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Critical Information for Management
Deputy Adminstrator Marcus Peacock and EPA Region 1 Administrator Bob Varney discuss Region 1's progress in the Energy Star meeting in the Northeast EPAStat meeting. *This video is not yet captioned. Captioning is forthcoming. Go to our contact us page for assistance.
- More Participatory Management
- Broadcasting EPAStat
- Continuous Learning Center
- Real-Time Reports for Managers
- Approach to Strategic Planning
- Measures Central
- The Wheel of Best Practices
- Expanding our Critical Partners Access to Information
Achieving our mission is dependent on managers throughout the organization having access to appropriate tools, data, and information. In 2008, EPA implemented two important changes, unusual in the Federal government, that make us a leader in providing management information to everyone who needs it. First we launched several 'participatory' management processes inside EPA and, second, we expanded access to information to our external partners and customers Each of these two major areas of change is discussed below.
More Participatory Management
EPA made several improvements to push and pull information to and from managers and staff.
1. Broadcasting EPAStat
The Agency's comprehensive performance management system includes quarterly data-driven meetings between the EPA Deputy Administrator and Regional Administrators (Regional EPAStat Meetings). Beginning in May 2008, these meetings are broadcast live on an internal network so that all EPA managers and staff may view the meetings at their desktop. Meeting materials are made available, via the Continuous Learning Center intranet site (see below), and viewers may submit questions for discussion or future follow up. Broadcasting these Regional EPAStat Meetings provides a valuable opportunity to gain insights on program implementation. They also serve as platforms to build direct dialogue among senior managers across regional offices and with headquarters program offices on best practices and lessons learned.
In July, 2008, EPA broadcast its first topic-specific EPAStat meeting. Evaluating data from EPAStat reports, this meeting addressed how EPA can improve the time it takes to fill personnel vacancies. Other EPAStat meeting broadcasts have addressed EPA's disaster preparedness and hypoxia.
2. Continuous Learning Center
EPA is committed to identifying and adopting successful new practices. That means getting information on 'best practices' to managers and staff. In 2008, the EPA created the Continuous Learning Center for Improved Outcomes (Learning Center) to provide, and encourage the use of a range of management tools and information that help to improve outcomes and achieve better results.
The Learning Center is available to all EPA staff through its Intranet site. It includes an extensive library of best management practices available for adaptation, quick links to key management reference documents, information on recent senior-level management meetings and their outcomes, information on Agency partnerships and networks that promote smart management, and other tools and information that facilitate improved outcomes.
The Learning Center is interactive so that it can evolve to meet the Agency's changing needs. For example, it invites Agency employees to submit their own successful management approaches and lessons learned. It also invites suggestions for new management tools and systems the Agency could benefit from, as well as changes to existing systems. Finally, it provides links to EPA interactive Web 2.0 tools such as blogs and wikis.
3. Real-Time Reports for Managers
EPA's managers have available an electronic financial management tool that allows them to get real time information regarding budget and financial information at their desktop. For example, managers can use this tool to find out the level of unobligated finds they have available which improves the utilization of their resources. In 2008, the tool was modified to be easier to use, provide more timely information, and be more secure. In addition, new reports were developed so that managers can track performance against targets. For example, a report was developed to compare actual results against goals for annual organizational assessments.
4. Approach to Strategic Planning
EPA is revising its Strategic Plan by organizing teams of both internal cross-functional personnel as well as external stakeholders. These teams, which are set up around specific goals, include executives, middle managers and key staff inside and outside the Agency. This makes sure managers across EPA as well as people outside EPA take a holistic view of our mission and how to achieve it. Also, by including a cross-section of staff from various EPA programs and management levels, EPA encourages information sharing and discussion of critical management information.
5. Measures Central
In 2007, EPA created Measures Central by consolidating all its strategic planning and annual measures in a central repository. This allows EPA managers a single point of access for all performance information. For example, measures included in the Quarterly EPAStat Report are housed in Measures Central.
6. The Wheel of Best Practices
EPAStat meetings present an opportunity to communicate information in new, innovative and creative ways. The EPAStat team developed the "Wheel of Best Practices" to showcase the best practices identified by regions in EPAStat meetings so that other regions and programs can learn of and adopt their best practice. The "Wheel of Best Practices" and the associated method of identifying best practices in EPAStat meetings improves upon the prior system of soliciting and advertising best practices through memos from the Deputy Administrator because it links best practices to measurable results, provides a forum for a region or program to take ownership for a best practice, and makes submitting and receiving best practices easier and faster.
Expanding our Critical Partners Access to Information
EPA's success relies on its relationships with key partners. For example, States are delegated responsibility to implement many of the nation's environmental programs; Tribes implement environmental programs on their lands; and EPA's activities are related to those in other Federal Agencies and Departments. Over the past few years, EPA has worked to ensure that our partners have access to relevant data and information. This fosters constructive dialogue among EPA and its partners. A few notable examples follow.
1. Including our partners in the National Program Annual Guidance to Regions, States and Tribes
EPA programs and regions rely on an annual guidance process to develop annual goals. This interactive and iterative process facilitates discussion and the sharing of critical management information among EPA national programs, EPA regional offices, State and tribal environmental departments and agencies. The inclusion of regional offices, States and tribes in the goal-setting process provides critical communication for making commitments realistic and aligning priorities. In 2008, EPA is working with the Environmental Council of States (ECOS) to incorporate States in the guidance process even earlier.
2. EPA Notifies Public of Upcoming Rulemaking
In 2008, EPA has made federal environmental regulation more transparent by providing online information as soon as the agency begins the development of a new rule or other regulatory action. Our Action Initiation Lists, launched in April 2008, (AILs) describe those regulatory actions that are approved for commencement each month. Formerly, the public had to wait for EPA's Semiannual Regulatory Agenda to learn about new regulatory actions. With the introduction of AILs, the public is notified of new actions about two weeks after the Regulatory Policy Officer (RPO) gives approval for their development.
3. EPAStat Report Newly Designed for Public
EPA's Quarterly EPAStat Report was launched in 2006 and is now routinely used by EPA executives and managers to track the Agency's progress on a more "fresh and frequent" basis than our traditional budget, performance, and financial reporting mechanisms. The report provides Agency managers and staff the most current data available on a select set of regional and national priorities. Measures include operational activities related to the President's Management Agenda such as: timeliness of hiring (Human Capital); small business contracting (Competitive Sourcing); status of the Agency's selection and deployment of a new financial tracking system (Financial Performance); and electronic transactions (E-Gov). The report also includes program and regional measures that relate to environmental outcomes such as: number of days specific areas exceed the Agency's ozone standard; the number of water pollution limits set; and the number of contaminated properties cleaned up. Each measure is linked to the Agency's Strategic Plan as outlined in the Performance Improvement Initiative.
In June 2007, the first EPAStat Report was made available to the public via the web to further increase transparency and accountability to the public. A new publicly-oriented design encouraged constructive dialogue with States and partners on how EPA can use performance measures to better protect the environment. The Agency has modified and improved the EPAStat based on substantive feedback from external partners and stakeholders. Beginning in March 2008, contextual information for each EPAStat measure was provided to serve as additional background information to the reader. The context fact sheets provide more info on the programs displayed, the detailed results data, relevant web links, and examples of management decisions made as a result of the EPAStat data. This data provides the public with critical information on the EPA's performance that can be the basis of a fruitful dialogue.