At the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Secretary Shaun Donovan leads quarterly reviews, known as HUDStat, to drive performance improvement on Priority Goals. This presentation, adapted from a larger one shown at the Performance Symposium in June 2011, demonstrates how the Department used HUDStat to identify specific obstacles to achieving a goal it shares with the Department of Veterans Affairs – eliminating veterans’ homelessness. The analysis of data and the focused follow-up questions generated during the HUDStat meeting resulted in a plan to overcome these challenges. HUDStat shows how analysis of data, combined with focused attention on replicating successes and solving problems that analysis identifies, can improve performance across the federal government.

What HUDStat  IS…

  • Review of progress toward goals, understanding where problems exist, and using collective knowledge to address these issues early.
  • Sharing local successes and best practices in order to replicate what works.
  • Opportunity to collaborate in order to achieve goals.
  • Focuses on “places” as much as “programs”.
  • Prompts relentless focus on improving data quality and problem-solving.

What it IS NOT…

  • A “show-and-tell” to the HUD Secretary that avoids the issues.
  • Focused ONLY on what is not on track or not working.
  • Programmatic focused discussion on how each program is doing individually, without looking at how programs interact locally.
  • A process that is finished after an individual HUDStat session.

HUDStat Meeting Principles:

  • Understand the data is not perfect but will evolve over time. It gives us the basis for the discussion.
  • Maintain environment of open and honest dialogue; even with less than perfect results.
  • Practice ‘no surprises’ with Program Offices and the Support Operations.
  • Limit “show and tell” and expand on problem solving using the collective wisdom and experience in the meeting.
  • Maintain a spirit of collaboration while not shying away from issues.

See example slides from a HUD Stat meeting below: