Although this blog is mostly associated with the collaborative website project on PM in Partnership, sometimes I might blog on other things, too.
Today, I have a plea for help associated with another project I've been working on - called Performance, Management, Measurement and Information . This is a project the IDeA (where I work) has been carrying out jointly with the Audit Commission - and it's really focused on good PM in local government (in England and Wales).
Priorities
Anyway, we're currently working on a guidance briefing on identifying priorities and non-priorities. I have to admit that we've found this surprisingly difficult, trying to explain a rather complex thing in a clear way that doesn't muddle things further. We'd find it really helpful to get some examples about where things have gone really well because priorities were clear and the process of identifying priorities and non-priorities was transparent. Please share those comments on the IDeA Knowledge Discussion forum in our specific thread on the topic. We are considering developing some case studies in this area, so every example would help.
Using EFQM, Balanced Scorecard and more
As part of the PMMI project, we published a while ago a paper called the Review of Performance Improvement Models and Tools, which covers some of the more widely used PM models like Balanced Scorecard and EFQM - as well as other well used tools - in a handy, brief format. It's been very popular -and in January we published a revised edition. Within the paper itself, we have a few examples and contact details of people who have been using these tools or frameworks - but it would be great to have a few more. Again, there's a specific topic in our discussion forum where you can tell us which approach you're using and how it's gone for you. It links directly from the Models page on IDeA Knowledge, so people looking at the paper will also be able to find your example.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
crime fighting partnership
According to the BBC :
Bath & District Business Crime Reduction Partnership has received the Home Office/Action Against Business Crime, Safer Business Award.
This crime-fighting partnership has been in place for over 10 years - and is made up of representatives from Bath & North East Somerset Council, Bath & North East Somerset Community Safety & Drugs Partnership, Avon & Somerset Police, Bath Chamber of Commerce and Business West.
And according to the Bath and North East Somerset website:
The Safer Business Award recognises the hard work, determination, commitment and support from all the key partners who have a responsibility to ensure that Bath remains safe, attractive and prosperous for the customers who visit, the staff who work in the city and the residents.
This scheme has been operating for 10 years and has a membership of 100 who maintain communication via a secure frequency radio link. In 2004 it formalised its structure, employed a Co-ordinator and progressed to achieving the standards for the Safer Business Award.
Congratulations!
Bath & District Business Crime Reduction Partnership has received the Home Office/Action Against Business Crime, Safer Business Award.
This crime-fighting partnership has been in place for over 10 years - and is made up of representatives from Bath & North East Somerset Council, Bath & North East Somerset Community Safety & Drugs Partnership, Avon & Somerset Police, Bath Chamber of Commerce and Business West.
And according to the Bath and North East Somerset website:
The Safer Business Award recognises the hard work, determination, commitment and support from all the key partners who have a responsibility to ensure that Bath remains safe, attractive and prosperous for the customers who visit, the staff who work in the city and the residents.
This scheme has been operating for 10 years and has a membership of 100 who maintain communication via a secure frequency radio link. In 2004 it formalised its structure, employed a Co-ordinator and progressed to achieving the standards for the Safer Business Award.
Congratulations!
The online Speaker's Corner
What is a blog? Well, you're reading one. A blog is a web log - a personal or professional daily online journal (read about blogs and blogging in the online encylopaedia - wikipedia). Blogs are increasing in popularity - seems like everyone's got one these days.
In terms of communities of practice, they can be really useful for sharing the latest developments and personal viewpoints on practice. For communities of interest, they are vital for sharing ideas - and some blogs become hubs for other blogs. Political communities of interest are more and more relying on series of individual blogs to influence opinion and policy - and often create additional sites to aggregate or bring together the views of several bloggers. Here's a US right-wing one: Pajamas Media and a US left-wing one: Leftyblogs - (word to the wise - my links to other blogs or websites are NEVER endorsements of any views unless I explicitly say so). Leftyblogs is interesting because it's organised by state - and has a requirement that bloggers write primarily about state or local politics.
Geographic blogging communities:
There are a couple of sites which are hubs for British blogging - namely Blogging Brits and Brit Blog and one for London based around the London transport map. In the US, there are more - and many rely on blog aggregators - that is, a rolling, automatically updating showing the latest blog posts from members of the community. The Bay Area is Talking is one such site - hosted by a local television station and run by a professional blogger who highlights posts of interest to those who live in the Bay Area (the greater metropolitan San Francisco-Oakland area in California).
