community

4.       Use the Measurement Initiative to Rethink Management

5.       Evaluate the Advantages and Disadvantages of Assigning Agencies Grades

6.       Determine the Degree of Reliance to Be Placed on Metrics

The newly formed task force will utilize these building blocks to develop management assessment models for agencies. The final stage of the project will involve creating an implementation plan for utilizing the management assessment models within government agencies.