Framework Part C

Having decided to implement the new process, the agency now faces the formidable challenge of turning concepts into reality. An implementation plan should be developed that spells out the work that needs to be done, with time frames, milestones, decision points, and resource allocations. Training and workforce issues are important elements of an effective implementation plan. Pilot testing provides a method for refining the process and building support for full implementation of the new process across the agency.

7.1 Has the Agency Established a Transition Team and Developed a Comprehensive Implementation Plan?

The agency needs to establish a transition team to manage the implementation process. This team should include the project sponsor, the process owner, members of the reengineering team, and key executives, managers, and staff from the areas directly affected by changeover from the old process to the new.

Agency executives and the transition team should develop a detailed implementation plan that lays out the road to the new process. Critical elements and milestones should be identified and their progress closely monitored by the executive steering committee. Timetables for all actions should be specified, and the individuals responsible for overseeing and performing tasks should be assigned. Highly visible executive-level leadership and encouragement is especially important at this stage. Agency leaders must show that they are personally committed to seeing the new process put in place.

Has the agency prepared a written plan for pilot testing and agencywide implementation of the new process that:

a. Identifies all tasks, timeframes, and needed resources for an orderly transition?

b. Structures the roll out of the new process in a way reasonably suited to the nature of the process and the work and structure of the agency?

c. Assigns roles and responsibilities for implementation to the individuals who will do the work of the new process?

d. Provides a means for collecting and sharing implementation problems and solutions?

e. Provides for close monitoring during implementation?

Has a transition team been established to guide the reengineering effort? Is the team made up of the project sponsor, the process owner, members of the reengineering team, and key executives, managers, and staff from the areas directly affected by the implementation of the new process?

Has the transition team made necessary arrangements with the agency's administrative offices to transition smoothly from the old process to the new (e.g,. budgeting, accounting, purchasing, maintenance, and legal counsel)?

Are executives and managers affected by the process change actively promoting and facilitating the implementation of the new process?

7.2 Has the Transition Team Addressed Workforce Training and Redeployment Issues?

Training and redeploying the workforce is often a major challenge and generally requires substantial preparation time. When a process is redesigned and new information systems are introduced, many of the tasks workers perform are radically changed or redistributed. Some positions may be eliminated or cut back, while others are created or modified. Workers may need to handle a broader range of responsibilities, rely less on direct supervision, and develop new skills.

Has the transition team identified the new tasks, roles, responsibilities, reporting relationships, and training needs required by the new process? Have position descriptions and classifications been revised to reflect the new skills and responsibilities of staff in the new process?

Has the transition team identified how many employees, and which employees, would be affected by redeployment, retraining, or reductions-in-force? Has the agency developed training programs?

Has the transition team met with other governmental agencies and private businesses to learn about the successful ways to plan workforce redeployment, retraining, and reductions?

Are agency executives working closely with employee unions to minimize the potential for adverse effects of the implementation on its members, and to make use of union suggestions where feasible?

Has the agency provided career counselors and outplacement assistance as needed to help employees plan new career paths or seek new employment?

7.3 Are Pilot Tests Being Used to Evaluate and Refine the New Process Design?

Pilot testing is an effective--and usually necessary--tool for moving the agency successfully to full implementation. Pilot testing allows the agency to (1) evaluate the soundness of the proposed process in actual practice, (2) identify and correct problems with the new design, and (3) refine performance measures. Also, successful pilot testing will help strengthen support for full-scale implementation from employees, outside stakeholders, the Congress, and the public, and help secure the funding needed for a smooth rollout.

The length and extent of pilot testing will vary depending on the complexity of the changes being driven by the new process. For example, a complex process that affects regional offices across the nation may require a series of pilot tests. Agencies should be careful, however, not to test beyond the point of diminishing returns. No matter how much testing is done, only full implementation can reveal all of the potential problems with the new process.

The transition team should develop a formal evaluation process to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of the new process, both during pilot tests and full implementation, in meeting the agency's performance goals. The process should also allow the agency to pinpoint trouble spots, so that corrective actions can be developed quickly.

Has the transition team selected a pilot testing strategy that is suited to the new process and considers the concerns of stakeholders?

Has the transition team ensured that the testing unit fully understands the pilot and that employees are sufficiently trained and understand their roles?

Has the transition team developed performance measures and data gathering procedures to be used during the pilot? Do the measures reflect project goals?

Has the transition team defined success criteria for the pilot test?

