CI TY OF AUSTIN

Managing for Results

Business Planning Guide

Revised 2005
 T ABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction/History...................................................................................................................... 1

Flow Chart of Managing for Results Process .......................................................................... 6

Summarized Narrative ................................................................................................................. 7

Detailed Instructions for each Business Planning Step

1. Determine Who Participates in Business Planning ................................................14

2. Assessment of Prior Results/Action Plan Achievements ......................................14

3. Conduct Assessment of the Future (Environmental Scan) .................................19

4. Conduct a SWOT Analysis ........................................................................................23

5. Develop Change Dynamics Using the Assessment of the Future and

SWOT Analysis............................................................................................................25

6. Information Systems/Application Challenges and/or Opportunities ....................27

7. Develop Business Process Improvements..............................................................29

8. Review the City’s Vision Statement and Corporate Initiatives .............................30

9. Review or Establish Department Goals ...................................................................31

10. Define or Review the Department Mission Statement ..........................................34

11. Define or Review the Department Vision Statement (Optional) ..........................35

12. List the Services Provided by the Department and Identify Services as

Core, Semi-Core and Service Enhancements. ......................................................36

13. Sort Services into Activities .......................................................................................39

14. Define or Review Activities and Activity Objectives ...............................................40

15. Define or Review Performance Measures for each Activity .................................41

16. Sort Activities into Programs .....................................................................................48

17. Define or Review Programs and Program Objectives...........................................49

18. Review Business Plan for Alignment to Goals .......................................................51

 T ABLE OF CONTENTS

19. Identify Key Indicators ................................................................................................52

20. Develop Action Plans to Achieve Goals ..................................................................53

21. Submit Business Plan to Budget Office / ACM for Review...................................57

22. Revise the Business Plan Based on Feedback......................................................60

23. Integrate the Business Plan with the Performance Budget..................................60

24. Communicate Business Plan to Employees and Customers ...............................60

25. Integrate SSPR’s and Business Plans .....................................................................60

26. Track Measures on a Monthly Basis ........................................................................61

27. Track Action Plans for Achievements on a Regular Basis ...................................61

28. Report Results on a Regular Basis ..........................................................................62

29. Conduct Self-Assessment of Performance Measurement Data .........................62

Glossary.......................................................................................................................................77
Introduction/History

What is Managing for Results?

Managing for Results is a business system that links people, dollars, and resources to
the results customers and citizens expect from City services. The system integrates
strategic planning with budgeting, performance measurement and decision-making. The
goal of Managing for Results is to have an effective performance management system
that is accountable to citizens for achieving results. The City of Austin’s Managing for
Results program is committed to meeting this goal.

Managing for Results is built on the long -standing performance management principles
of “Plan, Do, Check, and Act.” The Managing for Results program in Austin is based on
an annual cycle:

Cycle
§ Assessment of Prior Results/Action Plan Achievement
§ Performance measure analysis
§ SSPR evaluations
§ Environmental Scan and SWOT Analysis
§ Business Plan Development
§ Business Plan Review
§ 5 – Year Forecast
§ Budget Proposal
§ Budget Approval
§ SSPR Planning that coincides with the City’s fiscal year
.
The annual cycle enables the City to:
• Be more responsive to changes in strategic and economic conditions of the
City
• Identify results achieved with resources expended,
• Support informed decision-making,
• Provide effective services at reasonable costs, and,
• Guide the City toward achievement of long-term goals.

In order to make good business decisions, citizens and City government need the
highest quality performance information available. The use of performance measures
makes it possible to:
• Identify results departments intend to achieve,
• Monitor performance and provide feedback,

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 • Make good business decisions based on reliable, understandable and
consistent data, and,
• Know when success has been achieved.

Act PERFORMANCE-BASED BUSINESS PLANNING Plan

DECISION-MAKING

§ Citizens’ Expectations • Measurable Goals

§ Council Direction • Program/Activity Objectives
§ Management Decisions • Core Services
§ Improved Services • Organizational Performance
Measures

• Organizational • Structural Alignment

Performance Results • Program Budgeting
• Program and • Action Plans
Management Audits
• Individual SSPR
Evaluations

PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE
Check REPORTING BUDGETING Do

How does Managing for Results Work?

City departments assess the past, present and future to develop plans for the upcoming
fiscal year. Program budgets are developed based on the goals and results
departments expect to achieve in the upcoming year. Performance information is
collected throughout the year to monitor progress towards department goals and
objectives. Performance information is used to improve the effectiveness of services
provided to citizens.

History
Managing for Results and/or the Performance Based Budgeting process had its
beginni ngs in the City of Austin with the passing of Resolution-920904-42. This
resolution began as the offshoot of the 1992 audit of the City’s performance
measurement and reporting system or processes. The resolution stated,

“…performance measurement should be the City’s way of determining

whether it is providing quality services at reasonable cost.”

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The charge to the City Manager required each department to submit goals and
efficiency (cost), effectiveness and customer satisfaction measures to Council for
approval within 120 days. The resolution also required the City Manager,

“…to develop service plans which describe anticipated accomplishments,

performance measures which reflect actual program or function
accomplishments and a process for analyzing and using this information
to make decisions.”

The first year for the City to implement and present a performance-based budget was
fiscal year 1994-95.

Following the 1992 resolution, the City began working toward compliance. City
departments worked to refi ne and increase the variety and number of their performance
measures, focusing on effectiveness and efficiency (cost) measures. The City Manager,
in his communications, emphasized the principal of accountability and continued to
provide guidance to departments on performance measure fundamentals, as did the
Budget Office as it served as the coordinator of the performance measurement process

By the 1994-95 fiscal year, the City produced three year-end corporate performance
reports:
• “Performance Report fo r 1994-95,”
• “FY 1994-95 Assessment”, and,
• “A Measure of Our Success,” (Audit Report, July 1996), a highlights report

The City Manager then issued an October 1995 memo to the City Council entitled,
Affordability: A Strategy for the Year 2000. This document outlined the City’s
concentration on six initiatives:
1. Development of organizational tools to readily affect change and be adaptable,
2. Establishment of management systems to create and sustain healthy self-
examination,
3. Benchmarking of basic services,
4. Conversion to program budgets,
5. Evaluation of every city program, and,
6. Reengineering of key business processes.
The memo initiated further changes and development of the City’s performance-based
budgeting process.

As mentioned in the 1998 Audit report, the City continued to make “great strides” in
performance measurement and reporting, although the City Auditor determined that
performance measurement and reporting had not been fully implemented. At the time of
the report, the City had put into operation several key components of a performance
measurement and reporting system. The components included:

• converting to a program based budget,

• establishing performance based compensation systems,

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• benchmarking several basic services,
• refining and increasing the variety of performance measures, and,
• expanded reporting.

The City of Austin also began participation in the ICMA Center for Performance
Measurement in 1995. This tool provides the best ability to gather benchmarking
information from other jurisdictions of similar size.

The 1998 Audit report brought up five recommendations:

1. In continuing development of the City’s performance measurement and reporting
systems, the City Manager should take steps to accomplish the remaining
improvements needed to fully implement the recommendations from the Office of
the City Auditor’s (OCA’s) 1996 Performance Measurement and Reporting audit,
2. To ensure that the results achieved from grant-funded activities support local
priorities and grantor requirements, the City Manager should strengthen
performance measurement and reporting,
3. To update and strengthen the City’s commitment to performance measurement
and reporting as fundamental to government performance accountability in the
City of Austin, the City Manager and Council should adopt Performance
Measurement Policies which establish overall planning, measurement, reporting,
and decision making in the City. The policies should reflect standards, processes
and guidelines developed during this audit, which are contained in Appendix B of
the report,
4. The City Manager should develop an action plan to implement performance
management policies developed under recommendation #3, specifying who will
be responsible for each element of the plan and when activities will be
accomplished, and,
5. In developing the aforementioned action plan and corporate initiative, the City
Manager should include steps to address key issues emerging from the audit.

In the fall of 1998 and the spring of 1999, the City Manager instituted the City’s
Managing for Results (MFR) program. The Austin Fire Department in the fall of 1998
began working with a consultant on the development of a business plan for the Fire
Department. This information was shared with City Management and the decision was
made to use the consultant for the citywide implementation. The citywide movement
included three steps initially and a fourth step later in the spring of 1999. The three
major steps included:

1. Development of the Resource Guide for Business Planning,

2. Citywide training of staff on business planning, and,
3. Meetings to develop departmental business plans.
The fourth step of corporate review occurred after departments completed their initial
plans.

During the fall of 1999, the 2000 business planning process focused on compliance.
The corporate team developed a process for creating each department’s business plan

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and performance measures. At this point, top down leadership was necessary as the
process was new and there existed a need for consistency. Most departments finished
creating their business plans in fiscal year 1999-2000 (FY 2000). In FY 2000, all
departments that completed their business plans also tied their accounting structure to
the business plans. In FY 2001, departments also began to tie individual employee
Success Strategy Performance Reviews (SSPRs) to the business plans. SSPRS are
the tools used to plan individual performance for the year, track performance over time,
and formally evaluate success. The SSPR is the primary tool for internalizing a culture
of managing for results within Departments by demonstrating the alignment between
individual performance and the achievement of results at the activity, program,
Department, and City levels.

In FY 2001 and FY 2002, the focus was practice. As with any new process,
departments and individuals need time to work with the system and become
comfortable with its use. In these two years departments became familiar with entering
performance data into the City of Austin Reporting and Management Analysis (CARMA)
database, using the terminology of the business planning process, and understanding
the corporate expectations. The departments went through the business planning
process again in FY 2001 with a focus on making their goals measurable. It became
clear that not every specific goal could be measured on its own and that it is necessary
to group measures together to determine the success rate of a goal.

FY 2003 focused on the use of the “Core Services Initiative.” This initiative identified
and classified services into core, semi-core or service enhancements based upon
corporately established criteria. In FY 2003 departments also worked on dividing
measures into performance measures to be reported corporately and operations
measures to be tracked and used at the department level. The FY 2003 business
planning process also employed a user survey to find out departments’ opinions of the
process and how to make it more user-friendly.

FY 2004 introduced the use of action plans to define departments’ progress toward their
goals and involved a detailed service review to ensure that services of each activity
describe end products (deliverables).

FY 2005 focused on improving the reporting process. The City developed and
implemented the performance measures database that reports performance and
operations measures both internally and externally.

FY 2006 will focus on cleaning performance measures, by clarifying measure

descriptions, performing self-assessments on performance measures and converting all
measures to numerical data to improve reporting and notification.

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2. Assessment of Prior Year
Results and Action Plan
Achievements 12. List Services Provided by
Department (deliverables to
customers) and identify
services as core, semi -core or
service enhancement

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Summarized Narrative of the Business Planning Process

1. Determine Who Participates in Business Planning and What Needs to be

Accomplished
• Who needs to participate in the process?
• Who will serve as facilitator?
• How to obtain input from all department levels?
• The timeline and schedule for completion, including:
o Date for review of plan by Assistant City Manager;
o How to communicate the new business plan to all employees.

2. Assessment of Current/Prior Year Results and Action Plan Achievement

• Review performance data from previous 3 years.
• Review action plan steps from the previous year.
• Did goals, key indicators, and measures achieve targets? Why or why not?
• What previous internal and/or external factors affected performance?
• Describe or discuss progress on the previous year’s action plans.
• Describe or discuss how decisions were made based on performance
information.
• Provide highlights in the Executive Summary.

3. Conduct an Assessment of the Future (Environmental Scan)

An Assessment of the Future is an analysis of the major internal and external
factors that are likely to influence how a Department achieves its mission and
goals. Departments will include an assessment of the future as a critical part
of the development of the business plan.
The assessment of the future:
• Looks at the future using information, data, and common sense;
• Provides a perspective on what will, or may, happen; and
• Provides a context for developing Department goals that express, in terms
of results, what must be done to prepare for, respond to, or influence the
future.

4. Conduct a SWOT Analysis

A SWOT Analysis is a tool that can help Departments look internally at
strengths and weaknesses and externally at opportunities and threats. This
method examines the data developed through the assessment of the future in
four areas:

§ What are the department’s Strengths?

§ What are the department’s Weaknesses?
§ What Opportunities do the assessment factors present?
§ What Threats must the department be mindful of?

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5. Develop Change Dynamics Using the Assessment of the Future and the
SWOT Analysis
Change Dynamics:
• Are one sentence summaries that briefly describe major issues/trends and
the impact they have on the department or its customers;
• Describe what is, or what will happen;
• Do not imply solutions, needs or goals;
• Each department should narrow its Change Dynamics to no more than 10.

6. Conduct an Information Technology Assessment

Departments will conduct an assessment of their Information Systems/
Applications.
• Describe IT challenges and opportunities that will have a major effect on
the department and its customers over the next 2 – 5 years.
• If none, state not applicable.
• Summarize whether current IT infrastructure will support steps required to
reach department’s goals and objectives.
• If current IT infrastructure can no longer support attainment of goals, how
will the department manage the gap?
• Report information via the intranet site developed by Communications and
Technology Management.

7. Develop Business Process Improvements

Using the Change Dynamics developed in Step 5, Departments will identify 1-
3 significant Business Process Improvements that will be the focus during
next fiscal year as part of its business plan.
• Review information gathered during the SWOT Analysis.
• Ask the following:
o How can we work more effectively?
o How can we work more efficiently?
o How can we deliver improved services?
• Identify 1-3 business process improvement opportunities.
• Describe the link to applicable activity(ies) and/or goal(s).

8. Review City Vision/Initiatives

Review the City Vision to “…become the most livable community in the
country.” Review the City Initiatives, Integrity, Innovation, Access and
Customer Service.

9. Establish/Review Department Goals

Goals translate the mission of the Department into specific results to be
achieved over the next 1-5 years. They provide a corporate identity for the
Department and a results-oriented basis for making good business decisions.

Goals are:
• Accomplished through multiple programs;
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 • Directly measurable, both by timeframes and targets;
• Focused on the customer and on improving the Department;
• Developed through a participatory process; and
• Designed to establish alignment between the mission and the operations,
performance, and budget of the Department.

