Performance Measurement How to Win Friends for your project and Influence People

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Performance MeasurementHow to Win Friends (for
your project) and Influence People

• Neil Bergsman
• CFO, Maryland Department of Juvenile Services
• Presentation to
• NGA Executive Policy Forum on Criminal Justice
  Information
• Miami Beach, Florida
• June 20, 2005

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The Big Questions

• What do I measure?
• What do I do with the results?

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Overview

• Results should open a dialogue about the
  strategy.
• Use intermediate measures to tie expenditures to
  results.
• Develop a strategy map to show the causal chain
  from your project to ultimate results.

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Audiences for your Performance Data

• Budget decision-makers
• Analysts
• Budget shop
• Governor staff
• Legislature and staff
• End-users
• Outside stakeholders
• Public/media
• Advocates

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Why Measure?

• Im required to
• To help sell my project
• To evaluate my results
• To provide management information

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Performance measurement should be tied to the
budget process

• But how?

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The Performance Measurement Dilemma

• If the measure turns out badly, what are we
  supposed to do?

• Reduce funding?
• If the underlying need is still important, why
  would we cut back on our efforts?
• Increase funding?
• To put out a big fire, you send in more trucks.
• Fire the manager?
• Maybe its bad management, but maybe it isnt.
• Analyze the strategy.

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Output Measures

• Readily obtained
• Within control of managers

• Not directly connected to policy outcomes
• Not persuasive in arguing for resources

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Outcome Measures

• Measures final good to public customers
• Good for assessing success in a policy area

• Difficult to connect to particular expenditures
• Slow to show effects
• Effect from outside factors swamps policy effects
• E.g. economic conditions, national/regional drug
  trends
• Not credible in selling a specific project

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Intermediate Measures

• For purposes of selling your project, an
  INTERMEDIATE measure is often the most meaningful
  and persuasive information

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Strategy Map

• Shows relationships
• from your expenditures
• To whatever its supposed to change
• To whatever thats supposed to change
• To the ultimate outcome

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Strategy map for warrant system
Input/output
Production function
Outcome
Law Enforcement Stop
Warrants issued by court
Crime Prevented
Outstanding Warrants identified
Entered in Warrant system
Repeat offenses prevented
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Warrant System-Possible Measures
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The Performance Measurement Triangle
Valid and reliable
Cost/Effort

• Communication value
• Easily interpreted
• Obvious relationship to policy outcome

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Remember.

• Audience
• Purpose

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Thank you

• Neil Bergsman
• Maryland Department of Juvenile Services
• bergsman_at_djs.state.md.us