Archive

Common Sense Tools for the Federal Workplace

The federal government is changing. For three years, federal workers have achieved much by;

• Putting customers first,
• Cutting bureaucracy and red tape,
• Empowering employees to achieve results,
• Making choices that cut back to basics.

Federal change champions have used three over arching strategies; 1) developing leadership and vision, 2) creating customer-focused organizations, and 3) fixing the federal workplace.

The National Performance Review is using this website to create, on-line, a framework of common sense tools for federal employees who are leading and implementing these change strategies and those who wish to. The tools are divided into 15 categories. NPR is asking you for help. Please review these 15 categories and give us your reactions and suggestions. In the future this page will be interactive for reinventors. However for now, tell us of any other tool categories, resources, and success stories which we can share with other users of this website.

Brevity works! Describe in no more that 2-3 sentences how you've used a particular tool and where available provide a URL address for incorporation into NPR's electronic toolbox framework. List useful resources or authorities, when relevant. It's also important to include a point of contact with a phone number and/or email address if available so that reinventors can be connected. Our initial 15 tool categories are;

Just a few of the Success Stories from across the government with points of contact. Working together, we can accelerate the pace of government reinvention.

Address your comments ...	if you email	toolbox.npr@npr.gsa.gov
	if you fax	202/632-0390 att'n Tool Box
	if you mail	National Performance Review att'n Tool Box 750 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20006

Common Sense Tools - Sample Success Stories

Customer Focus

The Consumer Product Safety Commission replaced an antiquated phone answering service with a 24 hour multi-dimensional information service. Questions and product information can be received by phone, fax, and at its Internet address (www.cpsc.gov). Answers to product questions can be returned automatically through a menu driven system. Bilingual operators are available for each service mode. Douglas Noble 301-504-0014 The Boston Office of the Environmental Protection Agency provides staff opportunities to move from behind their office desks to work directly with community groups engaged in cleaning up their neighborhoods. George Hawkins 617/565-9125 The Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, and the State of Colorado have established a "one-stop" convenience store for outdoor enthusiasts requesting information about the State's natural resources and for seekers of permits for use of government lands. Ken Smith/BLM Canon City, Colorado 719/269-8500 The Tucson Veterans Affairs Medical Center implemented a telephone information service to answer immediately any veteran questions or complaints concerning benefit eligibility and prescriptions. This targeted service reduced the workload of urgent care units by 40% improving the quality of emergency care and saving veterans long unnecessary waits. William King, Jr. 520/670-5243

Innovation and Learning

The Defense Logistics Agency has integrated Alternate Dispute Resolution techniques into its procurement and personnel processes. Employees have been trained as mediators at each of their 200 facilities. At their website (www.dscc.dla.mil/doccr/adr/drafta1.html) employees and stakeholders are offered guides and best practices in dispute resolution. Beth Lagana 614-692-3280 blagana@ogc.dla.mil Treasury's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms has incorporated into its on-going, basic supervisory training a session covering the effective handling of the need-to-know of the general public and the building of skills to deal constructively with the media. Over 1000 frontline employees have participated in the training. Harriet Bobo 202/927-9510

Re-Engineering and Streamlining

The U.S. Geological Survey handles annually 3.4 million requests from customers for the 130,000 products they offer. By benchmarking and adopting best commercial practices, the agency has shortened delivery times to its customers from 60 days to 5 days or less, and at the same time was able to absorb a 15% staff reduction. Wendy Hassibe 303-202-4617 wrhassibe@rmmcmail.cr.usgs.gov The Federal Aviation Administration uses a digital voice recording system to streamline its acquisition process and to improve communication with its potential vendors. The streamlined process saved FAA several months in processing time and over $750,000. Dorothy Sirk 202/267-7895 The Small Business Administration has created a simplified, one page form for loan applications for those customers seeking $100,000 or less. The Low-Doc program has shortened processing times from two weeks to an average of four days. Sixty percent of SBA's new loan approvals utilize the Low-Doc process. Jim Van Wert 202/205-7024

Partnerships
Using authorities permitted under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act, the St. Paul Office of the Internal Revenue Service and the State of Minnesota Revenue Office have developed formal agreements on job exchanges, training, quality assurance, automation, and audit procedures. Clyde Thurston 612-290-4019

New Technology

The Bureau of the Census has created a website on the Internet (www.census.gov) where most of the Bureau's vast repository of demographic, economic, and business statistics can be accessed and obtained from anywhere in the world. Alan Balutis (Commerce) 202-482-3490 Bureau of the Census 301-457-4100 The Internal Revenue Service in San Francisco automated paper forms used internally by employees and implemented an automated response system which can be triggered by a phone call. One of the internal processes which had taken over 6 hours to complete was reduced to less than a minute. Marlena Wong 510/637-2900

Leadership

Employees at the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration are issued "action passes" by Administrator, Ricardo Martinez. If a proposed action is consistent with the agency's mission, legal and ethical, good for the customer, an efficient use of resources, and something the employee is willing to take responsibility for, he/she is encouraged and empowered to take action. NHTSA 202/366-0123 The Department of Energy encourages risk taking by issuing "forgiveness" cards. Employees receive assurance that management will support them when they innovate even when the outcome is not known. Florence Blair 301/903-2790 florence.blair@em.doe.gov

Organizational Design
The Red River Army Depot created self-managed, cross-organizational work teams to develop and implement specific customer initiatives. The new structure has increased productivity of the Deport by 700% and reduced customer costs by 20%. Joe Ann Pippen 903/334-2523

Human Resource Development
The Department of Transportation encourages its Bureaus to utilize alternate work site plans for their employees. Telecommuting, virtual officing, and alternate Federal worksites are some of the work site options available to most DOT employees. Gail Batt Gail.Batt@OST.DOT.gov

Let us know your success stories. As importantly, let us know your barriers, too.