10. Define/Review Department Mission

A Mission is a clear statement of the purpose of the Department that aligns to
the Department’s goals. A mission includes:
• Name of the Department
• General description of services provided
• Customers
• Intended benefits
NOTE: Departments that already have a mission statement can review and, if
necessary, revise it using the managing for results template.

11. Define/Review Department Vision (optional)

While a Vision statement is an optional element in department business
plans, it describes what the future would look like if the Department’s goals
were all achieved and the mission fulfilled. An inspired vision is:
• Based on the analysis of the future developed through the assessment of
the future;
• Fueled by thoughtful imagination about what the future can be like;
• Linked to the operations, performance, and budget of the Department; and
• Developed through a collaborative process.

12. List Services Provided by Department and Identify them as Core, Semi-
core or Service Enhancement
§ A Service is measurable as a count of something.
§ Services represent the “end product” or “delivered service”, to either internal
or external customer, rather than an action.
§ Services should not be described as steps in a process.
§ Services should be expressed without qualifiers.
§ All services must be classified as core, semi-core or service enhancement
using the outlined criteria.

13. Sort Services into Activities

Activities are a set of services with a common purpose that produce outputs
and results important to citizens. Group common services into the activities of
the department.

14. Define/Review Activities and Activity Objectives

An Activity Objective is a clear statement of purpose developed using the
managing for results template and includes:
• Name of the activity
• Service or product provided
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 • Customer
• Intended benefit for the customer.
Each activity has four categories of performance measure established for it:
demand, output, result, and efficiency.

Each activity will also identify the responsible employee for achieving the
stated objective of the activity.

15. Define/Review Performance Measures for each Activity

Performance Measures help to ensure good business decision-making based
on performance information; to understand what Departments are trying to
achieve; and to realize when they have achieved success. Good performance
measures are results-oriented, reliable, understandable, consistent,
comparable, and timely.

Data collection plans will be developed by the department to ensure that data
supporting the performance measures is available for decision-making and
performance evaluation.

Activities shall be measured by a family of performance measures that includes

these four categories:

• Demand – the expected or anticipated level of service; customer demand

• Demand measures are recommended if applicable to the situation.
• Demand, in and of itself, doesn’t indicate anything. It’s only in
conjunction with Output that you can show gaps between supply and
demand. If a department wants to be able to talk about service gaps,
they better have ‘demand’ data.
• Output – amount or number of something produced or provided
• Result – impact of output on the customer; also commonly known as
outcomes
• Efficiency – cost per output

There are two types of measures, performance and operations. Performance

Measures are the measures reported externally and included in the budget
document and used by City Management to make decisions. Operations
Measures are measures used by the Department to make day-to-day business
decisions.

16. Sort Activities into Programs

Programs are a set of activities with a common purpose that produce results for
citizens. Group common activities into programs of the department.

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17. Define/Review Programs and Program Objectives
Each program is described by a program objective that is a clear statement of
purpose. The program objective is developed using the managing for results
template which includes:

• Name of the program

• Service or product provided
• Customer
• Intended benefit
• Every program has performance measures that measure the impact on
citizens or customers. These performance measures are the results
performance measures established for the activities grouped together to
form the program.
• Program objectives align with the goals and mission of the Department.
• Programs developed in the business plan translate directly into the City’s
performance budget. The program objective, the performance measures
and the budget request are the primary information used for budget
decisions at the corporate level.

Programs shall be assessed by the results measures for the activities that
comprise that program.

18. Review the Business Plan for Alignment to Goals

The City is continuing to build a corporate culture in which all departments are
managing for results. A critical success factor in creating this culture is the
extent to which the people, resources, and systems within each department are
aligned to achieve the department’s goals and the City’s Vision.

The essential resources departments have for achieving alignment are:

• A corporate culture committed to the effort;

• Leadership within the department;
• Department business plans;
• Measurable results at all levels of the department, and;
• Success Strategy Performance Reviews (SSPR’s).

19. Identify Key Indicators

Key indicators are high-profile performance measures that let the department
and the reader distinguish if the department is achieving its goals. Typically a
department should provide four to eight indicators that allow the reader to
quickly evaluate how well the department is doing. Key indicators need to be
performance measures in the department’s business plan.

20. Develop Action Plans to Achieve Goals

An action plan defines the steps the department will take to accomplish their
goals. It itemizes the steps to be taken, the responsible person or

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 organizational unit, the required resources, and the performance period for
accomplishing the action step(s).

Action Plans provide the departments the following:

§ A process to think through what is needed to accomplish the goals and the
performance measures established for it;
§ Additional opportunities to involve line supervisors and staff in the
development of the business plan;
§ A commitment to take specific steps to achieve results and;
§ A tool for monitoring progress toward accomplishing activities.

21. Submit Business Plan to ACMs and Budget Office for Review
The completed business plan is submitted to the appropriate Assistant City
Manager and then the Budget Office, which provides feedback to the
departments.

22. Revise Business Plan Based on Feedback

Departments revise their business plans based on the feedback received
from the Assistant City Managers and the Budget Office.

23. Integrate Business Plan and Performance Budget

The approved Business Plan becomes the structure for the department’s
Budget. The Activities and Programs provide the cost centers and
performance locators for the Department Budget. The Business Plan provides
the goals and key indicators for the department.

24. Communicate Business Plan to Employees and Citizens

The completed business plan is communicated to employees, customers and
stakeholders.

25. Integrate Business Plan and SSPRs

The City of Austin has developed the Success Strategy Performance Review
(SSPR) to communicate expectations to employees of individual performance
for the year, track performance over time, and formally evaluate success.

Business plans will be integrated with the SSPRs to create fully aligned
departments where every employee knows how their job contributes to all
levels in the organization.

Key points regarding Business Plan and SSPR Integration:

• Integration of the business plans and SSPRs is achieved at the director,
senior level manager, supervisor, and individual employee levels;
• Integration is accomplished by ensuring that all activity and program results
are reflected in the appropriate individual’s performance measures written in
their SSPR;

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 • Management’s primary role in this integration is to ensure that all key
program or activity performance measures for which individuals are
accountable are reflected in SSPRs of those employees responsible for
implementation; and
• The integration of business plans and SSPRs facilitates the alignment of
people in a department to work together to achieve results.

26. Track Performance Measures

Track and record performance measures. On a monthly basis send your
department’s measures spreadsheet to the Budget Office for updating in
CARMA.

27. Track Action Plans for Achievements

Monthly and quarterly review of action plans for achievement of goals. The
responsible employee on the action plan should track and verify achievement
on a monthly basis.

28. Report Results

Monthly and quarterly reporting of performance information. On a monthly
basis, report performance information to your staff and to your Assistant City
Manager. On a quarterly basis, report your key indicators to the Budget Office
for inclusion in the quarterly performance report. Also, through the “ePerf”
database developed in 2004, the Austin City Council and citizens are able to
view performance information by program and activity through the internet.

29. Conduct Self-Assessments of Measurement Data

Departments are encouraged to conduct self-assessments of their
performance measurement data. The Corporate Internal Audit Office will be
conducting formal performance measures certification audits on a regular
basis. And for the FY 2006 business planning process, the self-assessments
of two key indicators will be a deliverable of the business plan submission to
the Assistant City Manager’s Office and the Budget Office.

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Detailed Instructions for Each Business Planning Step

1. Determine Who Participates in Business Planning and

What Needs to be Accomplished
Overview
In order for Business Planning to be successful the department director must be
closely and directly involved in the process from the beginning. Responsibility for
determining or revising the mission and goals of the department and accountability
for performance measures ultimately rests with the director. Obviously these
leadership functions cannot be delegated.

People support what they help create, and therefore it is also important for the
business planning process to be inclusive and meaningfully involve the entire
leadership team. Employees from all levels of the department should be included if
at all possible.

All employees must ultimately understand the department mission and the goals and
measures that apply to them.

Steps
Determine:
• Who needs to participate in the process
• Who will serve as facilitator
• How to obtain input from all department levels
• The timeline and schedule for completion, including:
o Date for review of plan by Assistant City Manager
o How to communicate the new business plan to all employees

No Template

No Example

2. Assessment of Prior Results/Action Plan Achievements

Overview
It is important to review past performance as departments prepare business plans
for the coming year. The review of past performance often provides a direction for
future strategies.

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The Assessment of Prior Results gives each department an opportunity to review
performance results over time. This is where departments should identify trends in
their performance measures.

Steps
§ Review performance data from the previous 3 years.
§ Review action plan steps from the previous year.
§ Check to see if goals, key indicators, and measures achieved the budgeted
targets.
§ If goals, key indicators and measure were met, state what helped the
department to meet the targets.
§ If goals, key indicators and measure were not met, state what caused the
targets to be missed.
§ Check to see if the steps of the action plans were achieved.
§ If the steps were met, state what helped the department to reach them.
§ If the steps were not met, state the factors that prevented
accomplishment.
§ Did the action plans help to keep the Department on track to achieve their
associated goals? Why or why not?
§ State what internal and/or external factors affected performance.
§ Describe how decisions were made based on performance information.
§ Provide highlights of decisions, performance information, and action plan
progress in the Executive Summary.

Template

AssessmentofPriorResults
Dept:

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Goal: Budget Actual Budget Actual Budget Actual Budget Actual Budget Estimate

PerformanceMeasures:

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 Example
Assessment of Prior Results
Dept: Municipal Court

2000 2001 2002 2003

Goal: Court Goals Budget Actual Budget Actual Budget Actual Budget

Performance Measures:
DACC

Percentage of cases for which

offenders complete their court
mandated CSR hours 65.00% 61.56% 29.00% 42.68% 42.86% 61.22% 57.14%
Percentage of offenders who
complete treatment
recommendations 25.00% 38.42% 42.00% 43.18% 35.00% 47.96% 35.19%

Central Booking
Total number of higher charge NM 4,800 4,782 5,441 5,040 6,350
arrest and search warrants
issued TBD
Number of cases magistrated 94,000 67,951 75,500 65,554 64,000 88,831
& arraigned TBD

Class C Proceedings
Number of warrants issued 90,000 111,203 91,000 111,476 100,000 100,368 110,000
105,000 127,506 123,680 128,380 123,680 147,331 134,750
Total number of cases set on
docket (excluding arraignment)

Case Initiation & Management

Number of cases initiated by

Case Initiation & Management
(Operators plus VPTA) 247,000 260,389 240,000 234,671 240,052 256,782 223,000
Percentage of cases initiated
within (5) business days from
violation date 72.00% 56.89% 68.00% 45.21% 53.00% 67.90% 70.00%

Records Management

Number of cases placed in file NM NM NM 451,113 560,000 597,586 614,800

Records Support Rate 98.00% 97.61% 97.61% 96.24% 97.26% 97.70% 97.22%

Courtroom Support
Number of cases scheduled on
Court Dockets (excluding
arraignment) 105,000 127,506 123,680 128,380 123,680 147,331 134,750
Number of cases updated by
Courtroom Support NM 0 NM 1,800 NM 22,704 TBD

Warrant Processing
Number of warrants prepared 101,500 129,534 110,000 127,209 120,999 122,550 122,222
Percentage of warrants issued
to prepared 88.67% 85.85% 89.00% 87.63% 90.91% 81.90% 90.00%

Warrant Collections
Number of phone calls
connected per clerk NM NM NM 1,603 1,714 2,267 2,500
Collections per clerk NM NM NM 135,791 130,000 309,081 200,000

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Example continued

Highlights of the Assessment of Prior Period Results

FY’02 Highlights:
• Revenue of $16,114,945 exceeded budget of $16,000,933 even though
cases filed fell short of budget, 424,168 versus budget of 438,900.
• Expenses, including encumbrances, are expected to be $9,242,702, well
below the budgeted $9,885,484.
• Special collections projects contributed to revenue, including warrant round -
ups and delinquent parking cases mail campaign
• Third party collection contract was negotiated, approved, and implemented at
the end of the year
• Municipal Court received a high level of customer satisfaction from the Voice
of the Customer survey
• Judges made document and/or process improvements including the design of
a one page warrant
• Significant cross training, especially among customer service personnel,
occurred
• Lobby hours were extended for walk in customers
• Self-reporting of performance measure data increased involvement of
managers and supervisors and generally improved data quality
• A number of process and form improvements increased the overall efficiency
of Court Operations
• DACC began holding jury and bench trials

Positive Achievements Resulted From:

• Excellent teamwork in the face of budgeta ry constraints
• Performance measures were more widely understood and targets set were
more realistic
• Special projects encouraged a faster work pace
• Technological contributions
• Focused on making processes better
• Performance feedback from Managing for Results approach

Review by Activity, FY 2002:

The following summarizes historical performance measure data for the measures
discussed below. The “Assessment of Prior Results” spreadsheet presents
supporting statistics for this section.

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DACC Program

The Community Service Restitution [CSR] activity improved completion on CSR

sentences from 42.68% for the prior year to 61.22%, exceeding budget of 42.86%.

The completion rate for treatment recommendations for Rehabilitation Services

improved from 43.18% for the prior year to 47.96%, exceeding budget of 35.00%.

Judiciary Program

The Central Booking activity magistrated or arraigned a considerably larger number

of cases, 88,831 compared to 65,554 for the prior year and exceeded budgeted
levels of 64,000. Higher charge arrest and search warrant production increased from
5,441 to 6, 350 exceeding budget at 5,040.

Class C Proceedings issued 100,368 warrants, down from the prior year production
of 111,476 and below budget of 110,000 in part due to the lower number of cases
filed. Cases docketed increased substantially from 128,380 for the prior year to
147,331, sharply exceeding budgeted levels of 123,680. Contributing to this rise,
mitigation dockets increased by 8,000 cases due to a combination of the warrant
round up, other special collection efforts, and, towards the end of the year, the new
collections contract. Defendants requesting appearance at traffic appearance
dockets [TRAD] increased 12,000 cases over the course of the year, as more
defendants pled not guilty and chose to speak with a prosecutor at that docket.

Municipal Court Operations Program

Case Initiation entered more cases into the court records system, 256,782
compared to 234,671 for the prior year. The volume increase, despite slightly lower
overall case filings, occurred due to more timely case initiation throughout the year.
When cases are not initiated in a timely fashion by this activity, Customer Services
personnel initiates them at the front counter, as customers appear to handle their
cases. This, in turn, increases customer wait time and may decrease throughput at
the front counters. More timely initiation and increased volume of cases initiated by
Case Initiation resulted in fewer front counter initiations by Customer Services.
Confirming this trend, the percent initiated within five business days increased from
45.21% for the prior period to 67.90%, exceeding budget of 53.00% and reflecting
more complete staff coverage of the data entry function.

3. Conduct Assessment of the Future (Environmental

Scan)

Overview
The Assessment of the Future gives the department the chance to identify
challenges and opportunities facing the department and then plan accordingly.

19
An Assessment of the Future is an analysis of the major factors that are likely to
influence how a department achieves its mission and goals . Departments will include
an assessment of the future as a critical part of the development of the business
plan.
The assessment of the future:
• Looks 1-5 years into the future, using information, data, and common sense;
• Provides a perspective about what will, or may, happen; and,
• Provides a context for developing departmental goals that express, in terms of
results, what must be done to prepare for, respond to, or influence the future.
The assessment examines:
• factors within the department related to issues such as work force,
attitudes toward authority, technology and professional requirements,
that will impact its ability to achieve results; and,
• factors external to the Department such as the economy,
demographics, annexation, traffic, politics, and the environment, that
will impact its ability to achieve results;
The department will examine the relationship between the internal and
external factors and then produce an easily articulated list of Change
Dynamics.

Steps
1. Decide who will be involved in the assessment. Tap into a wide range of
knowledge, experience, and perspective by utilizing staff throughout the
department.
2. Decide if the assessment will be completed by department staff in advance of the
business plan development sessions or be developed during these sessions.
3. Review summaries of information and data that may show emerging issues and
trends within the department.
4. Discuss the information and data, as well as the observations of senior staff that
are based on common sense and their own experience.
5. Synthesize the analysis of data and the observations into a brief list of key
factors emerging within the department.

Potential Sources of Information and Data for the Internal Assessment

• Department Performance Measures
• Customer/Citizen Surveys
• Analysis of Service Demands

20
• Program Reviews
• Employee Surveys
• Work Force Analysis
• Annual Reports
• Trade Journals
• Community Scorecard

Questions to Ask in the Internal Assessment of the Future:

• What do previous assessments conducted by the Department tell us? Are the
issues and trends previously identified relevant today?
• How has the department performed in achieving results? What does that tell us
about what will need to be done differently in the future?
• What do we know about our work force? How it will change or need to change in
the future?
• Is the organizational culture focusing its beliefs, behaviors and language on
managing for results?
• Who are our customers and how may their needs change in the future?
• What do customer surveys tell us about how our performance is perceived and
valued? How will we (or might we) have to change
• Is there anything in the department’s organizational structure that needs to
change in order to better achieve results?
• What do others in our business (trade journals, conferences, etc.) tell us that may
have implications for the department?
• What are the department’s most important opportunities in the future?
• What are the biggest problems facing the department in the future?
• What does the senior staff see changing outside the department that could have
a major impact on our ability to achieve our goals?

Potential Sources of Information and Data for the External Assessment

• Federal and State Government Statistical Reports and Data Bases
• University and College Resources Centers
• Court Decisions and Actions
• Media
• International City/County Management Association (ICMA)

21
• National League of Cities (NLC)
• Other City Departments’ Assessments

Questions to Ask in the External Assessment of the Future:

• What do past assessments conducted by the department tell us? Are the issues
and trends previously identified relevant today?
• What does the information and data tell us about emerging issues and trends
that will effect the department’s business in key issue areas such as:
Ø Demographics and Population
Ø Economy
Ø Work Force
Ø Politics
Ø State and Federal Government Funding and Regulation
Ø Technology
Ø Traffic
Ø Recreation
Ø Environment
Ø Public Opinion
(These can be factors at the local, state, and national levels.)
• Is the department in a competitive market?
• Are there other organizations that can do what the department does? Do they or
will they want the business?
• In what ways are the department’s customers changing? What implications do
those changes have for the department?
• How does the department’s performance match up to its peers in other cities who
are in the same business?
• What do annual reports tell us about external factors?
• What can be learned from other cities or national associations about how
external circumstances will change?
• What is happening in the business, statewide and nationally, that will effect the
department? What can be learned from these changes?
• What does the senior staff see changing outside the department that could have
a major impact?

22
4. Conduct a SWOT Analysis

Overview
The SWOT Analysis allows the departments to highlight areas the department does
well and areas for improvement.

A SWOT Analysis is a tool that can help departments look internally at strengths and
weaknesses and externally at opportunities and threats. This method examines the
materials developed through the Assessment of the Future in four areas:

S - Strengths are our major assets.

W - Weaknesses are those conditions or restrictions that prevent us from moving in

a particular direction or achieving results.

O - Opportunities are external circumstances or events that are likely to occur, or

those we might help occur, that could have a major positive impact on the
department.

T -Threats are circumstances or events that would have a negative impact on the
department

Steps

A facilitated discussion is a simple method for analyzing the department’s ability to

respond to the internal and external factors. The discussion should result in a
summary of responses to the four basic questions:

• What are the department’s strengths?

• What are the department’s weaknesses?
• What are the expected opportunities?
• What are the expected threats?

Template
SWOT

Strengths
1.
2.
3.
4.

23
Weaknesses
1.
2.
3.
4.

Opportunities
1.
2.
3.
4.

Threats
1.
2.
3.
4.

EXAMPLE

SWOT Conducted by Austin Municipal Court

Retreats were held with directors, managers, and supervisors to revise the Court’s
FY 2004 Business Plan. A SWOT analysis was conducted and major factors
extracted from common themes.

Strengths

1. Collective knowledge and experience of the Court allows adaptation to

change with minimal disruption to customer service.
2. Staff is bound together by mutual caring and is able to pull together to
accomplish large tasks.
3. Staff is committed to excellence.
4. Staff is willing to consider new ideas.
5. Court personnel continue to strengthen through educational and training
opportunities.
6. Procedures and processes have been defined and documented.
7. Staff is committed to “continuous improvement” (working smarter).
8. Court currently has a security and technology fund available, which is
separate from the General Fund.

24
Weaknesses
1. Due to retirement, employee turnover, and budget cuts fewer employees
are available to do the same amount of work.
2. Poor working environments, parking issues and lack of pay raises may
negatively affect employee motivation.
3. Quality of work may diminish due to continued or increased demand for
services and fewer resources, including personnel.
4. Court must rely upon other agencies, especially APD and Transportation,
to issue citations, which directly affect revenue.
5. A recessed economy negatively affects the ability of defendants to pay
their fines. It may also negatively affect employee’s household finances
causing additional stress.

Opportunities
1. Outside entities may enhance the Court including legislative bodies,
vendors from the private sector, and other City and County agencies
including corporate Human Relations, Austin Police Department [APD],
Transportation (parking enforcement), and Travis County Criminal Justice
Center [CJC].
2. Examination and redesign of Court processes and procedures may
enhance efficiencies and promote process changes to offset budget cuts.
3. Expanded cross training may be used to cope with inconsistent workloads,
for example in ticket issuance, with fewer employees, and with staffing
changes due to transfer, promotion, and retirement.
4. Training opportunities that don’t significantly draw upon General Fund
resources may be organized and will create a forum for new ideas.

Threats
1. The expectation of employees to assume duties due to staff reductions
despite lack of salary increases despite demonstrated effort or cost of
living changes.
2. Key technology funding legislation sunsets unless new supporting
legislation is sponsored and passed by September 2005.
3. Increased awareness or concerns about safety stemming from terrorist
threats.

5. Develop Change Dynamics Using the Assessment of

the Future and the SWOT Analysis
Overview

Change Dynamics allow departments and City Management the ability to quickly
review and define pressing issues.

25
A Change Dynamic is a one-sentence statement of fact that summarizes a major
issue or trend and the impact on the department or its customers. It describes what
is, or what will happen, but does not imply solutions, requests or goals.

A summary of the Assessment of the Future and the SWOT Analysis makes it
possible to effectively communicate the current environment to employees,
customers and stakeholders. The summary also facilitates the process of checking
the department’s goals against the assessment to ensure that achieving the goals
will keep the department in a leadership position.

Steps
Review the information from each assessment (The Assessment of the Future, The
Information Technology Assessment and The SWOT Analysis) and identify the
factors most likely to impact the department’s ability to achieve results. Summarize
these factors into a brief list of 6-10 Change Dynamics.

No Template

Example

Change Dynamics for FY 2004 by the Austin Public Library

During the October 8 work session, a considerable amount of discussion centered

on the major factors anticipated for FY 2004 and the department’s ability to respond
to these issues. The Library Management Team identified six major factors likely to
affect the department and our customers over the next twelve to twenty-four months:

• Increases in demand by a diverse population have led to an increased need

for space to support the growing library collection and new technological
information sources to improve customer service, connectivity, and
information sharing.
• The City’s significant investment in new and expanded branch library facilities
and technology will require the Library to protect these assets.
• The potential for retirement of employees in key positions leads to increased
demand for professional librarians qualified for public library work, especially
those who reflect the diversity of Austin.
• Demand for materials and information in increasingly diverse formats
including print materials, audio materials, remote access, DVD, CD, on-line,
and foreign languages are expected to increase.
• As diversity in the City of Austin increases, we must communicate the
availability of library services to new residents in their own languages.
• The breakdown of the social fabric has led to increasingly serious security
incidents at many branch locations as well as the Central Library.

26
6. Information Systems/Applications Challenges and/or
Opportunities
Overview
The information systems challenges and opportunities section provides City
Management descriptions of issues facing the departments and is collected centrally
by the Chief Information Officer.

Departments will conduct an assessment of their Information Systems/Applications.

This assessment has been added to the Business Planning process at the request
of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and the Budget Office for the purpose of early
identification of Information Systems needs looming on the horizon. The summary of
this assessment by all departments will provide City Leadership with an opportunity
to identify common needs and open the possibility of combining similar departmental
needs to find the most effective and efficient means of providing solutions.

Steps
During this assessment, departments might ask the following questions:
1. Can our business needs be met with the current legacy IT solutions in place?
If not, which legacy applications will need to be updated, replaced, or
modified over the next two to five years?
2. What are the hurdles, challenges, and impediments to accomplishing this
(what is the ‘this’)? i.e.: need assistance in programming, business process
review, business analysis, IT resource allocation, Business Case based
prioritization of projects, etc.
3. Are factors identified in the environmental scan affected by our current IT
systems?
4. Are there opportunities for significant improvement by the introduction of new
IT solutions that will aid in accomplishing our department's goals?

The IT Assessment Summary should include a general description of each

department’s current IT system and the associated issues. It should not include
hardware specifics such as numbers of PC’s or Servers.

The assessment summary should be developed in relation to how existing

Information System solutions are working to help meet the goals, key indicators, and
performance measures included in your Business Plan.

New for the Fiscal Year 2005-2006 Business Planning cycle, the IT Challenges/
Opportunities will be submitted directly to Communications and Technology
Management (CTM) via the City of Austin’s intranet site. The login site is:
http://coafusion.ci.austin.tx.us/it_challenges/default.cfm. A user id and password is
needed to login. Once in the site, follow the instructions given. If necessary, contact
the Budget Office for assistance with this site.

27
If specific needs materialize into actual projects, the City will use industry IT
standards such as Project Management Institute (PMI) and Software Development
Life Cycle (SDLC) approaches to obtain the necessary details about the project.

Template

§ Summarize IT challenges and opportunities that will have a major effect on

the department and its customers over the next 2 – 5 years
§ If none, state N/A
§ Summarize whether current IT infrastructure will support steps required to
reach goals
§ If not, describe how will the department manage the gap

EXAMPLE

EMS FY 2004 Business Plan

Information Technology Assessment

Station connectivity
One of the most fundamental technological barriers faced by EMS is a lack of
consistent, fast, and reliable station connectivity. Computers are a vital
communication link with crews across a 1,100 square mile service area. EMS
operates o ut of 27 stations as well as a helicopter hangar owned by Travis County.
Station connectivity is currently provided through a combination of COATN (formerly
GAATN) connections and ISDN lines. Virtual private networks will be needed to
replace those stations currently serviced by ISDN lines. COATN connectivity to all
EMS facilities would be preferable in the future. Expansion and upgrades to the
COATN system should be a city emphasis. As EMS implements the new Computer-
Aided Dispatch (CAD) system and becomes more reliant on the Records
Management (RMS) system, connectivity will be even more important. Crews will be
entering billing data from their stations in the near future, but this time-sensitive data
entry will be compromised by inadequate network connections.

New Systems and Processes Needed

• Personnel accountability on-scene tracking system to assist in the

management and tracking of personnel in the field for homeland security,
mass casualty events, fire standbys and related incidents

• Database to access usable fleet maintenance records and fuel usage –

uploads from Fleet Services into RMS may provide a solution

• Common access card system (one single smart card or a biometrics system)
to access all city buildings. Such a system would be especially important for

28
 public safety personnel during emergencies, to address homeland security
issues, and HIPAA (patient confidentiality) requirements.

• A standing advisory board composed of representatives from all of the City’s

public safety agencies should be created to provide input on citywide IT
issues. This body is especially needed to assess the impact of IT initiatives on
homeland security and patient confidentiality. At the same time, A/TCEMS
needs the flexibility to make technological advances independent of AFD and
APD since operating structures between these three public safety
departments vary greatly.

7. Develop Business Process Improvements

Overview
The Business Process Improvement component is another opportunity for
Departments to tap into the knowledge and experience of Department Staff by
soliciting ideas and identifying opportunities for process improvements. Departments
should continuously identify opportunities to streamline and improve its business
processes. While many process improvements will occur informally, Departments
will identify 1 to 3 significant Business Process Improvements that it will focus on in
the next fiscal year as part of its business plan.

Steps
Review your department SWOT analysis. Identify opportunities to improve the
effectiveness and/or the efficiency of the department through process changes.

