Improving Use of Performance Information

The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) provided a foundation for strengthening government performance and accountability. The current administration’s President’s Management Agenda and the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART)—OMB’s framework for assessing federal program performance—continued to build on GPRA’s foundation.

Properly done, these and related future efforts could provide a strong basis to support the needed review, reassessment, and reprioritization process. However, GAO’s work suggests that although federal agencies today are producing significantly more information about the performance of their programs than was the case 10 years ago, agencies are not making greater use of that information to make key management decisions.

^ Back to topWhat Needs to Be Done

For performance information to be useful to and used by Congress and federal decision makers at all levels, the next administration should promote four key practices:

• demonstrate leadership commitment to results-oriented management;
• develop a clear “line of sight” linking individual performance with organizational results;
• build agency capacity to collect and use performance information;
• develop an effective strategy for obtaining and acting on congressional views on what to measure, how to measure it, and how to best present this information to a congressional audience.
  
  Highlights of GAO-08-1026T (PDF)

To facilitate the transformation of agencies’ management cultures to be more results oriented, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) should work with agencies to ensure they are making adequate investments in training on performance planning and measurement, with a particular emphasis on how to use performance information to improve program performance.

To promote greater discussion with congressional stakeholders and emphasize the need to assess programs related to common outcomes, the Director of OMB should select and assess clusters of related programs based on factors such as the relative priorities, costs, and risks associated with program outcomes and in a way that reflects congressional input and priorities.

^ Back to topKey Reports

Government Performance: Lessons Learned for the Next Administration on Using Performance Information to Improve Results

GAO-08-1026T, July 24, 2008

Summary (HTML)   Highlights Page (PDF)   Full Report (PDF, 32 pages)   Accessible Text

21st Century Challenges: How Performance Budgeting Can Help

GAO-07-1194T, September 20, 2007

Summary (HTML)   Highlights Page (PDF)   Full Report (PDF, 24 pages)   Accessible Text

Performance Budgeting: PART Focuses Attention on Program Performance, but More Can Be Done to Engage Congress

GAO-06-28, October 28, 2005

Summary (HTML)   Highlights Page (PDF)   Full Report (PDF, 76 pages)   Accessible Text   Recommendations (HTML)

Managing For Results: Enhancing Agency Use of Performance Information for Management Decision Making

GAO-05-927, September 9, 2005

Summary (HTML)   Highlights Page (PDF)   Full Report (PDF, 49 pages)   Accessible Text

Results-Oriented Government: GPRA Has Established a Solid Foundation for Achieving Greater Results

GAO-04-38, March 10, 2004

Summary (HTML)   Highlights Page (PDF)   Full Report (PDF, 280 pages)   Accessible Text   Recommendations (HTML)