The Government Division’s 21st Century Governance Project

Comes to An Energized Conclusion

At the

53rd Annual Quality Congress in Anaheim

May 1999

As many of us are aware, an integral part of our PSN mission is to gather and disseminate ways in which government leaders can increase the capacity of the public sector to deliver services that delight the citizenry. Over the past 3+ years, we have developed and managed an ongoing effort that we have called our 21st Century Governance Project. The overall, broad purpose of the project was to create an initial foundation for continual sharing and learning about best practices for engaging citizens in their government. Our goal was to deepen understanding and improve the practice of citizen-government interaction.

A. OUR CASE STUDIES

On May 25 in the Northwest Hall of the Marriott Hotel at the International Annual Quality Congress conference in Anaheim, CA, this multi-year endeavor came to an energized conclusion. It was there where we conducted our 4+ hour interactive session, with a focus on evaluating our project results. The major activity of this afternoon session was an assessment of the following twelve (12) case studies that were chosen from submissions from across the country:

These case studies and the related "synthesis paper, "entitled "21st Government Project - Reconnecting the Public and the Public Sector" are available, in a combined published 50 page packet, from the ASQ office for all new members who join PSN this year. The package is also available to current members, if you do not have one. You can call Linda Milanowski at ASQ in Milwaukee to request a copy of this project publication.

HHHH. OUR EVALUATION - PANEL MEMBERS AND PARTICIPANTS

Those of us fortunate to be in Anaheim were approximately 70 session conference participants, from both the public and private sectors. We divided the participants into breakout groups and proceeded to "have at it" evaluating our cases using 3 simple questions: (1) What insights have you gained from these cases; (2) Based on your own experiences, what practices need to emerge in order to create healthier citizen-government relationships; and (3) What forces would help or hinder doing these things in your organization? PSN Regional Councilors served as facilitators during our breakout discussions as well.

There to support us for the entire session was a distinguished panel of experts from both the United States and Canada:

1. Thomas J. Mosgaller, ASQ V.P., Director, O.D. Office, City of Madison, PSN “Founding Father.”
2. David Sheldon, Director, Innovations Partnerships, The Council of Excellence in Government.

39. Janice Warden, Deputy Director, National Partnership for Reinventing Government.

40. Dr. Gail Christopher, Co-Chair/Director, National Academy of Public Administration

41. Peter Scholtes, Author,Lecturer and Consulting, Sholtes Seminars and Consulting

42. Brian Marson, Senior Advisor, Service and Innovation, Treasury Board of Canada.

43. Jonathan Walters, Author and Journalist, Governing Magazine.

We were also aided by the able assistance of Mark Popovich, Senior Partner, The Public's Work, in Washington, D.C., who complied, analyzed, and documented our case study materials, starting in 1997. In addition, at Anaheim, Mark summarized the content and learnings from each of our case studies and helped in leading the afternoon's discussion. And, finally, culminating all of our project efforts, was our exceptional panel moderator, Becky Meyers, Director of Organizational Effectiveness for the New York State Office of General Services and a long time PSN leader.

C. OUR RESULTS AND NEXT STEPS

Our overall expected outcome for this 21ST Century Project session was to give participants an awareness of these case studies and how the principles involved can be adapted and adopted in their organizations in a similar manner. The session was meant to be a direct benchmarking learning opportunity for all. We feel we succeeded in achieving this outcome, judging from two perspectives.

First, we feel this session was successful just from the standpoint of hearing the responses from those that were "in the room." Considerable excitement and energy existed that day in Anaheim and many of our "customers" said they left with concrete ideas on what to do or try differently in their respective organizations. The 4+ hours was time well spent with our colleagues and peers.

Secondly, in a more tangible way, we generated an extensive list of thoughts, reactions, and recommendations that were included on our "flip charts" from this Anaheim session. As an example, one suggestion was that we use this project as a foundation for developing a "national or global" benchmarking database on best practices in the public sector. Such a database could be available to any organization to regularly access and use as a learning resource. We have compiled these numerous session ideas and will integrate them into our PSN strategic planning process, as we think further about our next possible project steps.

Those next project steps have not been finalized by PSN. The direction could be one of many options - from sharing these case studies with a wider audience, building our body of knowledge based on what we have learned, or customizing the case results into a specific PSN service to our members. We encourage your input on helping us guide our next steps on this project. Please contact any member of the PSN leadership or your Regional Councilor if you have suggestions. We are here to serve you and welcome any and all reactions.

My thanks and gratitude go to the dedicated volunteer members of our 21ST Century Project team that have contributed to make this a successful undertaking. The first individual is Mark Popovich, our consultant from The Public's Work. Mark spent time on the phone and/or interviewing case study candidates and writing our final project publication. That publication in and of itself was a major undertaking. Our end product is due primarily to Mark's work.

Our PSN project team members were Laura Golberg from Fairfax County in Virginia, Barry Crook from the Washington Department of Licensing, and Becky Meyers from New York State. In addition, Chuck Grubb as our PSN Chair was instrumental in keeping the project momentum going as we headed toward our session in Anaheim. These were a great bunch of people to work with and we appreciate all of their time and commitment.

On behalf of the entire project team, as our next phases become clearer, I trust we all look forward to continuing this endeavor, when the actual 21st Century arrives in a few short months. Any and all questions should be referred to Dale Weeks at the Florida Department of Revenue. Dale can be reached at 850-414-7855 or by e-mail at WeeksD@dor.state.fl.us.

D. SYNOPSIS OF THE LESSONS LEARNED

How can government leaders involve the citizenry in a productive partnership? The Public Sector Network (PSN) launched an ongoing effort, the 21st Century Governance Project, to answer this critical question,. This is a synopsis of the lessons learned.

Involving Citizens

Obtaining Public Input/Public Support: Agencies that develop the strongest customer engagement strategies often weather fiscal and credibility crises the best. Citizens and their elected leaders, in these cases, may have a clearer understanding of the agencies’ services and processes. Effective communication – both listening to and educating citizens – is one avenue to creating social and civic capital for public agencies. Many agencies are creating public processes that deal with serious issues but with some fun involved. Thinking about issues, divining strategies, and implementing services can be done in ways that help build participation in and commitment to governance processes.

Listening, Not Leading: The shift from leading to listening may be easier in theory than in practice. Public agencies will need time, commitment, and practice before they will become more comfortable with the risks of ceding greater influence over important decisions to external parties.

Changing Cultures: Real culture change should lead to real changes in behaviors and decisions. Public agencies are bringing the customers’ voices into planning; but leaders must apply this input well beyond that initial decision-making stage to include budgeting, organizational structures, and delivery options. Customers must be encouraged to move beyond passive roles that most adopt. But culture changes take time and may require the involvement of a critical mass of citizens and public leaders.

Supporting the Process: Citizen or customer engagement efforts by the public sector must attend carefully to process. While design and technique are important, the greatest practical challenges may well lie in ensuring that the process and the citizen participants are well supported.

“Freshness Dating” the Connection: Even a successful citizen engagement process has a limited life span. Enthusiasm for the recommendations – and more importantly commitment – wanes as time passes. Public agencies need to recognize that there’s a “freshness date” for a citizen-input process.

Tools For Engaging Citizens:

New Opportunities: The Internet presents great new opportunities for engaging and meeting the needs of citizens. After all, sometimes the most important service that government can deliver is access to the information a citizen wants, in the form they want it, and when they want it. However, regular investments are essential to maintain and improve systems and content.

Raising Old Issues: Only 1 of every 5 people in America can connect with the Web. What about the other 80%? Access and equity are critical public sector issues. In the push for electronic services, neighborhoods and people that are least likely to use these systems cannot be ignored.

Bad News; Good News:

Preventing Bad News: Careful consultation before an agency launches a process is certainly helpful. But even the best process undertaken with good faith by all parties will not necessarily eliminate or even limit conflicts.

Getting Out the Good News “Good news” stories of accomplishments garner less attention than “bad news” stories Some public agencies lack the credibility and even the capacity to report on themselves, and so must find ways to look to intermediaries – such as, community-based organizations, the media, or academia – to gauge results and get the message out.

Which Is It?: Changes in citizen satisfaction probably lag behind real changes in organizational performance. Interpreting citizen satisfaction ratings -- and other input-- is more an art than a science. As more public agencies develop data on customer perceptions as well as effectiveness, efficiency, and financial management, these factors must be balanced in both policymaking and management.

To see the full report, click on the items below:

Final Report on the 21st Century Project (DOC, 439 KB)