But, as with any large enterprise, there is always room for improvement and to operate more efficiently and effectively. And given that tighter budgets are likely to be a reality in both the near and long terms, Infinitive Federal offers the following top five tips for the Pentagon to generate more value with the same or lower budgets:

1. Define the vision and mission: If high-performance organizations have one thing in common, it is a clear vision set forth by senior leadership. All team members understand big-picture goals and have clear sightlines from their own particular role to the overall mission. In organizations as large as the DoD, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture while focusing on administrative details or internal processes. But when resources are tight, a clear mission statement at the agency and department level can serve as the first filter for allocation decisions; any dollars that don’t directly contribute to mission fulfillment should be candidates for cutting.
2. Rethink performance measurement: Many Federal agencies have undergone significant evolution in terms of measuring their operations. The Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART), first implemented nearly a decade ago, has created more transparency and accountability in tracking. The use of balanced scorecards and real-time dashboards has also increased widely, as more agencies enter the “analytics age.” Of course, it’s not all about the tools. For Defense agencies seeking to meet the “do more with less” imperative, clear performance measurement strategies and processes can close the loop with the vision. It starts by defining the right metrics that align to core objectives and capturing and distributing the right data to the right decision makers. Depending where agencies are on the performance management maturity curve, implementing stronger capabilities can be a lot of work; but those capabilities are critical to ensure accountability and chart a course forward to operational excellence.
3. Focus on team building: Our experience working with Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Defense Export and Cooperation (DASA DEC) on Security Cooperation initiatives demonstrated to us the value a few key resources can add in delivering critical project goals (improved security cooperation in this case). Given growing reliance on contractors and overall resource constraints, more agencies must develop highly productive teams to complete projects quickly. That means identifying skills and knowledge requirements for both near-term deliverables and longer-term operations and ensuring roles and responsibilities are clearly spelled out. This was the successful approach taken by the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command when it recently ramped up a large number of new resources during a critical transition. The good news is that by building new teams and leveraging more external resources, DoD agencies can benefit from fresh thinking and perspective.
4. Grab the program management reins: Given the massive size and intricate nature of many DoD projects, it’s no wonder that “scope creep” is frequently an issue. So how can military teams avoid the resulting budget overruns and extended timelines? Applying robust and proven methodologies for program management is the only way to go. Strong program management offices, or PMOs, with responsibility to deliver on-time, on-budget and on-strategy are especially important for projects that have impacts across agency or departmental boundaries. The more moving parts that must be managed and the more stakeholders whose support is required, the more Federal agencies need “sure hands” in the PMO to deliver. In our experience, we have seen time and again how effective PMOs can deliver tangible and quantifiable gains that enable “do more with less” performance. And that’s true whether the program involves a new weapons system or a targeted technology upgrade.
5. Focus on cultural factors for long-term change: Given that downward pressure on budgets and resource constraints are likely to be with the DoD for some time to come, it’s important that leadership take a long-term view. That means communicating the “why” and “how” of change so that resistance to this new world falls away and that users and teams adopt new ways of working. We believe cultural and organizational change management are difference makers when it comes to generating ROI from important Federal government initiatives.

While the debate goes on about whether these funding cuts would limit the fighting and defense capabilities of the U.S. armed forces, there can be little doubt that doing more with less is a good idea for all U.S. government departments. It’s always a best practice to produce more value through increased efficiency and to fulfill the mission with higher returns on investments of taxpayer dollars.

But sometimes best practices migrate in the other direction. Increasingly, government agencies are the source of leading-edge innovation and best practices. Consider this report on the State Department’s approach to cybersecurity. Our colleagues at Infinitive Insight (who are cybersecurity experts) tell us this is a highly effective approach.

