Federal Workforce Learns to Guide Managed Services
SPECIAL REPORT: Managed Services
Jeff Erlichman
Government Computer News
A major theme of President Obama’s 2010 budget is transforming the federal workforce
– those in government tasked with doing the managing part of Managed Services.
At first glance, the ideas don’t seem to mesh. On the one hand, government is hiring
hundreds of thousands of new government employees over the next four years. At the
same time it is contracting more government IT infrastructure into the cloud as well as
having Networx contractors provide more IP infrastructure through Managed Services
relationships.
But they do. The 2010 budget states, “with rapid advances in IT, improved program
performance depends heavily on those who manage the IT projects. Qualified project
managers and an IT workforce with the necessary competencies are needed for agency
investments to be well planned and managed.”
The budget also calls for an IT Workforce Assessment Survey to be developed this year
from “which a gap analysis will evolve, and agencies can adjust plans to improve their
workforce staffing and skills.”
“Going forward, agency performance in addressing skill gaps will continue to be
important contributors to the success of Federal IT investments,” the budget states,
“meaning that recruitment and training will need to be enhanced addressing the need to
bring the best IT ideas and expertise to bear on how Federal IT systems are designed and
managed.”
OPM is leading this effort by helping agencies develop workforce plans; by posting brief,
clear job announcements free of bureaucratic jargon; providing timely notification to job
seekers on the status of their applications; and measuring the average length of the hiring
process, along with the effectiveness of hiring reforms.
Managing A Managed Service
Finally, the government is placing emphasis on training those who do the managing in a
Managed Services relationship. But what are the skills that government managers say
they need to effectively manage people and processes that are going to be out of their
physical control?
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) asked those questions when doing
its study on “Getting Results with a Blended Workforce: Management Training.”1
The CMS objective was to clearly identify management skills and work processes for
dealing with contracts and contractors, and government employees who oversee the work
of the contractors. The ten most important skills in order were:
1. Leadership
2. Interpersonal & Relationship Management
3. Oral Communications & Presentations
4. Negotiation & Conflict Resolution
5. Program & Project Management
6. Written Skills
7. Subject Matter Expertise
8. Policies & Regulations
9. Contract Management
10. Acquisition & Procurement
Learning Strategies
Recognizing what people need to learn is just the first step. How they are going to learn is
going to take an investment in training time – and dollars. Here’s what CMS
professionals said would work best for them.
1. Mentoring: either set up a formal program where retirees are brought back as resource
or set up a program where experienced managers mentor their more inexperienced
colleagues.
2. Management Support Groups: increase team building by setting up networks of
“subject matter experts” people can call on and form management “peer groups” where
managers can meet regularly with others to share experiences and get advice.
3. Working Groups: increase team building by setting up working groups in the
skills/competency areas needed where best practices can be demonstrated to both
managers and staff.
4. Online/Web Training and Resources: build an online training and resource section
focusing on skills/competency areas that people can access and learn on their own time.
5. In Person Education/Resources: numerous courses are currently available in the skill
and competency areas, but many said there was neither the time nor the dollars to take
multiple day courses. As an alternative, CMS could examine alternatives for presenting
these courses in-house in half-day or one-day sessions.
Management eager for training and improvement could look to these relatively
inexpensive solutions – e.g. mentoring and working groups – that will not only improve
their skills, but also will boost morale, enhance collaboration, establish mechanisms for
continued training and education and create a stable of in-house leaders for the future.
1 Getting Results With A Blended Workforce, Public Sector Communications, 2006
Jeff Erlichman is a freelance writer for 1105 Government Information Group’s Custom
Media unit. This Snapshot report was commissioned by the Custom Media Group, an
independent editorial arm of 1105 Government Information Group. Specific topics are
chosen in response to interest from the vendor community; however, sponsors are not
guaranteed content contribution or review of content before publication. For more
information about 1105 Government Information Group Custom Media, please email us
at GIGCustomMedia@1105govinfo .com