Has the transition team carefully measured the performance of the pilot test and identified any corrective actions required?

Has the agency gathered customer, stakeholder, and employee feedback about the pilot test? Were any needed corrective actions identified?

Has the transition team made changes to the design of the new process as a result of cost or performance problems uncovered during the pilot? Has the revised process design been pilot tested with satisfactory results before proceeding to full implementation?

OMB Circular A-11, "Preparation and Submission of Budget Estimates," June 13, 1996.

The System Assessment Framework: A Guide for Reviewing Information Management and Technology Issues in the Federal Government, Version 1 (GAO/AIMD-10.1.12, August 1996).

Executive Guide: Improving Mission Performance Through Strategic Information Management and Technology (GAO/AIMD-94-115, May 1994). See Practice 11: Upgrade skills and knowledge of line and information management professionals.

ASSESSMENT ISSUE 8

The implementation of a new process is typically the most failure-prone phase of the reengineering project because of an organization's natural resistance to change. Frequently, the greatest challenges lie not in managing the technical or operational aspects of change, but in managing the human dimensions of change. Widely shared agency perceptions, based on assumptions deeply rooted in the agency’s culture, can translate into a belief that reengineering is unnecessary, unworkable, or unfair. As indicated in assessment issue 3, agency executives need to begin managing change early in the reengineering effort.

Some experts caution that unless planning and accountability for change management is given a separate focus, the effort will not be managed well. During the implementation phase especially, agency executives must be in the forefront in dealing with the social, psychological, and political resistance to changing the way work is done. Executives must also recognize that their own roles and responsibilities may need to undergo change as well.

8.1 Are Agency Executives and the Transition Team Refining and Implementing the Change Management Plan?

As noted earlier in assessment issue 3, agency executives should begin building a change management plan from the very beginning of the project. Executives and the transition team should revise this plan to (1) present the goals and objectives of the new process in concrete, "nuts-and-bolts" language and (2) link the new process to specific issues, questions, and challenges involved in implementation (e.g., work roles, relationships, performance expectations, supervisory methods, and career path). The plan should include periodic checkpoints for assessing and responding to the opinions and attitudes of staff about the perceived consequences of the new process.

Has the agency refined its plan for facilitating needed cultural changes across the agency? Does the plan:

a. Identify specific change management tasks?

b. Align the change management tasks with the project and implementation timetables?

c. Assign responsibilities to specific individuals for carrying out change management tasks?

d. Provide for periodic assessments of employee needs, concerns, and reactions?

Did the agency use outside experts to help its executives and the transition team to:

a. Become more aware of underlying organizational and cultural issues that can pose obstacles to reengineering?

b. Incorporate proven techniques for managing these obstacles and achieving change objectives?

Breaking down cultural assumptions can be uncomfortable for both staff and management. Senior executives will need to reiterate the performance problems, customer dissatisfactions, budgetary pressures facing the agency, and opportunities to achieve agency goals by finding better ways to do work. By their own example, executives should encourage staff to question current assumptions about how the agency's work should be done. This creates a more open atmosphere to admit frustrations, offer suggestions, and support something new and better. By taking these steps, executives introduce three important new ideas to the agency's culture--a process-centered view of the agency; the possibility that "things really can change around here;'" and the idea that groups and individuals can get credit for implementing solutions. The agency's culture will gradually change as staff come to share their perceptions of the new situation and collectively subscribe to new norms, expectations, and responsibilities.

Have senior executives clearly identified and explained the agency's concerns regarding customer service issues and other change drivers, and emphasized that major improvements are imperative?

Has the communications effort directly addressed the common objections to change, and explained why change is necessary, workable, and beneficial? Was the communications effort begun early in the process (once customer service issues and performance improvement goals have been identified)?

What formal and informal opportunities have senior executives provided for employees to provide feedback about the operational and personal problems they face during implementation?

Have senior executives made a commitment to assist employees to make the transition to the new process? How was this commitment communicated and reinforced to the employees?

Have executives called attention to the efforts, contributions, and innovations of employees during the reengineering project, and widely shared the credit for success with everyone?

8.3 Has the Agency Assisted Staff and Managers to Take on New Roles and Responsibilities?

Staff may lack confidence in their ability to do their new jobs in the reengineered process. For example, workers may feel uncomfortable with a new role of having to deal directly with the public. Similarly, those who previously followed well-defined procedures, and were rewarded for doing so, may now have to make judgments and select procedures appropriate to a new situation: they are rated not only on compliance, but also on problem-solving abilities. The change management plan should include provisions for helping employees to overcome concerns about the new ways of doing business.

