Case Study: Developing a Performance Management Framework for a Large Oregon Municipality
Executive Overview
This project provided a comprehensive analysis and redesign proposal for a municipality's long-standing Service Profile Program (SPP), which had been paused due to staff and sub-committee dissatisfaction. The SPP was essentially the City's term for an Organizational Performance Management (OPM) program. The City used the neutral language of "Service Profile" because the term "performance" carried a negative connotation among staff. The goal was to revamp the SPP to fit the organization's unique culture, which favored using the program for "storytelling" rather than performance measurement. As the project manager, my goal was to define a strategy for rebranding the program to focus on "storytelling" and communication (Pillar 1), which would create a solid, non-threatening foundation before the organization gradually adopted true Performance Measurement (Pillar 2) and Performance Management (Pillar 3) practices. The resulting proposal laid out a "3-Pillar" approach to create a solid foundation for public communication while allowing the program to mature into a formal performance management system over time.
Challenge
The core challenge was overcoming the historical dissatisfaction and cultural resistance associated with the original SPP. Key issues included:
Cultural Resistance to "Performance": Staff expressed a desire to steer clear of the term "performance" and instead use the SPP as a storytelling device to communicate the value of city services.
Budgetary Confusion: Budget Committee members were confused about their role in approving performance measures, leading to a recommendation to eliminate the voting/approval component entirely.
Lack of Strategic Alignment: The existing program was disconnected from a citywide strategic vision, even though 80% of peer cities interviewed tied their service goals to a strategic plan.
Need for Modernization: The city needed to incorporate modern trends like interactive web dashboards and community surveys, which were utilized by 100% of the 10 peer cities interviewed.
Approach
The approach involved extensive internal and external research to craft a solution tailored to the municipality's needs, including benchmarking, stakeholder consensus, and phased implementation.
Research & Benchmarking: Conducted interviews with ten cities operating notable performance measurement programs (including Alexandria, Austin, Bellevue, and Portland) to identify best practices and emerging trends.
Stakeholder Engagement: Convened an internal SPP Steering Committee from all departments to provide feedback and shape the conversation.
The 3-Pillar Solution: Developed a phased approach, labeling the current SPP program as Pillar 1. This allowed the organization to gain staff buy-in and develop a solid foundation for advancement:
Pillar 1: City Services Communication Program (existing program).
Pillar 2: Performance Measurement (quantifiable goals).
Pillar 3: Performance Management (data-driven decision making and accountability).
Strategic Alignment: Recommended the program be relocated to the City Manager’s Office (CMO) to decouple it from budgetary concerns and positioned the program to align its metrics with the CMO's newly initiated citywide Strategic Plan.
Impact
The project delivered a clear, actionable roadmap and program definitions to successfully relaunch the SPP.
Clarity on Purpose: Provided distinct definitions for Communication, Measurement, and Management.
Next Steps: Outlined immediate actions, including renaming the program and its working team (from "POSSE" to "Story Team"), setting a 90-minute maximum for meeting length, and transitioning meeting presentations to an informational-only format for the Budget Committee.
Metric Development: Established a top-down framework (Mission > Goals > Objectives > Action Plans > Metrics) to ensure future metrics are relevant and strategic. The report advised starting with 20-30 core metrics, citing other similarly sized municipalities successfully launching in this metric range.