How to do performance reports for the Governor

What are Governor’s Performance Reports?

GMAP as a practice is built around open forums where the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of critical agency business processes and services are candidly evaluated and monitored. Staff with the authority to make policy, budget, and procedural changes are in the room.

Governor’s performance reports focus on high-priority initiatives in Governor Gregoire’s key result areas. They typically involve multiple agencies and processes that require inter-agency and sometimes intergovernmental cooperation.

A performance report is a dialogue, not a presentation. The leader – or staff – presenting reports may have a few minutes in the beginning to make introductory comments and introduce a topic. Once the report is underway, the Leadership Team may ask very specific and detailed questions about, or direct attention to, any material in the report. It may help to review a list of sample questions.

How is the room set up and what are other logistics considerations?

The room layout is designed to bring the Governor’s Leadership Team and agency leaders together with the information needed to make decisions. See report tips for a summary of logistics.

A dry run for those not familiar with the setting and equipment is often useful. A dry run is not a rehearsal, because GMAP is a dialogue and not a prepared presentation. Logistics will evolve as GMAP improves its processes and incorporates new and more flexible data presentation and management approaches.

How are measures and reports developed?

The Governor’s GMAP analysts lead a measure team responsible for developing GMAP measures and reports. The measure teams include GMAP leads and technical staff from relevant agencies, and analysts from the OFM Budget Office and the Governor’s Policy Office.

Measure team membership, schedules, and approaches vary depending on the complexity of the subject, the number of agencies involved, and whether the topics addressed are in early development or mature.

What are common pitfalls in preparing for a report?

Regardless of the presentation and reporting method, GMAP analysts have observed four common pitfalls in preparing for a report:

1. Approaching reports as a presentation:  A performance report is a focused, data-based report. Content is more important than appearance.  It is important to tell a story and draw connections. The Governor's performance reports are very interactive and rarely go through the material in the sequence that slides and data are presented. Not all preparation conventions for presentations are applicable, e.g., using only a limited number of bullet points on a slide.
2. Approaching GMAP as a policy discussion: The Leadership Team discusses high-level indicators and new approaches to set context. GMAP focuses on how well key policies and programs are executed.
3. Insufficient analysis: An analysis is not a restatement of what outcome data shows. A good analysis provides an evidence-based explanation of what factors influence reported results.  For example, it is not enough to assert that employee turnover due to low salaries drives poor performance. It is important to dig further. Does evidence from employee surveys indicate salary issues drive turnover? Do you conduct exit surveys, and does that data confirm that is the primary driver? How do your agency or program salaries compare to similar positions in peer organizations?
4. Vague action plans: A key result from a performance report is a concrete and specific action plan. The action plan should identify specific tasks to accomplish before the next performance session, who will be accountable for them, and when they will be done.