And in local government:
Closer to home...Chester City Council runs an aggregator, too. The website shows the recent blog entries of councillors. This is a great way of showing local citizens who's been updating recently and what councillors are saying. A small but growing number of UK councillors have their own blogs. Some are better at updating than others. I've linked to a number of councillor blogs on this site (you can see them when you're on the main page) - and I'll continue to add more as I come across them. While I can't say that I endorse individual views of councillors, I certainly support the idea of communicating to constituents directly and personally via the web wholeheartedly.
As part of the ODPM sponsored local e-democracy project, councillors are encouraged to blog and councils are encouraged to try a variety of different e-consultation, e-engagement projects.
What are they saying?
Here's a sample of what some councillors* are saying:
* Why no Tory blogs? Update more regularly and I shall link you! If I've missed some - let me know, leave a comment.
In terms of communities of practice, they can be really useful for sharing the latest developments and personal viewpoints on practice. For communities of interest, they are vital for sharing ideas - and some blogs become hubs for other blogs. Political communities of interest are more and more relying on series of individual blogs to influence opinion and policy - and often create additional sites to aggregate or bring together the views of several bloggers. Here's a US right-wing one: Pajamas Media and a US left-wing one: Leftyblogs - (word to the wise - my links to other blogs or websites are NEVER endorsements of any views unless I explicitly say so). Leftyblogs is interesting because it's organised by state - and has a requirement that bloggers write primarily about state or local politics.
Geographic blogging communities:
There are a couple of sites which are hubs for British blogging - namely Blogging Brits and Brit Blog and one for London based around the London transport map. In the US, there are more - and many rely on blog aggregators - that is, a rolling, automatically updating showing the latest blog posts from members of the community. The Bay Area is Talking is one such site - hosted by a local television station and run by a professional blogger who highlights posts of interest to those who live in the Bay Area (the greater metropolitan San Francisco-Oakland area in California).
And in local government:
Closer to home...Chester City Council runs an aggregator, too. The website shows the recent blog entries of councillors. This is a great way of showing local citizens who's been updating recently and what councillors are saying. A small but growing number of UK councillors have their own blogs. Some are better at updating than others. I've linked to a number of councillor blogs on this site (you can see them when you're on the main page) - and I'll continue to add more as I come across them. While I can't say that I endorse individual views of councillors, I certainly support the idea of communicating to constituents directly and personally via the web wholeheartedly.
As part of the ODPM sponsored local e-democracy project, councillors are encouraged to blog and councils are encouraged to try a variety of different e-consultation, e-engagement projects.
What are they saying?
Here's a sample of what some councillors* are saying:
- Stuart Bruce, a Labour Councillor in Leeds, is concefrned about his ward area getting a "second-class clean up service".
- Councillor Andrew Brown, Labour, London Borough of Lewisham - has several recent posts on local licensing issues.
- Lib Dem councillors in Cardiff, Nigel Howells and John Dixon share a blog (a great way to ensure regular posting) and Cllr Howells shares the news of a grant for rowing equipment for local schools from a charitable trust set up by Sir Steve Redgrave
* Why no Tory blogs? Update more regularly and I shall link you! If I've missed some - let me know, leave a comment.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Spin the wiki
Well... there's always a risk with collaborative websites that someone's gonna say something that goes over the top, or is skewed or at worst is just plain wrong.
Wikipedia - the online encyclopaedia I've mentioned before, though generally reckoned to be pretty accurate, has been the focus of a few brouhahas over wrong content.
Now it turns out politicians are altering their own biographies to appear more... well, probably a bit more effective and upright than they really are.
Readmore about it at the 13th Floor - a blog that covers state and local government in the US. Today's post highlights the especially amusing tale of Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, and his wikipedia entry.
What about our wiki? The PMpartner site. Wrong content there? Probably, but we're hoping you'll spot our errors and fix it.
Wikipedia - the online encyclopaedia I've mentioned before, though generally reckoned to be pretty accurate, has been the focus of a few brouhahas over wrong content.
Now it turns out politicians are altering their own biographies to appear more... well, probably a bit more effective and upright than they really are.
Readmore about it at the 13th Floor - a blog that covers state and local government in the US. Today's post highlights the especially amusing tale of Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, and his wikipedia entry.
What about our wiki? The PMpartner site. Wrong content there? Probably, but we're hoping you'll spot our errors and fix it.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Community spaces
More and more communities are setting up collaborative websites in one form or another. It's a great way for communities of interest or practice to share ideas, knowledge and news. We are working on nurturing a community of practice based on better performance management in partnerships. It's early days for us (Day 2, in fact) but here are a few community of interest or practice sites that look good: PurpleOcean, a labour union site, and the North Carolina Democratic Party site.
