Article 18. Work Measurement in State Government is Rare and Ignored.
The Government Performance Project (GPP) compares the performance of State Governments in several categories. It praised Missouri’s Department of Transportation (MODOT), for knowing the number of highway miles an employee could strip per day and that district supervisors monitored what was being done as quoted in Article 16. “How your State Compares in the Current Financial Crisis“. Even though I know there are other instances of Work Measurement this is the only one that I have found in state Government.
The Problem is that this rare instance of work measurement though sited and recognized by the GPP was not understood. The GPP compares all 50 of the states each year and rates them using the criteria and categories listed below. Although the work done by the GPP is highly commendable it has missed the point in this instance. Work Measurement does not appear in any of the categories but should be the foundation for providing real numbers for several categories. I have indicated below where Work Measurement (WM) should be providing the basic input data and its importance by the number of stars, five stars being the most important.
Money Criteria
Long-Term Outlook
Budget Process (WM Data)**
Structural Balance
Contracting/ Purchasing (WM Data)***
Financial Controls/Reporting (WM Data)*
People Criteria
Strategic Workforce Planning (WM Data)***
Hiring (WM Data)*****
Retaining Employees
Training and Development
Managing Employee Performance (WM Data)*****
Infrastructure Criteria
Capital Planning
Project Monitoring (WM Data)**
Maintenance (WM Data)**
Internal Coordination
Intergovernmental Coordination
Information Criteria
Strategic Direction
Budgeting for Performance (WM Data)****
Managing for Performance (WM Data)*****
Program Evaluation
Electronic Government
Work Measurement should be used in all the above cases because it provides the correct number of man-hours required for a function to do a specific set of tasks. If Work measurement is not used then all of the referenced categories are using estimated man-hours subject to internal manipulation and negotiation.
I have related two very different approaches to improving efficiency in state government both are based on work measurement “Cost and Schedule” and “Work Improvement Teams”. For recommendations on when and how each should be applied see: Article 12. “Which Approach to use in State Government “Cost and Schedule or “Work Improvement Teams”. Efficiency in government starts by determining the best set of processes to perform a function and measuring how long it takes to complete the processes. Performance is monitored on a timely basis and reported to upper management becoming the input for decision making in the areas above.
