For Leaders Serving Children, Adults, and Families
From Author’s Note: I hope this will be a useful guide for those who are interested in understanding performance management, those who want to learn how to develop performance-management systems, and those who are looking for practical knowledge about how to implement such systems in order to “manage to outcomes” as Mario Morino points out in his book Leap of Reason.
Learn more about Leap of Reason, which was Virtual CAP’s Feature of the Month for January.
The Pillars of Performance
- Pillar 1 – Performance Leadership
- Element 1 – Operational Leaders
- Element 2 – Operational Managers
- Pillar 2 – Management System
- Element 1 – Accountability Systems
- Element 2 – Results-Focused Budgeting
- Pillar 3 – Information and Knowledge Production
- Element 1 – Measuring and Monitoring Systems
- Element 2 – External Evaluation
How to Get Started (Introspection)
- To help the agency develop a top-to-bottom consensus on what each department, program, and person contributes to the value of what the organization produces
- To create a blueprint for the (re)design of the agency and its programs to make it robust and sustainable and its work measurably effective
- To design the performance-management system that the agency will use to keep its work at the highest levels of quality, effectiveness, and efficiency
Appendix II features a Pre-Workshop Worksheet to be completed for each program within your organization.
From Introspection to Culture Change
Chapter 5 offers some basic points for implementing performance management and monitoring.
Easy-to-Apply Tools
Appendix III offers web-based tools that can be used to assess organizational strengths and capacity for managing performance, and also to chart the areas that need further development. Additionally, tools to help determine when an organization is ready to undertake an evaluation, either formative or summative.