Performance

Trust in government, and opportunities to rebuild it

Confidence in state and local government may have been waning in recent years, but there are ways communities can help to bolster their resident’s faith in them.

  • By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene

Tips to Ensure Governors Start Off on the Right Foot

A recent report offers new officeholders guidance on how to hit the ground running.

  • By Daniel C. Vock

How One State Is Excelling at Process Improvement

Every week Nebraska is contacted by other states to learn how it is saving staff time, streamlining projects and delivering better customer services. Here’s why.

  • By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene

Virtual Meetings Stymie Creative Teamwork

A new study finds that in-person teams generate more ideas than remote teams working on the same problem -- possibly because when people focus on the narrow field of vision of a screen, their thinking becomes narrower as well.

  • By Edmund L. Andrews, Futurity

A Quick and Low-Cost Way to Drive Results-Focused Government

COMMENTARY | Creating a “community of practice,” where agency staff interested in evidence, data and innovation gather regularly, can help to build a culture of learning and improvement.

  • By Andrew Feldman

Cutbacks in a Crisis: Seven Ways to Do It Right

COMMENTARY | Strategic cutback management is an approach that can help address the Covid-19 budgetary impact and lay the groundwork for more effective government.

  • By Andrew Feldman and Robert D. Behn

Beyond Buzzwords and Dashboards: Effective Approaches to Performance Management

In a new book, Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene assess the state of efforts to improve state and local government operations.

  • By Tom Shoop

Caught in the Cycle of ‘Urgent Over Important’? This Leadership Strategy Can Help

COMMENTARY | A data-driven approach to governing, PerformanceStat is an effective way to focus on long-term challenges.

  • By Andrew Feldman and Martin O'Malley

Streamlining Local Health Department Inspections and Permitting

No two agencies are alike, which made designing a software solution for preconfigured forms and procedures difficult in the past.

  • By Dave Nyczepir

Investing in Your Employees' Best Ideas

COMMENTARY | "Baltimore put money down on its own creativity and has raked in results. Other cities should make the same bet," writes former Baltimore budget director Andrew Kleine, previewing his new book.

  • By Andrew Kleine

With Pay for Performance, Money Is Not the Problem

Performance management practices in business are undergoing a sea change to address essentially the same problems.

  • By Howard Risher, Special to Route Fifty

9 U.S. Cities Certified for Excellence in Data-Driven Decision-making

This stamp of approval for governance is certainly not a rubber stamp.

  • By Michael Grass
Featured eBooks
The State of Trust in Government
Cybersecurity in State and Local Government
Building Data Literacy in the State and Local Workforce

Bloomberg’s What Works Cities Program Hits a Big Milestone But Its Work Is Far From Done

Reaching its 100-city goal, the network focused on improving data-driven management practices in mid-size municipalities is continuing to foster “sustainability of practice” in city halls.

  • By Michael Grass

Transforming Cities and the Need to Create ‘Greater Capacity for Change’

In a contributed Q&A, Anchorage’s chief innovation officer discusses the What Works Cities program and Code for America with Jennifer Pahlka, CfA’s founder and executive director.

  • By Brendan Babb and Jennifer Pahlka

In Government, ‘Failure Is Just an Opportunity to Learn’

Public policy makers in Colorado consider a second round of pathbreaking entrepreneurial-style problem-solving pitches.

  • By John Tomasic

State and Local Evidence-Based Data-Driven Policy Movement Plows Forward

Highlights from the Denver kickoff event for Route Fifty’s Roadshow series.

  • By John Tomasic

Behavioral Insights: A New Tool for Performance Management

Knowledge of the situational factors that may push people to make adverse choices has helped cities uncover new approaches to tackle longstanding challenges.

  • By Michael Kalin and Lindsay Moore

Route Fifty’s 1st Roadshow Stop Is in Denver

Join us on April 18, where we’ll explore the DNA of good governance with Colorado Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock.

  • By Route Fifty Staff

A Data-Driven Governance Test for Seattle: Transforming Homeless Services

Two years ago, the Emerald City was among the first to be named to the What Works Cities program and chose to focus on human-services contracting reform. What can other cities learn from Seattle’s experience?

  • By Michael Grass

What Works Cities Launches New Certification Program for Municipal Data Practices

As the footprint of the WWC network grows, “other cities will want to copy the cities that do well,” according to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

  • By Michael Grass

The Challenges of ‘Data Science for Social Good’ in a New Era of ‘Alternative Facts’

What can policy professionals do to combat misinformation and confusion that sows the seeds of distrust in their important work?

  • By Michael Grass