scope:

Public agencies at the federal, state, and local levels are realizing just how important it is to assess and improve their current performance and to convey information on their achievements and opportunities to staff, leaders, and decision makers as well as externally to constituents. Organizational Assessment and Improvement in the Public Sector Workbook provides public administration practitioners, at all levels of government, with practical advice and tools they can use in planning and conducting an assessment of their organization and creating usable action plans for implementing the results.

This workbook addresses how to:

• Determine whether an organizational assessment would benefit a particular organization
• Evaluate organizational readiness for assessment, in terms of leadership support, organizational priorities, timing, staff engagement, time and energy, and financial resources
• Select an assessment tool and method
• Influence decision makers and identify organizational champions
• Communicate effectively to internal and external constituents
• Engage employees in the process

The book guides decision making about assessment by creating awareness of the available options and considerations, and by providing a framework for discussions that will determine the right approach for an agency. Each chapter consists of both information and tools, including surveys, exercises, and worksheets which can be used by agencies at all levels to determine whether and how to conduct a meaningful organizational assessment, and how to turn the results of that assessment into organizational improvements.

Designed specifically to meet the needs of government organizations, using language and examples that illustrate the challenges and the realities of working in the public sector, this workbook provides the tools to help practitioners "do more with less" and promote a culture of assessment.