In our last post, we introduced the first principle government agencies should adopt in effort to dramatically cut costs while simultaneously driving improved performance; the importance of government agencies to understand their current environment. Today we will wrap up the two other principles to predict future outcomes and learn how changes impact those outcomes. Principle 2: Predict Future Outcomes

Welcome back and happy new year. In our last post in 2011, we wrapped up our discussion on how one commercial organization, Wal-Mart, has effectively used analytics to improve its operational performance. We also provided some examples of government departments and agencies that have implemented analytics and explained how they are using analytics to improve their service to citizens.

Key 1: Live the SLA

It has often been said that what doesn’t get measured doesn’t get done. Performance metrics are the indicators and statistics an organization uses to gauge performance and to measure progress against desired outcomes. Performance metrics mean accountability. Leaders are accountable for the targets that are established, and supervisors, managers, and employees are accountable for meeting the metrics established by their leadership.