But there are other types of communities, too....
A local wiki for local people
It's also a great way for geographic communities to share ideas about matters of local interest. Councils and city and county governments have long had web sites with information for their users. Some are little interactive (you can pay for stuff!) but very few are truly participative.
However, there is a small but growing grass roots movement of collaborative web sites for communities. There are some community based wikis (collaborative websites built by users for users) around, but it's still a relatively new concept. E-democracy is a US based initative that has wikis for some cities in Minnesota, but also has areas for the London Borough of Newham and Brighton & Hove. To be fair, the wiki concept hasn't quite taken off in Newham and Brighton, but their community message boards seem to be doing well (see Newham's here and Brighton and Hove's here).
Knoxville, Tennessee already has a rich tradition in online communities and has a brand new collaborative website: Knoxviews. Recent discussions focus on the local education budget, a controversial religious resolution before the city council (since dropped) and reorganisation of the fire department. The site runs on software called CivicSpaces that's designed to encourage community and grassroots engagement.
e-democracy in the UK
There's also an e-democracy project based in the UK and sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister - with a host of case studies and interesting practice for citizen forums and councillor blogging. There's even a specific case study about e-democracy and partnership consultation.
In my next post, I'll write about blogging - another, slightly less participative way, to share views about communities of practice, interest or geography.
But there are other types of communities, too....
A local wiki for local people
It's also a great way for geographic communities to share ideas about matters of local interest. Councils and city and county governments have long had web sites with information for their users. Some are little interactive (you can pay for stuff!) but very few are truly participative.
However, there is a small but growing grass roots movement of collaborative web sites for communities. There are some community based wikis (collaborative websites built by users for users) around, but it's still a relatively new concept. E-democracy is a US based initative that has wikis for some cities in Minnesota, but also has areas for the London Borough of Newham and Brighton & Hove. To be fair, the wiki concept hasn't quite taken off in Newham and Brighton, but their community message boards seem to be doing well (see Newham's here and Brighton and Hove's here).
Knoxville, Tennessee already has a rich tradition in online communities and has a brand new collaborative website: Knoxviews. Recent discussions focus on the local education budget, a controversial religious resolution before the city council (since dropped) and reorganisation of the fire department. The site runs on software called CivicSpaces that's designed to encourage community and grassroots engagement.
e-democracy in the UK
There's also an e-democracy project based in the UK and sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister - with a host of case studies and interesting practice for citizen forums and councillor blogging. There's even a specific case study about e-democracy and partnership consultation.
In my next post, I'll write about blogging - another, slightly less participative way, to share views about communities of practice, interest or geography.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Collaborative websites
Heard of the wikipedia? It's essentially and encyclopedia on the web, but it's a collaborative website built by readers for readers. It's become a great place to find facts, but wikipediasts - those who contribute to the website - also enjoy the sense of community that comes from building up and sharing knowledge with people around the world.
Well, we're starting up a new collaborative website sort of like that. PMpartner - http://pmpartner.editme.com is a website where we want to build up a community of practice.
What is a community of practice?
Essentially it's a way of sharing good practice, ideas and networking - mostly over the web. The PMpartner website will be built by practitioners for practitioners. This community of practice will focus on building up and sharing knowledge about performance management in partnership. It's a complex area, of growing importance, but there isn't necessary a final word on what good PM in partnership looks like. Building consensus in this area will mean thrashing out a host of ideas and approaches - meaning it's ideal for the collaborative wiki approach.
Give it a try!
Well, we're starting up a new collaborative website sort of like that. PMpartner - http://pmpartner.editme.com is a website where we want to build up a community of practice.
What is a community of practice?
Essentially it's a way of sharing good practice, ideas and networking - mostly over the web. The PMpartner website will be built by practitioners for practitioners. This community of practice will focus on building up and sharing knowledge about performance management in partnership. It's a complex area, of growing importance, but there isn't necessary a final word on what good PM in partnership looks like. Building consensus in this area will mean thrashing out a host of ideas and approaches - meaning it's ideal for the collaborative wiki approach.
Give it a try!
Sunday, February 05, 2006
aligning performance regimes
Health White Paper
The new health White Paper, Our Health, Our Care, Our Say (click here to go to it) commits to aligning social care and health performance management systems by 2008. See p. 168 for details.
The new health White Paper, Our Health, Our Care, Our Say (click here to go to it) commits to aligning social care and health performance management systems by 2008. See p. 168 for details.
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