2000115-Strengthening-Communities-with-Neighborhood-Data

Institutional Context 51
Such programs require strong leadership with a shared vision of the
program’s purpose, clear responsibilities, and consistent tracking of
results. Ideally, PerformanceStat programs should be run in conjunction
with some type of continuous improvement program, such as
Six Sigma, LEAN, or Total Quality Management, in which the overriding
goals are to achieve new levels of excellence, efficiency, and
effectiveness in government operations and eliminate errors and
waste. Programs designed solely to uncover poor performers tend to
stifle creativity.
Another approach to data-driven performance is offered by the
International City/County Management Association’s Center for Performance
Analytics (ICMA Analytics). The mission of ICMA’s Center
for Performance Analytics is to demonstrate the benefits of professional
local government by providing the analytical tools, training,
and technical assistance to assist communities in achieving higher
levels of performance. In addition, the center disseminates research
and best practices.
The center’s performance management and analytics software, ICMA
Insights, assists cities and counties in the United States with the reporting,
analysis, and application of performance data. The ICMA Insights
platform was built in partnership with SAS, a leading company providing
business analytics software and services.
The center builds on work begun in 1994 by the Comparative Performance
Measurement Consortium, a group of 44 cities and counties
whose managers identified a need for accurate, fair, and comparable
data about the quality and efficiency of service delivery to their citizens.
Consortium members asked the ICMA to coordinate their work and
then undertook the challenges of narrowing the choices of services to
be measured, identifying desired outcomes of service delivery, defining
indicators, and collecting data.
One of the chief values offered by the ICMA Analytics approach is
the comparative performance data it provides members. Understanding
the nuances and differences in operation is, of course, critical in
reviewing such comparative data. To achieve this understanding, participants
can choose to compare their data to the full dataset or can
use the summary statistics, predefined reports, or interactive reporting
tools to customize their comparisons by population, climate, urban
density, method of service provision, community demographics, and
other characteristics. To facilitate relevant and effective analysis, ICMA