The agency built a strategy that centers on the continuous prioritization of threats, and developed its own software to monitor all its assets and computers. The focus is on known security gaps, through which the vast majority of attacks come. Each department or location within State receives regular reports about their existing vulnerabilities, which keeps the focus on the most serious vulnerabilities.Despite the huge challenges of safeguarding 400 embassies around the world, extensive data networks and highly sensitive information:

The program’s effectiveness … has made it an unexpected model for big firms looking to bolster computer security.

More than 40 companies have requested the software that runs the program, and Microsoft is among those companies who have modified the code for its own use. In other words, these firms are acting more like the government when it comes to securing key systems.

Perhaps most importantly, State’s security team recognizes that its systems aren’t perfect, and that the nature of threats changes constantly. Thus, it uses continuous monitoring to strengthen its program. Here again, the security pros at Infinitive Insight confirm that this is a step all types of business should take – and where they can emulate a government best practice.

Culture is like a circle, and great companies won’t even tolerate a superstar going outside the circle. I can have the greatest sales guy in the world, or the greatest marketing manager. If they go outside the circle … it is a direct threat to the cultural confidence you’re trying to build. And you can’t carry out a vision or go on a crusade without the total confidence of everybody who’s going on that mission with you.

If you really want to build something that’s going to be around for a very long time and be stable and grow, culture has to be paramount. People have to know how your culture operates and works. …. And that, to me, is one of the attributes of really great companies.

That’s why I think it’s easier in that kind of culture to introduce new products and new technologies or new services. When the culture breaks down, it’s real hard to be innovative. It is very difficult to be innovative because you’ve got built-up barriers to interpersonal communications and ….got barriers to new ideas.

In the realm of the Federal Government, we see culture change as the “X-Factor” in driving value, especially in technology implementations. Full interview here.

I like to think of the government as a big, complicated machine. We citizens are the users. What we’ve always lacked is a well-designed user interface. That’s not a surprise when you consider the era in which our system was invented.

In many ways, this is a good metaphor, though the rest of Adams’ tongue-in-cheek essay is about how to make it easier to “throw the bums out” through voting and campaign innovations. Still, the idea of a user interface is a powerful one, which is why many Federal agencies have embraced it as part of their customer relationship management (CRM) initiatives.

In fact, Executive Order 13571 specified the need for agencies to deliver improved service to their constituencies. Infinitive Federal partnered with Microsoft on the Improving Customer Service: Planning Guide to help agencies meet the requirements of the Executive Order.

In our experience working with a range of agencies, many are embracing change wholeheartedly and seeking to operate in full Government 2.0 fashion. (See our full take on Government 2.0 here.) For instance, the Department of Defense’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program has been transformed in the last few years. Processes have been standardized and streamlined so that all stakeholders and customers – including defense contractors, foreign governments, and many of our most important military allies – have a much better experience. Increased efficiency and lower costs are also part of the story.

On this initiative and many similar to it, program management offices (PMOs) play a central, enabling role in ensuring objectives are achieved. While PMOs are rarely customer facing, they can synchronize all the elements required to deliver a great customer experience. For example, PMOs are uniquely positioned to ensure that new technology implementations do not disrupt processes or make them more complex for different types of users. Let’s say contact center agents have a new tool to support their interactions with citizens. PMOs will ensure that proper training takes place so agents are familiar with the tools before deployment. That may sound like a small detail, but we have seen time and again how PMOs are difference makers when it comes to CRM and other complex initiatives.

Scott Adams may tell a good joke, like this one:

Ben Franklin wouldn’t be impressed by our pace of innovation. He invented the post office and showed us electricity, and it still took us 200 years to come up with email.

But what he doesn’t know is that many Federal leaders are working behind the scenes every day to help deliver an iPod-like customer experience.

In this blog, we’ll highlight some of the way that Federal leaders are meeting these challenges and succeeding in mission fulfillment – generating more value through operational excellence in customer-facing processes, effective cultural change management, strong leadership and robust program management.

We hope you enjoy the stories, big ideas and best practices we share and get back to us with your comments, suggestions and ideas.