Review all information collected and select 1-3 significant improvements the
Department will focus on in the next fiscal year. Develop a summary of each
improvement opportunity.

Questions the department should be asking include:

• How can we work more effectively?
• How can we work more efficiently?
• How can we deliver improved services?

Template

§ Describe improvement opportunity

§ Identify origin (where did the idea come from?)

§ Describe link to applicable activity objective and/or goal

29
 § Identify expected outcomes/benefits

EXAMPLE
EMS FY 04 Business Plan – Business Process Improvements
Process Improvement – Billing Services Research Activities

The Billing Research functions will be shifted during FY 03 to provide more attention
to researching patient insurance information at the start of the Billing process – as
opposed to later stages – in an effort to obtain accurate patient insurance
information, such as secondary insurance or automobile insurance information. By
researching information earlier in the Billing process, insurance claims can be filed
more quickly and accurately, and billing to individuals can be deferred until all
insurance avenues have been exhausted. This also entails more researching of
hospital databases in an effort locate accurate information. This process change will
also provide greater comfort and customer service to patients as collection efforts
are focused more toward insurance than the patients themselves. For FY 01-02 $4.7
million, or 51%, of ground transport billing revenues collected, were from private
insurance. By redesigning the Billing research process to increase the focus at the
beginning of the billing cycle, and on obtaining all insurance information possible, it
is anticipated that the percentage of revenues collected from private insurance will
increase by about 2.5% in FY 04, over FY 02 levels. This will in turn improve overall
collections, generate an estimated $110,000 in additional revenue, a nd potentially
increase customer satisfaction.

8. Review the City’s Vision Statement and Corporate

Initiatives

Overview
Business planning needs to have a focal point. The focal point for the City of Austin’s
business planning is the City’s vision statement. A Vision Statement defines what
the City would be like if all departments’ goals were met. Ultimately, the goals of the
department and the services provided to citizens should contribute to achieving the
City’s vision.

Corporate Initiatives are additional focus areas that define a great organization. By
paying attention to these initiatives the City sends a message to citizens that the way
in which Austin achieves its vision is also important.

City Council Priorities

• Public Safety
• Youth, Health and Family Vitality
• Sustainability
• Affordability

30
City Vision
“We want Austin to be the most livable community in the country.”

Corporate Initiatives
• Integrity
• Innovation
• Customer Access
• Customer Service

Steps
§ Confirm that the department’s goals contribute to, or support, achieving the
City’s Vision and the Corporate Initiatives.
§ Revise the goals, as necessary.

No Template

No Example

9. Review or Establish Department Goals

Overview

Goals are necessary in Managing for Results (MFR) because they:

• focus the department’s efforts on achieving results for citizens;

• provide a results-oriented basis for making good business decisions;
• establish alignment with the mission; and,
• provide focus and purpose for the people who work in the department.

Goals define the significant results that departments seek to achieve over the next 1-
5 years. Goals are results-oriented and relatively long-term. They translate a
department’s mission into specific results to be achieved for the department’s
customers, and may be accomplished through multiple programs, each with results-
oriented performance measures. While the development of the department’s mission
is based on its goals, it is possible and even likely to revise those goals during the
discussion of the mission.

Why Develop Goals?

Because goals are broad and may encompass several programs and work units,
they provide a corporate identity for the department. Goals provide the basis for
measuring and evaluating the performance of the department as a whole. Further,
goals enha nce open communication with citizens about the results they expect from

31
their City government. Results-oriented, measurable goals provide the opportunity to
demonstrate accountability to the City Council and the public.
Goals align the performance of the department with its mission (see Section 10).
Goals also clarify how the department aligns and contributes to the achievement of
the Vision of Austin as the “The Most Livable Community in the Country.”
Results-oriented and measurable goals make it possible to demonstrate how the
achievement of program objectives, in the short term, contributes to the achievement
of goals in the long -term. This alignment is critical in making budget decisions on the
basis of performance. Activities and programs will often align with and contribute to
the achievement of more than one goal.
Departments should prioritize a small number of goals for the Department Director
and staff to focus on and be accountable for achieving. Goals are the focus of the
entire department. Specific department goals are achieved through the coordinated
efforts of multiple programs and the staff working in those programs. This is true at
all levels in an aligned organization. Results-oriented departments organize intra-
departmental collaboration around long-term results, i.e. goals. This allows for
collaboration across traditional organizational units within the department on the
highest priority issues and toward long -term results.
Departments can also use their goals to orchestrate and organize collaboration with
external partners. When all departments have results-oriented goals in their
business plans it is possible to orchestrate inter-departmental collaboration around
results. Collaboration between departments is encouraged and can be facilitated
when they become aware that they are working toward the same or similar results
on behalf of citizens.
Departments that are managing for results develop goals that are focused on the
customer and on improving the department. A set of goals that focuses on both the
customer and the organization ensures that the department is neither too internally
focused nor neglecting to improve its ability to produce results.
Customer-focused goals define results to be achieved for customers, such as:
• traffic safety,
• access to or use of parks and recreation facilities,
• success indicators for children, health of citizens, or,
• quality of the environment.

Goals focused on improving the department’s work climate may include:

• management practices,
• investing in the workforce through training or information technology, and,
• changing the culture to be more accountable and results oriented.

Steps in Reviewing Current Goals

• Compare current goals to identified internal and external factors affecting
performance.

32
• Confirm that the goals reflect where the department wants to be in 1 – 5 years.
Do these goals adequately position the department for the future?
• Confirm that the issues addressed by the goals are still relevant and still a priority.
Remove goals that have already been achieved or are no longer relevant.
• Check each goal for time frames and targets that can measure progress toward
the goal.
• Review the key indicators to confirm that the key indicators effectively measure
the department’s business.
• Develop new goals as necessary.
• Include in the business plan a brief statement of why and how the goals will lead
to the fulfillment of the department’s mission.

Suggested questions to ask when reviewing current goals or developing new

goals:
• Does the goal reflect the department’s priorities and direction?
• Will the achievement of the goal help the department respond to the Change
Dynamics in an anticipatory and proactive manner?
• Does the goal provide direction for the identification of programs and activities?
• Is the goal focused on the future (1-5 years)?
• Is the goal results-oriented?
• Is the goal measurable with specified targets and timeframes? Is it reasonably
achievable?
• Is the goal easy to understand and articulate?
• Is the goal internally or externally focused? Does the department have a balance
of both?
• Will the goal provide the opportunity for the department to demonstrate
accountability for results and help decision-makers evaluate the performance of
the department as a whole?

No Template

Examples of Measurable Goals

Goals
Provide the public with a single location for development needs to promote
efficient use of citizen and City time and resources.
• Ensure that development is in compliance with regulations in an efficient and
effective manner by achieving 100% of Code-mandated review and
inspection deadlines by FY 2008.
• Maintain 90% of inspections performed within 24 hours.

Protect lives, property, and the environment from the impact of flooding,
erosion, and water pollution by:

33
 • Maintaining and improving water quality
• Construct water quality controls to reduce stormwater pollutants from
4,757 acres by 2006.
• Conduct business inspections and spill response to recover a total of
18,553,451 gallons and 5,565 cubic yards of pollutants by 2006.
• Maintain baseline levels of water, sediment and recreational quality,
aquatic habitat and physical integrity in 50% of watersheds evaluated.
• Reducing flood and erosion impacts to life and property
• 10% of erosion sites and threatened structures with increased protection
• 10% of threatened structures with increased flood protection through
drainage system improvements by FY 2008.
• Prevent loss of life due to flooding.
• Providing adequate maintenance of drainage infrastructure
• 100% of residential dry ponds rehabilitated on an annual basis by FY 2008.
• 94% of identified creeks (miles) maintained for vegetation control in FY
2005.
• Increase percent of prioritized projects with increased erosion protection
from 5.6% to 5.9% in FY 2005.

Maintain 100% of activities compliance with Federal and State permits and
regulatory requirements.

10. Define or Review the Department Mission Statement

Overview

A Mission Statement is a clear statement of purpose for the entire department that
aligns to the department’s goals. It defines the department’s primary customers and
identifies products or services that they provide. The words and intent in the mission
statement must tie directly to goals and programs that are focused on results.
A mission statement not only establishes and maintains consistency and clarity of
purpose. It also provides a frame of reference for all major decisions. It enables
everyone within the department to focus their efforts in a way that is supportive of
the department’s purpose and provides clear communication to customers and
stakeholders. The mission provides a corporate identity for the department.
The development of a mission statement enhances the open flow of information to
citizens about the core purpose of a department. Mission statements can be
developed using the Managing for Results Template on the next page.

Steps
A mission statement includes:
Ø The name of the department,
Ø A general description of services provided,
34
Ø The customers who receive the services, and,
Ø The intended benefits to the customer.

Departments that already have a mission statement can review and, if necessary,
revise it using the Managing for Results Template.

TEMPLATE

Managing for Results Template

The Mission of the ________ Department

is to provide ______________________

to ______________________________

so they can _______________________.

EXAMPLE

Mission

The mission of the Austin Public Library is to provide information and services that
promote life-long learning, literacy, and love of reading to the public so they can
enrich the quality of their lives.

11. Define or Review the Department Vision Statement

(Optional)

Overview

A Vision Statement describes what the future would look like if the department’s goals
were all achieved and the mission fulfilled.

A vision statement is an optional element of department business plans.

Steps
An inspired vision statement will be:
• Aligned with the City’s vision,
35
• Fueled by thoughtful imagination about what the future can be like;
• Linked to the operations, performance, and budget of the department; and ,
• Developed through a collaborative process.

No Template

No Example

12. List the Services Provided by the Department and

Identify Services as Core, Semi-Core and Service
Enhancements

Overview
A Service is a completed item of work that is delivered or handed over to a
customer. A well-defined service:
• Has an internal or external customer that receives the service,
• Is measurable as a count of something,
• Represents an “end product” or “delivered service”, rather than an action,
• Should be the end-product of a process rather than a step in a process,
• Is expressed without verbs or qualifiers (i.e. Conduct Training Courses,
Effective Community Outreach).

Examples
Well-Defined Services
Restaurant inspections
Dental examinations
Press releases
Construction permits
Rental assistance
Landscaping
Poorly-Defined Services
Cleaning supplies and equipment
Filing applications
Bidding
Respond to complaints from citizens
Develop promotional materials
Process trouble shooting

36
 Suggested questions to ask when reviewing current services
w Are there any new services?
w Are there any services that are no longer provided?
w Does the collection of services support the activity objective?
w Do the activity performance and/or operations measures represent the full
collection of services?
w Are all services classified as core, semi-core or service enhancement?

Steps for Core Services Classification

Core Service Business Planning Process

Criteria

Note: The core service and semi-core service criteria are not infallible and the
result of classifying activities and services as core, semi-core, and service
enhancement may not be exact.

Note: In all criteria, an entity may be another jurisdiction, city department, or city
program, activity, or facility

Core Service Criteria Semi-Core Service Criteria

(in rough order of priority)
1 Has a potential immediate or near-term
effect on public safety or health
(in rough order of priority)
1 Has a potential and beneficial long-term
effect on public safety or health, but the
loss of the activity or service would not
have a potential catastrophic effect.

Examples: Police patrol; EMS Example: Dental Service

Ambulance; STD Control

2 Meets but does not exceed a State or 2 Is that portion of a core service that
Federal mandate or the City Charter. exceeds a State or Federal mandate – an
augmentation of a core service

Examples: National Pollution a nd Example: Assuming a State mandate to

Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) inspect 10% of the restaurants in Austin
or other EPA requirements; Building per year, while a Department inspects
Inspection 15%, the incremental portion of 5% is the
semi-core portion.

37
3 The loss of the activity or service has a 3 No semi-core equivalent
long-term but potentially catastrophic
(i.e. sudden, swift, and disastrous) effect
on the public, and the activity or service
is not a core service of another entity
Examples: Flood control; building
inspection

4 Has a beneficial effect on the daily lives 4 Has a beneficial effect on the daily lives
of a significant segment of the population of a significant segment of the population
and is not the core service of any other but is the core service of another entity.
entity.

Examples: Library circulation services; Examples: After school care; workforce

swimming pools and recreation centers development

5 Provides revenue through a direct 5 Provides revenue through a direct

revenue generating or collection function revenue generating or collection function
that is in excess of its total costs and that that funds most but not all of its costs and
is not otherwise provided by another that is not generated or collected by
entity. another entity.

Examples: Electric generation,; Examples: Parks & Recreation programs

Municipal Court fine collection

6 Provides direct support or critical indirect
support for a core service.
Examples: Austin Police Department
administration (direct); Financial
Services Department payroll (critical
indirect)
6 Provides direct support for a semi-core
service or indirect support for a core
service.
Example: Decentralized purchasing for a
semi-core activity; training in the
Purchasing Office for decentralized
purchasing for core service departments.

Service Enhancement Criteria

Any program, activity, or service that does not meet the core service or semi-core
service criteria is a service enhancement.

No Template

38
Example

13. Sort Services into Activities

Overview
Activities are a set of services with a common purpose that produce outputs and
results important to citizens.

Identifying and sorting services into activities is the first step in building a department’s
business plan.

39
Steps
An “Affinity Diagram” exercise is an excellent way to sort a collection of services into
activities.
1. Develop a list of services according to criteria from Step 12.
2. Print each service on a post–it-note.
3. Place all the post–it-notes on a large flat surface like a table or wall.
4. Without consideration of current organizational structures, arrange the
collection of services into logical groups with a common purpose.
5. Consider the scope and level of detail necessary for each group. Ask:
• “Does this group stand on its own, or is it a subset of another group?”
• “Do we want to specifically allocate funding to this level of detail?”
6. Try several different combinations to achieve the best fit.
7. Label each final group with an activity name that best describes the collection
of services.