Address your comments ...	if you email	toolbox.npr@npr.gsa.gov
	if you fax	202/632-0390 att'n Tool Box
	if you mail	National Performance Review att'n Tool Box 750 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20006

Fifteen Common Sense Tool Categories

• Leadership - Tools used by leaders to inspire accomplishment and innovation in the workforce by their vision and their behavior. Tools that encourage and reward risk-taking.
• Communication - Tools for employees to effectively express their goals and values to peers, customers, and all stakeholders. Tools that sharpen listening skills.
• Customer-Focus - Tools to empower and energize service providers to meet and exceed internal and external customer expectations.
• Innovation and Learning- Tools to ensure that continuous learning becomes an integral part of the workplace to address contemporary demands and capitalize on future trends.
• Organizational Design - Tools to prudently reshape organizations so that they can meet the demands of their customers or enterprise.
• Partnerships - Tools that encourage and solidify relationships across traditional organizational or business lines to improve products or the delivery of services to customers.
• Financial Management - Tools, including budget and financial controls, that create fiscal accountability to the American taxpayers without diminishing customer service.
• Procurement and Acquisition- Tools that obtain needed goods and services timely, fairly, and at best price.
• Strategic Planning and Performance Measurement - Tools that establish organizational goals that are consistent with agency mission and can be measured for anticipated results.
• Empowered Teams - Tools that strategically align skills within agencies to address common goals and to be jointly accountable for outcomes
• New Technology - Tools that ensure that automation and technology continually support organizational goals, customer expectations, and employee needs.
• Re-Engineering and Streamlining - Tools that practice change management and embed efficiency, innovation, and customer service into the agency culture.
• Human Resource Development - Tools that empower employees and create partnerships with management. Tools that create a family-friendly work site.
• Legal Support - Tools that eliminate burdensome regulations. Tools that create alternatives to resource-consuming litigation.
• Administrative Services - Tools that free employees from non value-added process requirements so they are freed to focus of product quality and customer service.

Sample Tools Within the Fifteen Tool Categories

• Leadership
  • Developing Leaders
  • Changing Culture
  • Creating a Vision
  • Aligning People and Systems
• Communication
  • Communicating Change
  • Giving Feedback
  • Listening to Customers, Stakeholders and Employees
  • Presenting Ideas
• Customer Focus
  • Creating Definitions and Standards
  • Conducting Surveys
  • Analyzing Customer Needs and Expectations
  • Incorporating Customer Feedback
  • Creating One-stop Shopping
  • Communicating with the Customer
  • Developing Media Skills
• Innovation and Learning
  • High-performing Organizations
  • Creating Continuous Learning Systems
  • Instilling Creativity
  • Utilizing Lessons-Learned
  • Building a Learning Organization
  • Cross-Training
  • Matching Learning with Workplace Requirements
  • Obtaining Waivers
  • Fostering Reinvention Laboratories
• Organizational Design
  • Organizing around Customers
  • Delayering
  • Franchising
  • Integrating Product Teams
• Organizational Design (cont.)
  • Privatizing
  • Consolidating Functions
• Partnerships
  • Labor Unions and Management
  • Cross-Agency
  • Government and Industry
  • Agency and Stakeholders
  • City, State, and Local Governments
  • Communities
• Financial Management
  • Budget and Planning
  • Accounting and Financial Services
  • Internal and Financial Management Controls
  • Prioritization of Programs
  • Cost/Benefit Analyses
• Procurement and Acquisition
  • Streamlining Process
  • Aligning Procurement Expertise with Operations
  • Acquisition Reform
  • Using Smart Cards and Credit Cards
• Strategic Planning and Performance Measurement
  • Building Performance Management
  • Creating Performance Measures
  • Utilizing Metrics and Definitions
• Empowered Teams
  • Team Building
  • Redefining Management and Employee Roles
  • Negotiating Empowerment Boundaries
  • Delegating Authority and Responsibility
  • Rewarding and Recognizing Teams
• New Technology
  • Information Strategic Planning
  • Using the Internet
• New Technology (cont.)
  • Electronic Information
  • Data Sharing
  • Electronic Commerce
  • LAN Applications
  • On-line Customer Access and Transactions
  • Interactive Telecommunication
• Re-engineering and Streamlining
  • Business Process Re-engineering
  • Re-engineering Organizations
  • Benchmarking
  • Best Practices
  • Quick Streamlining
  • Continuous Process Improvements
  • Customer Involvement
• Human Resource Management
  • Changing Human Resources Roles
  • Effective Downsizing
  • Family-Friendly Worksite
  • Gain Sharing
  • Streamlining Human Resource Processes
  • Employee Assistance Programs
  • Reward and Recognition Programs
• Legal Support
  • Alternate Dispute Resolution
  • De-Regulation
  • Changing Attorney Roles
• Administrative Services
  • Space Utilization
  • Franchising
  • Printing Services
  • Transportation Services
  • Coordinated Agency Service Units

Human Resource Development

For more details check out;

• Template for Personnel Flexibilities for use by Agencies issued by Office of Personnel Management.1996.
• Reinventing Human Resource Management from National Performance Review, September 1993

Information on these and other personnel topics is available from OPM via three principal sources:

1. Mainstreet is OPM's computer bulletin board, which may be accessed by modem at (202) 606-4800, contains extensive and detailed guidance and information organized by 22 topical "forums". Examples of the forums and the information available on each:

Downsizing/RIF contains copies of current regulations and case law summaries, as well as information on related topics such as buyouts, workforce restructuring, and voluntary early retirement. Publications include: