leadership

Todd Grams: Streamlining Veterans Services

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This is the seventh of a series of profiles on the nine standout public servants who received Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals (Sammies) honoring their high-impact contributions to the health, safety and well-being of Americans at a Washington, D.C. gala September 15. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, are among the most prestigious honors given to America’s civil servants. This profile features the winner of the management excellence medal, W. Todd Grams, acting assistant secretary for management and chief financial officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has long functioned as if it were three distinct business entities-health care, benefits and cemeteries-and never fully integrated its financial management, acquisition, human resources, capital investment and technology functions across the organization. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 26, 2011 at 1:00 PM

Illness Tracking: Real-Time Infection Information Would Improve Patient Care

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I read a News Story- Report: Illness Tracking is Faulty, Express Newspaper, September 20, 2011 (page 8), that concluded that real-time infection information would improve patient care.

It said: Doctors rarely know what bugs are brewing in the neighborhood until their waiting rooms start to fill. Harvard University researchers report Monday that getting real-time information on nearby infections could improve patient care – for strep throat alone, potentially helping tens of thousands avoid either a delayed diagnosis or getting antibiotics they didn’t need. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 23, 2011 at 7:08 AM

Results Of Federal Employee Survey Defy Conventional Wisdom

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One of the most useful aspects of the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey is the ability to look at trends over time.

This year, the conventional wisdom was that we would see a significant drop in federal employee satisfaction and engagement due to the current pay freeze, the threat of a government shutdown due to a lapse in appropriation that was pending at the time the survey was conducted, and the increase in negative public attitudes toward government and – by extension – toward government employees, and declining agency budgets. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 22, 2011 at 5:52 PM

GSA Loses Network Services Leader

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While everyone is replaceable, experts agree the GSA has some digging to do in order to find a good one for Karl Krumbholz.

Now that the General Services Administration is losing its leading man of network services programs, agency officials are charged with finding someone to lead the programs while also fitting into the changing telecommunications world, according to a Federal Computer Week article. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 8, 2011 at 2:00 PM

Gov Book Talk: ‘Pentagon 9/11’ – 10 Years Later

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It’s hard to believe that the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is almost here. It was one of those events, like Pearl Harbor or the Kennedy assassination, which remains in the memory with startling clarity.

From where I was working in the Government Printing Office (GPO), we could see the column of smoke from the strike on the Pentagon. Later, after Federal Government facilities in the DC area closed down, I walked from GPO to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (I still remember a woman telling a Smithsonian guard that she had seen someone on the building’s roof – and who could tell what that meant in a world spinning out of control?) to meet my wife, who by some miracle got into the District and picked me up. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 6, 2011 at 1:32 PM

Better Analysis of DOD Business Processes Key To Reducing Wasteful Spending

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A recent GAO report on Department of Defense business management systems found that the department has requested $17.3 billion to operate its business systems during fiscal year 2012.

It turns out the number of DoD systems in operation is rather staggering: According to the inventory information, those funds were to be used to operate 2,258 business, 335 financial management, 709 human resource management, 243 real property and installation, and 281 acquisition management systems. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 31, 2011 at 4:31 PM

9/11 Management Lessons: #1 – Chain Of Command Can’t Stand Alone

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An in-depth analysis of flaws in DHS and ODNI reorganization efforts shows both would have benefited from strong leadership to articulate the mission and the reasons for change, guide the transformation, and meld together disparate entities and management approaches.

Essentially, chain of command is necessary, but not sufficient. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 30, 2011 at 4:00 PM

Chart of the Day: Government Gaining Headway In Social Media Use

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Last week’s 5.8 magnitude earthquake along the east coast and the subsequent battering by Hurricane Irene unleashed not only a heavy dose of nature’s fury, but also a torrent of social media messaging.

And perhaps more than ever before, the federal government played a prominent role in the dialogue. While figures for this past week’s activity are still being gathered, a snapshot of social media use by federal agencies in mid-August, assembled by Breaking Gov, shows its no longer just the White House that is gaining a growing social media following. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 30, 2011 at 1:00 PM

9/11: Four Management Lessons For the Future

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Along with the obvious turmoil and political strife caused by the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the historic tragedy set in motion the most significant government reorganizations in decades in the homeland defense and intelligence communities.

The effects of the reorganizations continue to reverberate today. For that reason, the Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton released a report Tuesday detailing lessons from those efforts that may guide the Obama Administration in government reform and reorganization efforts currently under way. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 29, 2011 at 5:00 PM

Seven Strategies To Cut Costs And Improve Performance

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The seventh in a series of “Seven Management Imperatives” for government leaders, based on the insights provided by some 300 senior government officials and more than 300 research reports, courtesy of IBM Center of The Business of Government.

The federal government faces an estimated annual structural deficit of $500 billion to $700 billion. A deficit of this magnitude represents a major threat to the economic health of the nation. The structural deficit is defined as the portion of the total annual deficit that results from a fundamental imbalance in receipts and expenditures, not just one-time occurrences or changes in the economic cycle. Steps to reduce and eliminate this structural deficit are urgently needed. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 29, 2011 at 10:01 AM
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