No Template

Example

From FY02-03 Health and Human Services Department Animal Services Program

Random list of Animal Services:

Animal receiving and housing/care, Volunteer program,
Enforcement, Pet Registration, Quarantine (rabies), Spay/neuter
voucher program, Humane Education, Rescue Program, Veterinary
Services, Adoption Program, Investigations, Animal control

Services organized into Activities:

Shelter Services Activity No-Kill Millennium Activity Animal Control Activity
Animal receiving, housing/care Humane Education Enforcement
Quarantine (rabies) Spay/neuter voucher program Investigations
Veterinary Services Volunteer program Animal control
Pet Registration Adoption Program
Rescue Program

14. Define or Review Activities and Activity Objectives

Overview
Activities are a collection of services with a common purpose.
The Activity Objective is a clear statement of purpose that is developed using the
Managing for Results Template and includes:

40
• The name of the activity,
• The service or product provided,
• The customer who receives the service or product, and,
• The intended benefit for the customer.

Steps

Review Current Activities

• List any new activities.
• List any activities no longer provided.
• Verify that the activity supports the program objective.
• Classify all activities as core, semi-core or service enhancement.
• Develop a prioritized list of activities.

Template

Activity Objective

The Purpose of the ________ Activity

is to provide ______________________

to ______________________________

so they can _______________________.

Example

The purpose of First Response is to provide a police presence in neighborhoods,

respond to calls for service from the community and engage in collaborative problem
solving initiatives to the community so that the community can feel and be safe.

15. Define or Review Performance Measures for Each

Activity

Overview

Performance measures provide a basis for making decisions that reflect citizens’
priorities and that deliver on the public’s desire to get value for their money. For
policy makers, performance information makes it possible to make better business
decisions and invest resources where taxpayers receive the highest return on their
investment. Without good performance information, decision-makers are, in effect,
guess-makers.

41
Managers can use performance information to make the best decisions about how to
maximize the alignment of people, resources and systems in order to achieve
results. In Departments that are managing for results, performance and the delivery
of results to customers become the focus of every employee.

The City’s performance measurement system uses a family of measures that include
demand, output, efficiency and result. Individually, these measures provide
important information when making management decisions. Together they provide
performance information essential for managing results and making good business
decisions.

The four categories for measuring the performance of activities are defined as
follows:

Demand – The amount of services requested by or anticipated from customers of

the activity. (optional)

Demand, in and of itself, doesn’t indicate anything. It’s only in conjunction with
Output that you can show gaps between supply and demand. Demand data helps
departments to discuss service gaps.

Examples:
• Miles of creeks needing vegetation control
• Number of children requiring subsidized child care.

Output – Units of service provided, products provided or people served through

the activity; counts the goods and services produced or delivered.

Examples:
• Miles of creeks maintained
• Number of children provided child care services.

Efficiency – Measures the unit cost of an output; cost per unit of service provided.

Examples:
• Cost per foot of creek maintained
• Cost per child served.

Result – Measures the impact that an activity has on citizens.

Examples:
• Percent of identified creeks (miles) maintained for vegetation control.
• Percent of contracted early child care programs that meet quality
standards.

42
Each activity shall have at least one measure of each category (demand, output,
efficiency and result), with one possible exception. Although demand measures are
considered helpful for decision-making and can help to identify service gaps, there
are circumstances when it is not feasible for the department to measure demand.
Departments are not limited to developing only one measure in each category, but
should take care to not have so many measures that the focus becomes diluted.

Good measures are relevant, understandable, consistent, comparable, timely and

reliable as identified below:

Relevant - logically and directly related to the organization’s goals or activity

purpose
Understandable - communicated in a clear manner
Consistent - used uniformly in the planning, budgeting, accounting and
reporting systems
Comparable - provides a clear frame of reference for assessing performance
over time to demonstrate performance trends
Timely - available to users before the information loses its value in assessing
accountability and decision-making
Reliable - derived from systems that produce controlled and verifiable data

Performance vs. Operations Measures

During the 2002-2003 Business Planning process, measures in each category

(demand, output, result, and efficiency) were classified as either “performance” or
“operations” measures. These classifications enable the City of Austin to have a
tiered, or layered, reporting system. This layered reporting system is important
because both classifications reach separate audiences. Although both performance
and operations measures are reported to the Budget Office for storage in a central
database, only performance measures are published in the budget document and
performance reports. Performance measures are reviewed by City management,
City Council and citizens and help guide policy decisions. Operations measures are
reviewed by department and program managers and help guide decisions on day-to-
day operations.

Numerical Measures

As the Budget Office prepares to enhance its central storage database, it is

important to confirm that all departmental measures are reported as numerical
values and do not include text. In addition, each measure needs to convey only one
piece of information. This will enable the graphing of the historical and current period
information for each measure.

43
Steps

Below are the steps recommended to develop and/or review your performance and
operations measures.

• Identify a team to develop the measures.

• Create or review performance and operations measures.
• Ensure that each activity has at least one Result, Efficiency and Output
performance measure. Include Demand measures when appropriate.
• Develop data collection plans for capturing measure information.
• Update the measure change matrix and description sheet (Business Plan
deliverables).
• Develop targets and timeframes for each measure (as part of the budget
process).

Identify a team to develop the measures

Departments are encouraged to use a collaborative and participatory process that

involves program, fiscal and research staff to develop performance measures.
Because more than one work unit within the department may be responsible for
achieving a specific result, all work units involved in producing the outcome should
be involved in the development of the performance measures that they will ultimately
be responsible for. Even though a collaborative process could take more time and
effort to achieve, it produces better results and a better organizational culture.

Additionally, departments can consider the involvement of stakeholders outside the

department in the development of performance measures. It is important to consider
the department’s partners in achieving results:
• Boards and Commissions;
• other departments who have shared responsibility for the results;
• service providers that the City contracts with for service provision; and,
• interest and advocacy groups who partner with the City to achieve a specific
result or set of results.

Create or review Performance and Operations measures

Performance and operations measures should be revisited as programs or activities

change or new data becomes available. The Budget Office will review all measures
and will provide guidance annually on revisiting measures.

Demand Measures

Developing demand measures for activities requires the following steps:

1. Review the definition of a demand measure;
2. Analyze the demand over time and determine if the data reveals any trends;
3. Assess the current demand for the service;

44
4. Identify the business area(s) where the measure information will be relevant;
5. Review the Change Dynamics developed through the Assessment of the
Future to determine if future demand may be impacted;
6. Project what the expected demand is for the future and document the
methodology used;
7. Confirm that the measure helps to gather information that progresses toward
the goals and objectives of the activity and the department;
8. Determine whether the measure should be performance or operations;
9. Using the data collection plan, collect the data.

Output Measures

Developing output measures for activities involves the following steps:

1. Review the definition of an output measure;
2. Review the outputs previously developed for the activity;
3. Identify the business areas where the measure information will be relevant;
4. Choose outputs have the most direct impact on achieving the result measures
of the activity;
5. Determine if there is a baseline for this measure to aid in reporting and
analysis;
6. Confirm that the measures help to gather information that progresses toward
the goals and objectives of the activity and the department;
7. Determine the sources of data for the measures;
8. Determine whether the measures should be performance or operations;
9. Using the data collection plan, collect the data.

Efficiency Measures

Developing efficiency measures for activities involves the following steps:

1. Review the definition of an efficiency measure;
2. Review the efficiencies previously developed for the activity, if applicable;
3. Identify the business areas where the measure information will be relevant;
4. Choose efficiencies that complement result measures;
5. Analyze data trends for this measure to aid in reporting;
6. Confirm that the measures help to gather information that progresses toward
the goals and objectives of the activity and the department;
7. Develop at least one efficiency measure that is defined as ‘cost per output’,
with the cost derived from the City’s accounting system;
8. Determine the sources of data for the measures;
9. Determine whether the measures should be performance or operations;
10. Using the data collection plan, collect the data.

Result Measures

Departments are encouraged to give adequate time and effort to ensure that
employees understand the difference between outputs and results. Outputs

45
 measure effort; Results measure impact. This is the most important yet most
difficult to understand concept when developing business plans.

If activity objectives are written correctly, the activity result measures will
simply be a restatement of the intended benefits. These measures are the
primary way that departments have of knowing when they are being
successful.

Reporting result measures is the best way for departments to demonstrate

accountability to citizens. They also provide powerful information for making
good business decisions. Departments are encouraged to graphically display
key performance measures in annual reports and other high profile reporting
opportunities.

Developing result measures involves the following steps:

1. Review the definition of result measures;

2. Review the activity objective (see Step #14);
3. Review the results previously developed for the activity, if applicable;
4. Determine whether or not these are the appropriate results for the activity;
5. Analyze data trends for the measures to aid in reporting;
6. Confirm that the measures help to gather information that progresses toward
the goals and objectives of the activity and the department;
7. Consult with program managers, fiscal, and research staff members to ensure
that appropriate result measures have been identified for each activity;
8. Determine the sources of data for the measures;
9. Determine whether the measures should be performance or operations;
10. Using the data collection plan, collect the data.

Develop data collection plans for capturing measure information

Once performance and operations measures have been identified, the department
must identify how to obtain the data. It is important to identify and document data
collection and calculation methods that will be used to collect data for new activity
performance measures. An important activity performance measure, especially a
result measure, should not be eliminated or overlooked only because the data is not
initially available. If data is not available, departments should develop a data
collection plan to obtain such data.

Data collection needs to consider the following factors:

• Availability of data required to quantify the activity performance measures;
• Staff time and resources available to gather, analyze and refine data;
• Determining what data no longer needs to be collected; and,
• Organizational issues which require changes in procedure, policy, or priority
setting.

46
Update the measure change matrix and description sheet

The Measure Change Matrix and the Measure Description Sheet are two Business
Plan deliverables that are due at the time of the Business Plan submission to the
Budget Office. The Measure Change Matrix summarizes all changes that will occur
from one Business Plan to the next, including:
• New measures;
• Deleted measures;
• Measures that will move from one activity to another;
• Re-worded measures that do not change the measure’s meaning; and,
• Measures that change status from performance to operations, and
vice-versa.

The Measure Description Sheet includes each measure’s:

• Description;
• Data source;
• Calculation;
• Data Limitations;
• Reporting frequency; and,
• Responsible staff member.

The data collection plans outlined previously will help in creating this document. This
information is stored in the citywide measure database and is designed to maintain
an institutional history on each measure in the event of staffing or responsibility
changes. The Budget Office will provide additional information on these deliverables
during the Business Planning process.

Develop targets and timeframes for each measure

Each measure needs to have a target, or goal, for a particular timeframe, usually the
fiscal year. Although these targets are finalized during the budget process, the
Business Planning process is the appropriate time to begin setting these targets.
The Assessment of Prior Results exercise (see Step #2) can help departments to
determine targets that will stretch abilities, yet remain achievable.

Examples of Targets for the 2003-2004 Fiscal Year for the Erosion Repair
Activity:
Demand -- “Number of sites on prioritized project list”: 180
Output -- “Number of projects completed”: 10
Efficiency -- “Cost per project completed”: $41,437
Result -- “Percentage of prioritized projects with i ncreased protection”: 94%

Throughout the fiscal year, the Watershed Protection and Development Review
Department will collect the data that supports these measures, manage the Erosion
Repair Activity to ensure that the targets are met, and report their performance.

47
Template

The following example illustrates how the result measure is derived from the activity
objective:

Example
Activity Objective
The purpose of the: Erosion Repair Activity
(activity)
is to (provide/produce): stabilized creek banks
(service or product)
to or for: property owners and concerned citizens
(customer)

so they can or in order to: protect property.

(planned benefit)

The result measure for Erosion Repair is:

1) Percent of prioritized projects with increased erosion protection.

16. Sort Activities into Programs

Overview

Programs are a set of activities with a common purpose that produce results for
citizens.

Programs developed in the business plan translate directly into the City’s performance
budget. The program objective, the performance measures and the budget request
are the primary information used for budget decisions at the corporate level.

Steps

• Without consideration of current organizational structures, arrange the collection

of services into logical groups with a common purpose.
• Consider the scope and level of detail necessary for each group. Ask,
o “Does this group stand on its own, or is it a subset of another group?”
o “Do we want to specifically allocate funding to this level of detail?”
• Try several different combinations to achieve the best fit.

48
Template

Dept. Service Purpose Activity Program Explanation

No Example

17. Define or Review Programs and Program Objectives

Overview

The City of Austin is committed to well-managed, results-oriented government.

Identification of programs and program objectives:
• support results-oriented business decision making;
• ensure that departments are clear about who their customers are;
• identify the intended benefit of every program;
• integrate business plans with the performance budget;
• link goals to the operation, performance, and budget of the department; and,
• enhance the open flow of information to citizens about the results that they can
expect from their local government.

Relationship Between Programs and Activities

One or more activities are grouped together around a common purpose to define a
program. A Program is a set of activities with a common purpose that produces
results for citizens. Decisions about activities tend to focus on management and
service delivery to a specific segment of the population. Policy decisions are more
often focused at the program level where the desired results are broader and impact
a broader segment of the population.

49
Program Objectives and Key Result Measures
Each program is described by a Program Objective that is a clear statement of
purpose that aligns with the goals and mission of the department. The p rogram
objective, the performance measures, and the budget request are the primary
information used for budget decisions at the corporate level.

Program performance measures are the key result performance measures for the
activities within that program. Incorporating key result measures from activities into
their associated programs further ensures alignment of these portions of the
business plan.

Broad policy and budgetary decisions are made at the program level. Therefore,
departments shall use only results measures for programs. Results-oriented
performance measures:
• provide information on the impact individual programs have on citizens;
• help determine where improvements are needed; and,
• facilitate decisions on the best ways to invest taxpayer money.

Steps in Identifying Programs and Developing Program Objectives

Essential Steps in Identifying Programs:

1. Ensure that all work units and operations are organized into activities;
2. Review the activity objectives;
3. Group the activities together by common purpose, result or population served;
4. Give the program a name and begin developing the program objective.

Essential Steps in Identifying Program Objectives:

Using the Managing for Results Template:
1. Identify the name of the program
2. Identify the service(s) delivered
3. Identify the customer who will receive the services
4. Identify the intended benefit.

Suggested questions to ask when developing program objectives:

• How has the program been defined and named in the past?
• Are the terms used to describe the services the same as the public uses? Should
the terms change?
• Who has been defined as our customer in the past? Is this correct?
• Are too many customers identified? Are we being practical?
• Who receives the direct benefits of this program?