Executives and managers often speak of resistance to change from employees or outside groups. But management itself can resist the full implications of changing a work process. As a result of reengineering, staff often have a broader range of responsibilities and are empowered to make decisions and take actions with less direct supervision than before. Executives and managers must establish new working relationships with employees, placing more emphasis on their role as facilitators, teachers, or coaches, and less as directors and controllers. This transition can be difficult. Executives and managers who fail to change with their staff put the reengineering effort at great risk.

Has the agency provided training to its staff, managers, and executives to prepare them for the new roles and responsibilities called for by the new process?

Have executives and managers negotiated new, clear understandings about how authority and responsibility for the new process will be allocated?

Have executives included managers in making any needed changes to the agency's managerial structure?

Has the agency reoriented its performance appraisal and reward process to the implementation of the new process and the fulfillment of performance improvement goals?

Have executives involved managers in defining the agency's policies and procedures for using agency performance indicators to assess managerial and staff performance?

Has the agency provided career counseling or outplacement assistance to individuals at all ranks who have lost their positions, who must develop new career plans, or who chose to resign?

Executive Guide: Effectively Implementing the Government Performance and Results Act (GAO/GGD-96-118, June 1996). Step 1, Define mission and desired outcomes; Practice 10, Create incentives.

Executive Guide: Improving Mission Performance Through Strategic Information Management and Technology (GAO/AIMD-94-115, May 1994). See Practice 1: Recognize and communicate the urgency to change information management practices; Practice 2: Get line management involved and create ownership; Practice 3: Take action and maintain momentum; and Practice 11: Upgrade skills and knowledge of line and information management and professionals.

ASSESSMENT ISSUE 9

An agency has no way of knowing if the new process has produced the desired results unless it has meaningful performance measures. Good performance measures generally include a mix of outcome, output, and efficiency measures. Outcome measures assess whether the process has actually achieved the intended results. Output measures examine the products and/or services produced by the process, such as the number of claims processed. Efficiency measures evaluate such things as the cost of the process and the time it takes to deliver the output of the process (a product or service) to the customer. Ongoing performance measurement provides the feedback which is so critical for continual improvement and future successes.

The agency should be gathering performance data on the new process--just as it should be doing for its other processes, as called for by GPRA. The data should be complete, accurate, and consistent enough to determine how well the process is meeting its performance goals and whether further improvements are needed.

Did the transition team identify the necessary data for routinely assessing the performance of the reengineered process on a long-term basis? Do the performance measures include a mixture of outcome, output, and efficiency measures? Are the measures linked to the agency's strategic goals?

What measures for the new process did the agency actually decide to put in place? Do they differ from the team's recommendations? If so, why?

Are the measures integrated into the agencywide performance measurement system?

As part of its business case for implementing the new process, the agency should have established specific performance goals for the reengineered process. These goals should include a mixture of intermediate goals to be met at various stages during the implementation phase, as well as ultimate performance goals for the process after it has been fully implemented and institutionalized. The intermediate goals are particularly important because the agency should be able to start showing a return on investment in the early stages of implementation.

Are agency executives, managers, and staff actually using the measurement data being gathered to assess the new process' performance?

Do the measures show that performance goals are being met and that the project is on track for achieving its expected return on investment?

What action is the agency taking to correct any shortfalls in expected performance?

9.3 Is the Agency Using Performance Information to Continually Improve the New Process?

The gains achieved by the new process can erode unless the agency continually monitors its performance and makes further refinements. Managers should use performance information to continually improve work processes, identify performance gaps, and set additional improvement goals, as needed.

OMB Circular A-130, "Management of Federal Information Resources," February 8, 1996.

OMB Circular A-11, "Preparation and Submission of Budget Estimates," June 13, 1966.

Executive Guide: Effectively Implementing the Government Performance and Results Act (GAO/GGD-96-118, June 1996). See Step 3: Use performance information.

Executive Guide: Improving Mission Performance Through Strategic Information Management and Technology (GAO/AIMD-94-115, May 1994). See Practice 5: Measure the performance of key mission delivery processes.

PART C

ASSESSING PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION AND RESULTS

ASSESSMENT ISSUE 7

ASSESSMENT ISSUE 8

ASSESSMENT ISSUE 9