The Federal Management Playbook

Key Takeaways

1. Define success through goals, stakeholders, resources, and timeframes

Clarity on outcome and output goals is essential to giving your entire organization a common target to aim for and measure against.

Four dimensions of success. Effective federal managers and leaders focus on four key dimensions:

1. Goals: Define clear priority outcomes to achieve
2. Stakeholders: Identify and define desired impacts at individual, organizational, and national levels
3. Resources: Determine what is needed in the toolkit to achieve outcomes
4. Timeframes: Establish short-term, mid-term, and long-term horizons

These dimensions interact dynamically as programs evolve. When elements change, others usually need rebalancing. Considering all four dimensions and their elements is critical for creating strategies, measuring progress, and avoiding failures.

2. Empower and motivate your people as the most valuable asset

You have to give them cover and incentivize them. Get the best advice from them and use them.

Tap into public service motivation. Most federal employees are driven by a calling to serve the nation and make a difference. Leaders should:

• Appeal to this sense of purpose and mission
• Provide opportunities for growth and development
• Recognize and reward contributions
• Create a culture of innovation and calculated risk-taking

Build effective teams. Success hinges on:

• Clearly communicating vision and goals
• Fostering collaboration across silos
• Empowering decision-making at appropriate levels
• Providing necessary resources and support
• Celebrating team achievements

3. Manage technology as a tool, not a solution

It's never about the technology. It's about sponsorship and clarity of purpose, and about discipline in decision-making, customer needs, execution and training.

Focus on outcomes, not inputs. Technology should enable mission success, not drive it. Key considerations:

• Clearly define the problem to be solved
• Assess whether technology is the right solution
• Evaluate existing vs. new technologies
• Ensure adequate testing and user feedback
• Plan for implementation, training, and adoption

Balance the "three big rocks":

1. Scope of requirements
2. Cost
3. Schedule

Prioritize which factor is most critical and be prepared to adjust the others accordingly. Build in flexibility through modular approaches and frequent reassessment.

4. Design organizations to align with mission and customer needs

If you're going to drive the agenda, you need to know what levers you have, what the regulations actually require, and what will happen if you change them.

Organizational structure matters. Key principles:

• Align structure with mission and strategy
• Focus on customer needs and outcomes
• Break down silos to foster collaboration
• Balance centralization and decentralization
• Build in flexibility to adapt to changing needs

Consider shared services. Benefits include:

• Allowing management to focus on mission
• Standardizing best processes
• Improving services
• Reducing costs

Carefully assess which functions are core to the mission and which can be effectively shared or outsourced.

5. Communicate effectively to drive change and build support

Your words have consequences—be sure they're the right ones.

Develop a comprehensive strategy. Key elements:

• Define clear, measurable goals
• Identify and understand key stakeholders
• Tailor messages to different audiences
• Use multiple channels and formats
• Build in feedback loops to assess effectiveness

Crisis communication principles:

1. Be transparent and timely
2. Show empathy and concern
3. Provide clear, actionable information
4. Address rumors and misinformation promptly
5. Demonstrate leadership and accountability

Effective communication builds trust, aligns efforts, and drives successful outcomes.

6. Leverage contracting to achieve goals, not just acquire goods

The key is moving quickly to avoid bureaucratic inertia. If you don't, opponents will have time to muster opposition before the advantages of a shared-service provider become clear.

Distinguish between contractors and consultants:

• Contractors: Provide defined products or services based on clear specifications
• Consultants: Offer specialized advice and problem-solving to address complex challenges

Keys to successful contracting:

• Clearly define requirements and desired outcomes
• Choose the right contract type (fixed-price, time-and-materials, cost-plus)
• Build in performance incentives
• Foster collaboration between government and contractor teams
• Maintain flexibility to adapt to changing needs

Consider value-based arrangements that align contractor payments with achieved outcomes.

7. Make risk-based decisions to optimize outcomes

Organizations, even federal organizations, create value by taking informed risks—and lose value by failing to manage risks.

Understand different types of risk:

• Rewarded risk: Voluntary risks with potential for great value
• Unrewarded risk: Inevitable negative outcomes to be minimized
• Strategic risk: High-impact risks affecting core mission

Implement a risk management framework:

1. Identify potential risks
2. Assess likelihood and impact
3. Develop mitigation strategies
4. Monitor and adjust continuously

Balance risk-taking with risk management to drive innovation and improve outcomes while protecting against unacceptable downsides.

8. Foster innovation to solve complex challenges

If you don't use them, you're tying your hands behind your back.

Create an innovation-friendly environment:

• Encourage calculated risk-taking
• Provide resources for experimentation
• Celebrate successes and learn from failures
• Break down silos and foster diverse teams
• Look outside government for inspiration

Strategies to drive innovation:

• Use challenges and prizes to crowdsource solutions
• Create "skunkworks" or innovation labs
• Partner with academia, industry, and non-profits
• Implement rapid prototyping and iterative approaches
• Scale successful pilots across the organization

Innovation is critical to addressing evolving challenges and meeting rising citizen expectations.

9. Work constructively with oversight entities

Play ball. Play nice. Play smart.

Key oversight entities:

• Government Accountability Office (GAO)
• Inspectors General (IGs)
• Congressional committees
• Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
• Department-level management offices

Strategies for positive engagement:

• Be proactive in sharing information
• Demonstrate commitment to improvement
• Use oversight findings to drive positive change
• Build relationships with key oversight staff
• Highlight successes and progress

View oversight as an opportunity to improve performance and build credibility, not as an adversarial process.

10. Political appointees and career staff: Align for success

Respect the career. They know it better than anyone. If you don't use that, you're tying your own hands.

For political appointees:

• Recognize the value of career staff expertise
• Communicate vision and priorities clearly
• Provide cover for calculated risk-taking
• Build coalitions to drive change
• Balance short-term wins with long-term impact

For career staff:

• Understand and support administration priorities
• Provide honest, constructive feedback
• Offer creative solutions to achieve goals
• Maintain institutional knowledge and continuity
• Adapt to changing political landscapes

Effective collaboration between political and career leaders is essential for achieving lasting impact and serving the public interest.

Last updated: August 16, 2024

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