50
• Is the service named in the objective a summary, not a listing, of the services
provided through the activities grouped together in the program?
• What is the planned benefit the department seeks to achieve?
• Can the department directly influence the achievement of this result?
• Is the planned benefit stated in terms of results?
• Is it a result that can and should achieved? Is the benefit of the program aligned
with our goals?

Template

Program Objective

The Purpose of the ________ Program

is to provide ______________________
to ______________________________
so they can _______________________.

Example

The purpose of the Animal Services Program is to provide an array of animal control,
health, and pet-owner services to the public in order to promote responsible pet
ownership and humane treatment of animals.

18. Review Business Plan for Alignment to Goals

Overview
The City continues to build a corporate culture in which all departments are managing
for results. A critical success factor in creating this culture is the extent to which the
people, resources, and systems within each department are aligned to achieve the
department’s goals and the City’s Vision.
Alignment means that results achieved at any level in the department contribute to the
achievement at the next higher level. Through results-oriented performance measures,
for instance, it is possible to ensure and illustrate that achieving the key results at the
activities level contributes to achieving results at the program level. For individual
employees, alignment is achieved by including in their Success Strategy Performance
Review (SSPR) at least one performance measure that is also included in the activity
in which they work.

Steps

§ Determine if the services are deliverables for the activity;

§ Determine if the activity measures describe how well the department achieves
the activity objective;
51
 § Determine if the activities are common results and outputs for the program;
§ Determine if the program objective describes what the activities and the
program accomplishes;
§ Determine if the programs describe what the department does;
§ Determine if the programs describe what the goals say;
§ Determine if the goals reflect what the department actually does.

No Template

No Example

19. Identify Key Indicators

Overview
There is an array of measures collected and used by the City and range from
measures used by the City Council to measures used by division managers. The City
Council and other policymakers use key indicators in decision-making.

Key Indicators are high-profile performance measures that let the department and the
reader determine if the department is achieving its goals.

Steps
§ Identify the most important result and output measures of the department;
§ Ensure that at least one key indicator uses benchmarking information from
industry-accepted standards derived through a regional/national organization or
other entity;
§ Revise the list to keep it to a manageable number;
§ Ensure that these measures provide a snapshot of your department.

No Template

Example

Key Indicators

The key indicators used by the Human Resources Department include:

Previous Amended Estimate Proposed

Actual
Employee Turnover
Rate
Employee Ratings of
Overall Job Satisfaction
Diversity Representation

52
Number of Grievances
Average Time to
Complete the
Recruitment Process
Sick Leave Utilization
per 1,000 Hours Worked
Lost Time Injury Rate

20. Develop Action Plans to Achieve Goals

Overview
Department will develop an Action Plan for each goal. The Action Plan describes the
major steps the department must take to achieve the goal. This exercise will help
departments think through the financial and personnel resources needed to achieve
their goals and provide a format to communicate the department’s progress toward
each goal. Action Plans should be updated and revised as needed to ensure the
most current information is available for stakeholders and decision-makers.

An Action Plan defines a set of steps the department will implement to accomplish
goals. An Action Plan explains how a goal will be accomplished by defining the steps
to be taken, the person or organizational unit responsible, the resources needed, and
the performance period for accomplishing the action step.
Additionally, Action Plans:
• Ensure that specific steps will be taken to achieve results;
• Provide a process to think through what is needed to accomplish the goals and
performance measures established for it;
• Provide additional opportunities to involve line supervisors and staff in the
development of the business plan; and,
• Give managers a tool for monitoring progress toward accomplishing activities.

Steps

Each Action Plan will identify:

1. The current status, or baseline, of the goal,
2. An executive sponsor within the department to monitor the progress of the
Action Plan,
3. Activities from the business plan involved in achieving the goal,
4. Department workgroups involved in achieving the goal, and,
5. A brief narrative summary of the Action Plan.

53
Departments will use the attached spreadsheet and include it in the department
business plan.

Template
Action Plan

Department goal:
Baseline:
Executive Sponsor:
Activities Involved
Work Units Involved:
Action Summary:

Actions steps Activity Estimated time Related Desired Result

to be Taken Involved frame to performance
implement measure(s)

Example
EMS - Response Time Action Plan

Department goal: Respond to Priority 1 Calls in Under 10 Minutes 90% of the time

Baseline: FY 02 Actual: Percent Priority 1 Calls Responded to in Under 10 Minutes: 83.21%

Executive Sponsor: Gordon Bergh, Assistant Director, Operations

Activities Involved: Emergency Communications, Emergency Services, Academy, Quality

Assurance, Safety, Vehicle/Equipment Maintenance, Information Technology Support,
Purchasing, and Personnel
54
Work Units Involved: Operations Command Staff, Paramedics, Communications, Recruiting,
Fleet and Facilities Management, Information Technology Support, Purchasing, Personnel

Action Summary: Adding new units will have the most direct impact on improving response
times. Once the Far Southeast and Del Valle stations have been staffed, EMS proposes to
begin transitioning from a fixed post system to a blended system that encompasses fixed
post units as well as peak demand units. Austin-Travis County EMS currently operates a
fixed post system which means ambulances are based at stations throughout the service
area if they are not responding to or returning from a call. In a blended system, some
ambulances will not be assigned to any specific station. Such units, known as “peak
demand units”, will be deployed to sections of the service area where demand is greatest.
These deployments could shift based on time of day and days of the week to accommodate
traffic patterns, weather conditions, large events, holidays, and downtown activity on Friday
and Saturday evenings. A blended system will allow for greater flexibility and will alleviate
the expense of constructing and maintaining some new EMS stations. New stations could
be occupied over time, based on demand in specific areas.

A critical component of this plan is the development of consistent and reliable baseline
response data. The majority of the EMS response time and call volume data is generated by
the City’s Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. This system is over16 years old. Its
reporting capabilities are quite limited and consistent data collection has been an ongoing
challenge for EMS. The new CAD system, scheduled to be on line by October 2003, should
provide more consistent and statistically accurate reporting than is currently available. Data
prior to FY 04 will need to be archived in a database that is accessible to multiple users and
that provides consistent data results. Extraction of data from the new CAD system may
require a data analyst FTE as well as specialized training.

Actions steps to Activity Involved Estimated time Related Desired Result

be Taken frame to performance
implement measure(s)
Open Far Emergency Hire 10 Percent Priority 1 85% response
Southeast EMS Services, Academy, paramedics and Responses in rate to Priority 1
station by October Vehicle/ Equipment order 1 Under 10 Minutes Calls in Under 10
2003 Maintenance, ambulance by Minutes for FY 04
Facility Expenses April 2003 for
station to open by
October 2003
Develop Emergency FY 04 – Using Percent Priority 1 Plan for how
scheduling plan to Communications new CAD Responses in demand units will
accommodate Emergency Services Under 10 Minutes be scheduled by
demand units FY 04
within the system
Staff Del Valle Emergency Hire 10 Percent Priority 1 87% response
Fire/EMS station Services, Academy, paramedics & Responses in rate to Priority 1
with an EMS unit Vehicle/ order 2 ambu- Under 10 Minutes Calls in Under 10
by April 2004 Equipment lances in Oct. Minutes by Q2 of
Maintenance, 2003 for station FY 05
Facility Expenses to open by April
2004

55
 Actions steps to Activity Involved Estimated time Related Desired Result
be Taken frame to performance
implement measure(s)
Place 1 demand Emergency Hire staff and Percent Priority 1 89% response
unit in service Communications purchase Responses in rate to Priority 1
within the city Emergency Services equipment in Under 10 Minutes Calls in Under 10
limits during FY 05 Academy October 2004 for Minutes for Q4 of
including the Quality Assurance unit to go online FY 05
necessary Safety by April 2005
infrastructure Vehicle/ Equipment
support Maintenance
Info Tech Support
Purchasing
Personnel
Place 1 demand Emergency Hire staff and Percent Priority 1 90% response
unit in service Communications purchase Responses in rate to Priority 1
within the city Emergency Services equipment in Under 10 Minutes Calls in Under 10
limits during FY 06 Academy October 2005 for Minutes for FY 06
including the Quality Assurance unit to go online
necessary Safety by April 2006
infrastructure Vehicle/ Equipment
support Maintenance
Info Tech Support
Purchasing
Personnel
Reduce critical fleet Vehicle/ Equipment FY 03 and FY 04 Percent Priority 1 90% response
failures by 10% by Maintenance Responses in rate to Priority 1
Sept. 2005 by track- Under 10 Minutes Calls in Under 10
ing core fleet Minutes for FY 06
problems and Critical Failures
outcomes, survey per 10,000 miles 0.54 fleet failures
other users, work driven per 10,000 miles
with Fleet Services driven by FY 05
to reduce chronic
failures, develop
rela-tions with CRS
on installation
specifications
Develop Info Tech Support January 2003 All response time Accessible,
consistent and Emergency Services through June measures consistent and
reliable baseline 2003 reliable baseline
response time CAD data from FY
data archives in a 98 through FY
database that can 2003
be accessed by
multiple users
Develop Info Tech Support Attend reporting All response time Accessible,
consistent and Emergency Services training during FY measures consistent and
reliable reporting Emergency 03 for new CAD reliable CAD data
capabilities from Communications Implement new as of FY 2004
new CAD system CAD system by
October 2003

56
21. Submit Business Plan to Budget Office/ACM for Review
Overview
The completed business plan is submitted to the appropriate Assistant City Manager
and then the Budget Office, which provides feedback to the departments.

Steps
Shown below are the deliverables for the Business Plan submission:

BUSINESS PLANNING DELIVERABLES

1. Executive Summary using the sections identified in the template below.
2. Department Programs with a list of Activities in “tree diagram” format as
shown in the budget document.
3. A revised mission, goals, key indicators page (as shown in the budget
document) using legislative format to mark changes by striking old text and
underlining new text.
4. Action plans for each goal showing the steps the department intends to take
to achieve those goals.
5. Two self-assessments of the department’s key indicators.
6. The Program and Activity Business Plan pages as printed through CARMA.
7. Changes/corrections to the Business Plan Measures Change Matrix
(including identification of performance and operations measures and efforts
to define all measures as numerical values).
8. A bulleted summary of Business Process Improvements recommended by the
department.
9. Summary of Information Systems/Applications Challenges and/or
Opportunities as submitted via the intranet site set up by the CTM department.
10. Updated Performance Measure descriptions sheets for all measures following
the format as described in Step 29 of this Resource Guide.

Templates

1. Department Executive Summary for Next Year Business Planning Should

Contain These Sections:

• Brief Overview of the Next Year’s Business Plan

• Highlights of the Assessment of Prior Results/Action Plan Achievements
• List of identified Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
• Summary of the major Change Dynamics anticipated for the Next Year
• Summary of activity and/or service changes for the Next Year

57
 • Summary of any major changes to the alignment of programs, activities or
services
• Updates to Department Mission, Goals, and Key Indicators
• Summary of Action Plans to achieve goals
• Identified Process Improvements for the Next Year
• Identified IT challenges/applications for the Next Year
• Conclusion

2. Department Programs with List of Activities in Tree Diagram Format

Fleet Service Vehicle Support Support Transfers & Other

Centers Services Services Requirements

Inventory Administration Other

Auction
Control & Management Requirements

Preventive Fuel Facility

Transfers
Maintenance Management Expenses

Scheduled Financial
Make Ready
Maintenance Monitoring/
Budgeting
Unscheduled
Rental Pool
Repairs Information
Technology
Support
Taxi

Personnel/
Training

Purchasing/
M/WBE

3. Revised Mission, Goals, Key Indicators Page

See Sections 9, 10, and 19.

4. List of Goals and Action Plans

See Sections 9 and 20.

5. The Program and Activity Business Plan pages as printed through CARMA

Business Plan Pages

The location of the CARMA database for Business Planning is
http://carma.ci.austin.tx.us/login.cfm. Contact the Budget Office if you need
assistance with your login id and password.
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The CARMA database is used for the following information:
• Sorting service classifications of core, semi-core, or service enhancement into
the proper category.
• Updating Activity and Program objectives.
• Updating the Activity history and description section. The first sentence in the
“Activity History and Description” must indicate whether the Activity is a core,
semi-core or service-enhancement activity. The second sentence must state
what Federal Law, State Law, Legislation, City Ordinance or other legal
requirement mandates this activity. If there is not a legal mandate, then state,
“No legal mandate.”
• Designating performance and operations measures (this is done both in CARMA
and in the Business Plan Measures Change Matrix).
• Adding new measures.

Verify the accuracy of performance data pulled from the CARMA database and
contact the Budget Office if you find discrepancies.

6. Changes/Corrections to Business Plan Measures Matrix

Use the spreadsheet provided by the Budget Office.

7. Business Process Improvements

See Section 7.

8. Summary of Information systems/applications and/or opportunities

See Section 6.

9. Performance Measure Description Sheets

Use the spreadsheet provided by Budget Office.

10. Self-assessments of two key indicators

See Section 29. Also, a self-assessment checklist is located on the Budget Office
intranet site.

59
22. Revise the Business Plan Based on Feedback
Departments will revise their business plans based on the feedback received from
the Assistant City Managers and the Budget Office.

23. Integrate the Business Plan with the Performance

Budget
The approved Business Plan becomes the structure for the department’s budget.
The Activities and Programs provide the cost centers and performance locators for
the budget. The Business Plan provides the goals, key indicators, measures, and
activity alignment for the Department.

24. Communicate Business Plan to Employees and

Customers
The completed business plan should be communicated to employees, customers
and stakeholders.

The departments are encouraged to hand out copies of activity and program pages to
each employee located in that activity and program at the beginning of the fiscal year.
This coincides with the SSPR schedule and lets the employee know expectations of
the employee and also expectations of the activity and program.

The departments should present copies of their performance plan pages from the
budget document to their Boards and Commissions for review and input.

25. Integrate SSPRs and Business Plans

Overview

The City of Austin has an employee performance appraisal program called Success
Strategy Performance Review (SSPR). The SSPR program was developed to:
• set individual performance expectations for each employee,
• monitor performance over time, and,
• formally evaluate success.

60
Employee SSPR plans will be integrated with business plans in order to create fully
aligned departments where every employee knows how his/her job contributes to the
department’s goals and objectives.

Key points regarding the integration:

• The integration of SSPR plans and business plans facilitates the alignment of
people working together to achieve results.
• Integration of SSPR plans and the business plans is achieved at the director,
senior manager, supervisor, and individual employee levels.
• Integration is accomplished by ensuring that all business plan activity and
program objectives are reflected in the appropriate employees’ SSPR plans, and
that individua l performance measures written in SSPR plans are aligned with
those objectives.
• Management’s primary role in this integration is to ensure that the program or
activity performance measures, for which individual employees are accountable,
are reflected in the SSPR plans of those employees responsible for achieving the
desired results.
• Employee performance will be evaluated, in part, by reviewing the individual
employee’s contribution to achieving the expected results established in program
and activity performance measures.

Steps
The Organization Development Administration Division of the Human Resources
Department provides specific instructions and training for developing and managing
the SSPR program.

26. Track Measures on a Monthly Basis

Track and record the performance and operations measures. Measures may be
entered into the CARMA database either by up-load using an Excel spreadsheet
created specifically for each department by the Budget Office or by data entry using
the front end of the CARMA database. For ease of use, the Budget Office
recommends using an Excel spreadsheet to up-load the information.

27. Track Action Plans for Achievements on a Regular Basis

Conduct monthly and quarterly reviews of the department’s action plans for
achievement of goals.

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28. Report Results on a Regular Basis
Performance needs to be reported regularly in order to be able to make decisions
according to up-to-date information. The performance and operation measures will be
reported in through ePerf, the performance measures database on the City’s internet
site. The location of this database is: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/budget/eperf/index.cfm.
EPerf organizes all of the cities measures by department, program and activity. There
is also a keyword function that can be used to find measures city-wide. Citizens can
also access this site through the Budget link on the Austin City Connection web page.

Key indicators will continue to be reported on a quarterly basis in the performance

reports in addition to being available through ePerf.

29. Conduct Self-Assessment of Performance

Measurement Data

Overview

An assessment of Performance Measurement Data is a process that departments

can use to ascertain if the performance measurement data that they report to the
Budget Office is reliable and if sufficient control systems are in place over the
collection, analysis and reporting of that data. The City’s Corporate Internal Audit
Office conducts similar reviews that are called Performance Measurement
Certification Audits.

The purpose of a self-assessment review is:

• To determine if your department is accurately reporting performance and

operational measures to the CARMA database. CARMA is the City’s
database for tracking departmental and citywide performance measurement
data.

• To determine whether your department has sufficient control systems in place

over the collection, analysis and reporting of your performance measurement
data.

• To determine the extent to which management and other stakeholder can rely
on performance measures when making budgetary decisions or evaluating
specific activities.

• To help increase the extent to which performance measurement data is being

generated from departmental management systems that have adequate
internal controls. Adequate safeguards over the collection and analysis of
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 performance measurement data increase the probability that reported
measures will be accurate over time.

Steps

1. Choose measure(s) to review.

2. Review measure definition and other data relevant to the measure.
3. Identify departmental staff involved in gathering data for the measure.
4. Determine if you can re-create the numbers reported in CARMA.
5. Collect information on the process used to generate performance data.
6. Develop a high-level process flowchart.
7. Determine if the department followed the measure definition.
8. Determine whether adequate controls over performance measure data
exist to ensure consistent reporting of accurate information.
9. Determine if source documents support the measure results reported to
CARMA.
10. Determine the certification category for the measure (optional).

1. Choose measure to review.

___ a. Choose measure(s) to review based on the following suggested criteria:

• Concerns with your department measurement system controls raised by
the Budget Office or sources external to your department.

• Changes in your departmental organizational structure/key personnel.

• Budget size (relative dollars involved or related to a measure).

• Concern or interest by Council Members or corporate or senior

management about an activity or area being measured.

• Patterns of unexpected performance (either up or down).

• Reported in the Community Scorecard or other external reports.

* On Appendix A #1 list the name of the measure you chose

and in Appendix A #1a the reason for choosing the measure
using the list above, or other reason(s).

2. Review measure definition and other data relevant to the measure.

___ a. Obtain a copy of the measure definition from the Budget Office.

* Attach to Appendix A #2a the Budget Office measure definition.

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The Budget Office requires that the following information be entered into CARMA for
every performance measure:
• ID Number • Data Sources
• Program • Calculation
• Activity • Data limitations
• Measure Name • Person responsible, with phone number
• Type • Is the measure a key indicator?
• Description • Is the measure reported cumulatively?
• Frequency • Is the measure reported to ICMA?

___ b. Determine if the measure definition is clear, specific, and not open to
interpretation.

If the measure definition is not clear, not specific, and open to interpretation
indicate in Appendix A #2b what needs to be changed. Also indicate when
and by whom it will be changed.

___ c. Determine if the calculation method is consistent with the measure’s

definition.
___ d. Determine if the measure name accurately describes what it is measuring.

Tip: Having an accurate measure name is also important because

stakeholders will often not take the time to delve into the details of the
measure definition.

___e. Has this measure been reviewed in the last three years by sources external
to the Department (federal, state, Office of the City Auditor, etc.)?
Yes ___ No ____

If yes, discuss the results in Appendix A #2e.

Measure Definition Example:

Measure Name: Percent of Indigent Consumers Whose Dependent Living Risk was
diminished
Type: Result
Description: This measure addresses the extent to which services provided by the
program enable indigent individuals to minimize their dependency on others due to
blindness or severe vision loss.
Frequency: Quarterly
Data Sources: Visually impaired database (VI6)

64
How it’s collected: Service personnel in field offices enter all data for the consumers
they serve into the department’s database. A record of each consumer is begun at the
point an application for services is taken or a referral is received.
After assessing the consumer’s situation, service personnel note in the consumer’s
database record whether the individual is at risk of increased dependency on others.
At the time the consumer’s case is closed, the staff enters a code noting whether or not
the consumer’s risk for dependent living is diminished as a result of services provided.
Consumer coding is presented in a quarterly custom report that extracts this database
information.

Calculation (methodology): A percentage is obtained by dividing the number of

consumers coded as having a diminished dependent living risk at closure by the
number of consumers coded as being at risk during the eligibility phase of their
rehabilitation process.

Data limitations: The determination of risk of dependence at application and the

degree of dependence at closure is based on the judgment of professional staff.

Measure Definition Example:Measure name: Cost per ton of yard trimmings

collected
Type: Efficiency

Description: This measure addresses the total tons of yard trimmings collected during
residential collection divided by the total costs for this activity.

Frequency: Reported to the SWS performance measurement database monthly and

reported to CARMA quarterly.

Data sources: Yard trimmings data comes from the Operations Performance System
database. The monthly and annual expenditures for this activity comes from the AFS2
Report.

Calculation (methodology): The percentage is obtained by dividing the total number

of yard trimmings collected by the total expenditures for the yard trimmings activity.

How data is collected (data collection methodology): Yard trimmings data is

collected by PAYT crews and recorded on Daily Driver Reports. The day following the
collection, Yard Trimming supervisors enter the data into the SWS’s Pay-as-You-
Throw’s Division Operations Performance System Database (OPS).

Data limitations: Because of limitations in the OPS database, yard trimming tons are
estimated on Fridays. (For example purposes only).

65
3. Identify departmental staff involved in gathering data for the measure.

___a. Obtain the name(s) and title(s) of all personnel who collect data for the
measure.

* List their names and titles in Appendix A #3a.

___b. Find out how long have they had responsibility for this information.

___c. Obtain the name(s) and title(s) of anyone else responsible for any part of the
calculation of the measure.

* List their names and titles in Appendix A #3c.

___d. Identify and document who prepares and submits the summary document(s) to
the CARMA Coordinator.

Tip: Ensure that the names and title of all individuals involved with the measure is kept
current.

4. Determine if the numbers reported in CARMA can be recreated.

___ a. Gather summary documentation for the measure.

* Attach to Appendix A #4a - a copy of the first page of the summary

documentation showing field headings. Also, attach any totals pages.

Definition of summary documentation - Summary documentation shows the

final calculations that support the performance data reported in CARMA.
Documentation should also include any reports that support the measure result
reported to CARMA.

Examples of summary documentation:

- Current computer printouts that reproduce summary calculations of the
reported performance
- Archived computer printouts produced at the reporting date that
document the summary calculations
- Quarterly summary calculation documentation
- Spreadsheets
- Manual calculation sheets

Note 1: Data to be reviewed should be from the previous fiscal year.

66
 Note 2: If the department has updated performance information, documentation
should be available for both originally reported and updated information.

___ b. Recreate the number reported in CARMA and determine if the summary
documentation is within a tolerable range of plus or minus three percent of the
number that was reported to CARMA. If you find that the number is not within
three percent, investigate the reasons for the discrepancy, record your
results, and provide recommendation(s) for improvement in Step 10. As you
continue the certification review for this measure, try to determine what the
actual number reported to CARMA should have been.

* Record the results of this step in Appendix A #4b.

Note: If the summary documentation were not within +/- 3%, you would place
the measure in the “Inaccurate” certification category. Continue with the
review.

Example

A City department has a measure entitled “Number of Applications Processed.” Looking

at the CARMA results we find that the department reported 500 applications processed
during the previous year. The documented measure definition for “Number of
Applications Processed” reads:

The Number of Applications Processed is equal to the total number M plus N

plus O plus P applications processed. An application is considered “processed”
when the reviewer closes a file for the applicant in the computer.

The following is an example of a document with supporting summary calculations.

Number of Number of Number of Number of Total

M N O P Number of
applications applications applications applications applications
processed processed processed processed processed
Quarter 1 20 30 10 45 105
Quarter 2 40 30 35 30 135
Quarter 3 30 30 35 60 155
Quarter 4 10 10 20 65 105
Year Total 100 100 100 200 500

If the summary documentation for the number of applications processed is between 485
and 515, then the measure is within + or –3 percent of the number reported to CARMA.

67
 Example

A jobs training program reported to CARMA that 1,000 degrees were awarded during
the previous year. The documented measure definition for Number of Degrees Awarded
states “the number of degrees awarded after completing all of the training courses.”

To determine the number of degrees awarded for the entire fiscal year, we must
consider the number of degrees awarded each semester. The following is an example
of a document with supporting summary calculations.

Semester Total number of degrees awarded

Fall 350
Spring 500
Summer I and II 150
Year Total 1,000

If the summary documentation for the number of degrees awarded is between 970 and
1,030, then the measure is within + or –3 percent of the number reported to CARMA.

Tip: Review summary documents on a regular basis to ensure that these numbers are
the same as the numbers reported in CARMA.

____c. One of the reasons that a number may not be within +/- 3% is that the
department deviated from the measure definition.

If the measure calculation deviated from the measure definition and caused more
than a three percent difference between the performance reported to CARMA
and the correctly calculated number based on performance measures data,
explain in Appendix A #4c.

Tip: Review summary documents on a regular basis to ensure that these numbers are
the same as the numbers reported to CARMA.

Example

CARMA shows that reported performance for “Number of Applications Processed” is 300.
Department personnel informed the auditor that the “Number of Applications Processed” is
calculated by adding the total number of the three types of application (M, N, and O
applications) processed.

The measure definition (stated in the example for step #4) states that type P applications
should also be included when calculating the measure. By not including the P applications,
200 applications (from example in step#4) were not incorporated into the reported
performance measure result; therefore, the measure is underreported by 40 percent. This
measure would be considered inaccurate and classified in the unacceptable category.

68
Example

CARMA shows that reported performance for “Number of Degrees Awarded” is 1,200.
Program personnel informed the reviewer that the “Number of Degrees Awarded” is
calculated by adding the total number of entry-level training degrees (1,000 degrees)
and advanced level training degrees (200 degrees) awarded.

The measure definition states that only entry-level training degrees should be included
when calculating the measure. Two hundred advanced level training degrees were
inappropriately included in the reported performance measure result; therefore, the
measure is over reported by 20 percent. This measure would be considered inaccurate
and classified in the unacceptable category.

5. Collect information on the process used to generate performance data. This

information is not required to be documented on Appendix A.

___ a. Identify and document the event(s) that begin the process of collecting data for
this measure.

___ b. Identify and document the events that occur from the beginning of the process
until the data is delivered to the Department’s CARMA Coordinator.

___ c. Identify and document how and where the data is stored (automated or manual)
during the period of collection.

___ d. Identify and document how the performance measure is calculated.

___e. Identify and document if anyone reviews the calculation.

Note: If data comes from a third party, describe the procedures that are followed to
ensure that the data is accurate.

Example

For the measure “Number of Applications Processed,” the reviewer would want to know
that the process begins when an application is received and stamped by the
department.
Those who process applications review the application, and a record of the application
is entered into a file in the department’s computer system. At the end of the quarter, the
computer generates the number o f applications closed.

69
Example

For the measure Number of Degrees Awarded, the reviewer would want to know the
following details concerning the process used by the program to generate this
performance data.

The process begins when a student applies for graduation in the training program’s
Administrative Office during the semester the student plans to graduate. The graduation
advisor in the Administrative Office compares the training plan with the student’s
transcript to determine if all Program requirements have been met for graduation.

At the end of the semester, final grades for applicants are requested. Grades are posted
to training plans to determine if all requirements for graduation are met. Final clearance
for graduation is given, and students are p laced on the official graduation list.
An electronic tape of graduation data is sent to the department’s Information System’s
Office where information is compiled by a computer system. The Administrative Office
then receives a copy of the records and reports the information to CARMA by the next
reporting date.

6. Develop a high-level process flowchart.

Using the information gathered in the previous step develop a flowchart that
represents the key points in the flow of the measurement data.

* Attach the flowchart to Appendix A #6

The example on the next page depicts a Parks and Recreation Department flowchart for
the measure “Cost per Acre Mowed with Contract for Industry Standard II”.

