Efficient and Collaborative Government
SEMCOG helps its member local governments find ways to navigate through fiscal uncertainty by improving government efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. This is accomplished through SEMCOG University educational workshops, the useful information on these Web site pages, examples of efficiency and collaboration efforts posted on the AgileGov database, comparable fiscal data on the Munetrix database, and through one-on-one consulting and training assistance.

Taking the First Step...

In times of fiscal uncertainty, new ideas for facing challenges surface with regularity. In many cases, however, local governments find it difficult to turn these ideas into reality. For example, it is likely that your existing internal practices will not effectively match up with planned changes. Employees who know – or think they know – how to improve the organization often attempt to implement change and find that they are defeated by known conventions. If a municipality is ready to approach change, it is essential to identify the limiting aspects of its beliefs, practices, and behaviors (i.e., organizational culture), and the problems that could result, in order to create sustainable improvements in optimal employee practices and overall organizational performance.

SEMCOG can help member local governments overcome these obstacles to becoming more efficient and effective. Please refer to the following resources to get started.

Improve Your Organization's Performance Right Now! — This article, written by Patrick Ibarra and published in the International City/County Management Association's PMPlus magazine, discusses the importance of synchronizing three factors – organization, process, and individuals – in order to achieve better results and improve organizational performance.

The A2D4 Process for Designing and Improving Organizational Processes — The A²D⁴ model is based upon the principles of sociotechnical systems, organization development, evolution, and change management.

The Tyranny of the Financial Capital Metric — By focusing on intellectual capital accounts (non-financial capital measurements), leadership can define opportunities for change and improvement within any organization. The more traditional approach for tracking changes in the financial capital of a company provides only an after-the-fact measurement of results, showing no paths for correction. Non-financial capital accounts are the key to change.

For more information and assistance, contact: 
Dave Boerger
SEMCOG Consultant
Improving Local Government Effectiveness
Office: 313-324-3427
E-mail: boerger@semcog.org

Dave's focus at SEMCOG is to provide consulting and training assistance to member local governments within the seven counties of Southeast Michigan as they attempt to improve service effectiveness, operating efficiencies, and intergovernmental cooperation. Such efforts will help mitigate the need to cut services, tap fund balances, incur debt, or raise tax rates.