A recipe for stronger program management in the public sector

From municipalities all the way to the federal level, government departments and organizations face immense pressure to turn policies and priorities into action. After you’ve conducted studies, made promises, and put policies in writing, the most difficult part of program management is actually delivering value to citizens.

Strong program management will help narrow that execution gap, enabling departments to be agile and government employees to spend their time where it’s most needed. But this ideal scenario is not always the reality — the public sector often lacks the time, resources, or expertise to execute programs how they envisioned.

For anyone overseeing programs in the public sector, here are the six ingredients that will make your execution and service delivery run smoother.

Align political direction, strategy, and outcomes

The first element of strong program management is to get all internal personnel pulling in the same direction. Political imperatives and priorities should be set at the top, with buy-in at all levels.

In the early phases of program management, clearly define the outcomes you want the program to achieve for citizen groups or constituents. If you don’t ensure early in the process that everyone wants the same thing, internal friction can hinder your ability get the job done.

Engagement with stakeholders or citizen groups

The ultimate goal of program management is to deliver high-quality services to a target group of stakeholders — these could be a group of businesses, private citizens, etc. Even if your department sets the goals and priorities of a program, you shouldn’t assume you know how to solve the problem, or what the end users truly need.

Engage in conversations with the stakeholders who will use or benefit from the program. Ask questions that help you get to the root of the problem you’re trying to solve, or the opportunity you want to capitalize on; you may perceive it differently than the end users do. Their insight should give you clarity and inform policy.

Policy

Armed with knowledge of what the end users need and expect, you can begin the process of drafting program-specific policy. It should cover questions such as:

• What is the purpose of the program? Where is the greatest need?
• What are the qualification requirements for the program going to be? Who is eligible?
• Will there be different levels of support available? What are the cut-offs for certain levels?
• How will we prevent the program from being abused? What safeguards can we put in?
• What metrics and KPIs will determine if the program is successful?

A clear framework that addresses these types of questions, when put in writing, will be your policy.

Operationalizing

This is the execution phase, where you deliver the promised service to stakeholders. You’ll find this is usually the hardest phase to get right, but it will go much smoother if you thoroughly complete the first three steps.

This element of program management will require you to have the right technology, people, and processes in place.