70
 Flowchart of Measure “Cost Per Acre Mowed with Contract for Industry Standard of Mode II”

Parks and Recreation Mowing Parks and Recreation Yes

Inspector calls mowing completed** Inspector inspects zone*** Approved?
contractor when mowing to ensure that cut meets
is needed* PARD standards

No
Mowing redone

PARD’s Accounts PARD’s Financial Financial Inspector

Payable Department Manager submits Yes Manager prepares
submits paperwork to paperwork to PARD’s reviews paperwork****
the City’s Accounts Accounts Payable Office Approved? paperwork to pay
for contractor and
Payable Office forwards to
approval PARD’s
No Financial
Manager

City’s Accounts Monthly the Monthly the Financial Monthly the Quarterly the
Payable Office Financial Manager Manager forwards Performance Measures Performance
cuts check and calculates cost per performance Administrator enters Measures
sends to mowing acre mowed for measurement results to results in performance Administrator
contractor contractor Department’s measurement database enters
Performance Measures measurement
Administrator data in CARMA
database
* Contractor has one week in which to begin mowing
** Minimum of 25 acres per day must be cut
*** For the purpose of bidding out mowing services, the City’s parkland is divided into ten zones
**** Paperwork includes payment documents, inspection checklist, PARD purchase agreement, submitted for
payment document, grounds maintenance work order
71
7. Determine whether adequate controls over performance measure data exist to
ensure consistent reporting of accurate information.

Using the high level flowchart that you developed, determine whether the necessary
controls exist at each key point in the data flow. Controls should be reviewed from
the initial point that performance information is recorded until the accumulated
measure information is entered into CARMA. You should examine input, process,
and review controls to ensure that an effective control structure exists. The system
can be manual, automated or a combination of both.

Each performance measurement system is different and may need greater, fewer, or
different controls than the one in the e xamples below to be effective.

___ a. Identify and then determine whether input, process, and review controls
should and do exist at each step in the data flow.

Example of Controls for a Manual System

Incoming
Information

Mail Room or Staff Program CARMA

Receptionist Personnel Management

Input Controls Process Controls Review Controls

Input Controls

• Written procedures and guidelines should exist at the point where performance
information is first recorded (for example, applications, forms, and telephone
complaints). Personnel should be trained to follow these procedures to ensure
that they have a uniform understanding of what information is needed.
• Information gathered at the initial point that performance information is recorded
should be date stamped or logged when received.
• A regular review of intake information should be conducted.
• Departments should obtain written documentation of third-party controls when
possible.

72
 • If the third party has no controls, the agency should conduct necessary inquiries
for assurance that the information received is accurate.

Process Controls

• The person responsible for calculating the performance data should understand
the origin of the information and stay current with any changes in the form of the
information.
• Written procedures for collecting and calculating the information should exist.
Personnel should be trained to follow these procedures.

Review Controls

• A review of the measure calculations and summary documents should occur

before information is reported. This review should be conducted by someone
other than the person doing the calculation.
• The person responsible for the accuracy of the data should review information
input into CARMA before the CARMA submission is “completed.”
• Periodically, the department should review information submitted by field offices
and third parties.

Example of Controls for an Automated System

An automated system is one in which the computer is the major source of information
and is also the major source of calculations.

Input Controls Process Controls Review Controls

Field Office

Third-Party Database Program Program CARMA

Providers Staff Management

Input Controls

• Guidelines and procedures for data entry should be well documented.

Ø Data entry personnel should be trained on which information to enter, how

to enter the information and the importance of accuracy.

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 Ø The data entry supervisor should review information entered into the
computer system for accuracy.

• Controls should exist over third-party sources of information.

Ø Departments should obtain written documentation of third-party controls

when possible.
Ø If the third party has no controls, the department should conduct
necessary inquires for assurance that the information received is accurate.

Process Controls

• The person responsible for calculating the performance data should understand
the origin of the information and stay current with any changes in the form of the
information.
• Procedures should be in place to ensure that the computer program used to
calculate any portion of the performance data is capturing the correct information
and is performing the correct mathematical calculations.
• Controls should in place that ensures that only authorized individuals have the
ability to enter or change data in the system.

Review Controls

• The department should periodically review information submitted by field offices

and third parties.
• A supervisor should review calculations of the performance data to ensure that
they are consistent with the measure definition and to check for mathematical
errors.
• The person responsible for the accuracy of the data should review the
information in CARMA before the CARMA submission is “completed.”

8. Determine if source documents support the measure results reported to

CARMA.

The purpose of this step is to test the source documentation that supports the measure
results reported to CARMA. Source documents are documents associated with the
events that prove the activity occurred.

___ a. Obtain/gather a list of all items counted for the measure for the period in which
you are doing the review.

___ b. Document the criteria that you are going to test for each item.

74
 For example, when testing the measure “Cost Per Ton of Yard Trimmings
Collected” you would want to see if the Daily Driver Reports that you choose for
your sample were in the division’s operations database for the data indicated and
that the tons collected was recorded accurately.

*List the process and criteria that you used on Appendix A #8b.

___ c. Choose a sample of items to test to see if the correct information has been
transferred from the “tested” item to the database or report. In compliance
testing, it is recommended that if you find that the controls over the accuracy of
the measure are strong, your sample size should be 29. If the controls are weak
or moderate, the sample size is expanded to 61. Also, if one error is found in the
sample of 29 the sample size should be expanded to 61. If you find more than
two errors in the sample of 61 you should categorize the measure as inaccurate.
Although these are recommended sample sizes, you may choose to sample a
larger number, especially if the controls are weak, or the population is large.

Note: Use a “Random Number Generator” to generate the sample. You can use
the State Auditors Office Statistical Toolkit
(http://www.sao.state.tx.us/Resources/tools/toolbox.html) and/or the City’s
Corporate Internal Audit Office can assist you.

* List in Appendix A #8c the record numbers you’ve sampled, and which, if any,
had errors.

9. Determine the certification category for the measure if you have not already
done so.

Place the reviewed measure in one of four certification categories. These include:

Acceptable

A measure is Certified if reported performance is accurate within plus or minus 3% and

if it appears that controls are in place to ensure accuracy for collecting and reporting
performance data.

A measure is categorized as Certified With Qualifications under three conditions.

First, a measure is Certified With Qualifications when reported performance is within +/-
3%, but the controls over data collection and reporting are not adequate to ensure
continued accuracy. Second, a measure is Certified With Qualifications when controls
are strong, but source documentation is unavailable or incomplete for testing. Third, a
measure is Certified with Qualifications if the department’s calculation of actual
performance deviated from the measure definition, but was still within an acceptable
range.

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Unacceptable

A measure is categorized as Factors Prevented Certification when documentation is

unavailable or incomplete and controls are not adequate to ensure accuracy. Factors
Prevented Certification is also given when there is a deviation from the measure
definition and the reviewer cannot determine the correct performance measure result.

A measure is categorized as Inaccurate when the actual performance is not within 3%

of reported performance, or there is a greater than 5% error in the sample of documents
tested.

* In Appendix A #9 indicate the category you placed it in and the reason.

Note: Reviewers should use the criteria above as guidance in determining which
category to place the measure. Reviewers should use their judgment in determining if a
measure should be placed in a category other than one indicated by the criteria.

10. If applicable, describe plans for improvement

An action plan should be developed if the measure was categorized as “factors

prevented certification, “Inaccurate”, or if you found control weaknesses during the
review.

*In Appendix A #10 describe your action plan for improvement. The action plan
should include the individual(s) responsible for the action step(s) and the estimated
time frame to implement.

If you have questions or need help as you carry out the self-assessment review contact
Carla Steffen, Corporate Internal Audit, 974-2066 or carla.steffen@ci.austin.tx.us .

76
Glossary

Action Plan - A plan to outline the steps and performance measures to achieve
and acknowledge Department’s goals.

Activity - An activity is defined as a set of services grouped together by common

purpose. An activity has a common purpose that p roduces outputs and results.
This includes services to the public and to customers internal to the Department.

Activity Objective - An activity objective is a clear statement of the purpose of

the activity. The objective includes the name of the activity, the service(s)
provided, the customer and the intended benefit for the customer. Refer to
Managing for Results (MFR) Template to see how objectives are developed.

Alignment - Alignment means that that the achievement of results at one level of
the organization contributes to the achievement of results at the next higher level.
In an aligned Department it is clear, through performance measures, how the
achievement of an activity result measure contributes to the achievement of the
program results, and how the programs contribute to the achievement of the
goals. The end product of alignment is that everyone in the Department knows
how what he or she contributes at all levels in the organization.

Assessment of the Future (also known as an Environmental Scan) - An

assessment of the future identifies emerging issues and trends that will have a
major impact on the Department over the next 2-5 years.
The Department uses a variety of resources to conduct the assessment,
including information related to external dynamics such as demographics,
workforce, environment, regulation and legislation, economic trends, education
trends, technology, service demand, and industry trends. The assessment also
reviews information about dynamics internal to the Department such as
leadership capacity, work force needs, education level, technology,
responsiveness to change, facilities, and labor-management relations. Tools
such as Consensus, SWOT, or Match Changes are used to produce a small
number of easily articulated dynamics of change. These are used as context
during the development of the Department’s business plan.

Benchmarking - Benchmarking is the business practice of comparing the best

practices of one organization to another organization or to the quantified
performance of a larger cluster of similar organizations in order to improve
performance. Examples are city-to-city comparisons or city to the national
average for organizations of similar size.

Business Plans - Business Plans are developed by all City Departments, have a
1-5 year horizon, and are revisited annually.
Business plans do three things:
1. Improve business decisions by focusing on goals and objectives;
2. Focus the culture of government to manage for results; and
3. Integrate business plans with the performance budget.
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CARMA (City of Austin Reporting and Measurement Analysis) - The City of
Austin’s internal database for storing activity, program, service, and measure
information. Budget and Business Planning pages are printed using information
kept in this database.

Change Dynamics - a one -sentence statement of fact that summarizes a major

issue or trend and the impact on the department or its customers. It describes
what is, or what will happen, but does not imply solutions, requests or goals.

Collaboration - Involves sharing resources with other organizations and

individuals to achieve results. Collaboration may involve sharing resource
management decisions with others in a new governance structure.

Core Services - The classifying of department services based upon established

criteria into core, semi-core and service enhancement classifications.

Culture - The set of beliefs, behaviors and language that define the City's
purpose and presence in the community.

Customer - A person who directly receives o r consumes a Department’s services.

ePerf – The City of Austin’s online database where current year information of
each department’s performance and operations measures is reported. ePerf
reports information submitted to the internal CARMA database. ePerf can be
reached on the internet using the following url address:
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/budget/eperf/index.cfm.

Goals - What the department wants to achieve.

IT Challenges - Identified potential problem situations due to technology

limitations.

Key Indicators – high profile performance measures that effectively measure the
department’s business.

Managing for Results (MFR) Template - The managing for results template is
used by City Departments to develop a mission statement, program objectives,
and activity objectives. The template brings together in one statement the name
of the Department, program or activity, the service or product provided, the
customer and the intended benefit. A sample template:
The purpose of the _______________________________
(activity)
is to provide/produce _______________________________
(service or product)
to _______________________________
(customers)
so they can (in order to) _______________________________.
(planned benefit)

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Mission - The Department’s mission is a comprehensive statement of the
Department’s purpose. The mission focuses on the results the Department will
achieve. It defines the Department’s primary customers and identifies the
products or services that are provided. The words and intent in the mission
statement must tie directly to goals and programs.

Operations Measures – Measures used by departments at the division level

used to make day-to-day decisions.

Performance Measures - The City’s performance measurement system uses a

family of measures that includes demand, output, results and efficiency
measures. Individually these measures provide important information for making
management decisions. Together they provide the performance information
essential to manage for results and making good business decisions. Policy and
budget decisions focus primarily on results, while the full family of measures
enables managers to make good management decisions. Following are
definitions of performance measures:
• Demand - The amount of services requested or expected by customers of the
activity.
• Output - Units of services provided, products provided or people served
through the activity; outputs are counts of the goods and services produced or
delivered.
• Result - The impact that an activity or program has on citizens. (Result
measures are also known as outcome measures.)
• Efficiency - The unit cost of an output or result.

Performance Budget - The City’s performance budget was developed as a

method to tie appropriations of City funding to the results achieved by programs.
Departments develop the performance budget by determining the cost of
activities, which are aggregated together into program budgets.

Program - A program is a set of activities with a common purpose that produces

results for citizens.

Program Objective - A program objective is a clear statement of the purpose of

the program. Program objectives are developed using the managing for results
template, which includes the name of the program, the service or products
provided, the customer, and the intended benefit for the customer.

Result - A result is the impact or outcome on the customer.

Self-Assessment – Departmental review of performance measures using the

guidelines provided in the Resource guide.

Services - Deliverables made available to the customer. They are represented

as end products and not steps in the process.

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Success Strategy Performance Review (SSPR) - The Success Strategy
Performance Review (SSPR) was developed to plan individual performance for
the year, track performance over time, and formally evaluate success. The
SSPR is the primary tool for internalizing a culture of managing for results within
Departments by demonstrating the alignment between individual performance
and the achievement of results at the activity, program, Department, and City
levels.

All individual SSPR’s begin with the Department’s vision, mission and goals and
then include the program objectives and activity objectives appropriate for each
employee. The performance measures for the individual employee will reflect the
performance measures established for the activities and program.

Stakeholder - A Stakeholder is the person or group outside of the Department

who have a vested interest in the services or products provided by the
Department. Stakeholders include customers, i.e. those who receive or consume
the service, and those who do not receive the services but who have an interest
in the results of the services.

Strategic Planning - Strategic planning anticipates long-term emerging trends

and issues that may affect Austin. Strategic planning focuses far into the future,
usually 5 -20 years ahead. Strategic plans are not necessarily tied to the
immediate operations, performance or budget of the Department.

SWOT Analysis – Identifies the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and

Threats both internal and external faced by the department.

Tree Page/Tree Diagram – Departmental organizational chart of Programs and

Activities.

Vision - A vision describes the desire future state or set of circumstances. It is

brief and provides a picture of the future as seen through the eyes of the
customers, stakeholders and employees. A good vision statement is one that will
not only inspire and challenge, but also be meaningful so employees will be able
to relate their job to the vision.

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