Jim Miller

miller_jimPaper: Performance Management Readiness: How to Assess Your Organization’s Foundation for Performance Management

Abstract: Many organizations create project teams to implement performance management processes and dashboards before they are ready. When is an organization actually ready to put meaningful metrics in place to assess performance and derive the promised benefits? This paper discusses the organizational-level performance management framework needed to implement a well-functioning measurement system and a method for assessing your organization’s foundation for performance management readiness.

The paper covers the role and importance of the following concepts in setting and assessing a foundation for a mature performance management framework for the organization:

  • Executive commitment to improved organizational performance
  • Priority setting for performance improvement
  • Management buy-in for performance improvement
  • Process readiness for managing and controlling scope, schedule, and budget
  • Process readiness for managing resource assignments
  • Process readiness for assessing product quality and customer satisfaction
  • Data readiness for performance measurement
  • Staff passion for being the best at what they do
  • Culture of respect for process, standards, and evidence-based decision-making

Additionally, the paper covers the pre-conditions and processes used for an evaluation, and considerations for an organizational-level performance management implementation roadmap.

Biography: James Miller is a Program and Project Management consultant with the MITRE Corporation in McLean, VA, USA. He began his career in the 1970s as a Systems Analyst and Database Designer with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and was heavily involved in classified computer security design and implementation through the 1980s. He has provided program and project management support and consulting to a variety of federal civil agencies for the past 26 years. With the MITRE Corporation since 2006, Jim has exclusively supported the U.S. Census Bureau on a wide variety of high profile programs and management initiatives. He received his undergraduate degree in Psychology from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. in 1972. Jim can be contacted at: millerj@mitre.org