Overview on Performance Management

1. Overview on Performance Management National Forum on Performance-Based Planning and Programming September 13, 2010 Lance A. Neumann

2. Agenda • Conference Objectives • Performance Management Concepts and Challenges

3. Conference Objectives • Develop a common understanding of performance-based planning and programming processes and define the next steps for implementation • Identify the challenges in developing performance-based planning and programming processes and recommend strategies to deal with them • Develop practical, agency specific, guidance for performance-based planning and programming • Provide recommendations for a capacity building action plan that reflects the range of needs of a diverse set of agencies

4. What is Performance Measurement?

5. Performance Measurement “The purpose of measuring is not just to know how a business is performing, but to enable it to perform better. Measurement should not be an end in itself, but part of an integrated system for enhancing business performance.”

6. Performance Management FrameworkLinking Goals/Objectives to Resources and Results Goals/Objectives Performance Measures Forecasting Performance/Target Setting Evaluate Programs and Projects Quality Data Allocate Resources Budget and Staff Measure and Report Results Evaluate Performance Achieved/Trends

7. ExamplesSafety and Mobility Safety Mobility Provide access to jobs,housing, and economicactivities Ensure high standards of safety in the system Goal Reduce number of fatalities Decrease travel times for commuting Objective Performance Measures Three-year rolling average fatalities Hours of delay auto and transit Performance Targets Reduce average fatalities by one percent per year Reduce delay by two percent per year

8. Performance-Based Planning and Programming • Planning and programming process is key to establishing strong performance management • Long-range plans • Define key goals and objectives • Develop strategies and/or scenarios for meeting goals • Provide broad guidance to resource allocation • Programs and budgets • Provide direct linkage from goals to specific projects, programs, and operations

9. Performance-Based Planning and Programming (continued) • Both the planning and programming process provide important opportunity for stakeholder involvement • Key Question: “What do we need to do to have the planning and programming process help drive better performance results?” • This is the focus of our next two and a half days • Opinions may vary on the merits of performance-based planning and programming and the best ways to achieve it

10. Moving from Concept to Practice • Performance-based planning and programming approaches will vary depending on • Type of agency (state DOT, MPO, transit, rural planning) • Agency size, history, organizational structure, and governing rules • Interagency relationships and complexity • Scale of application (statewide, region or subregion, corridor, project) • Agency goals/objectives, priorities and resources

11. Moving from Concept to Practice (continued) • Performance-based planning and programming is not a panacea • Performance-based approaches can improve accountability and the use of resources • However, without adequate and predictable funding levels, system performance will degrade

12. What Are Some of the Challenges? • Setting performance targets • Cannot do in the abstract, must relate to resources available • Easiest when agency controls the performance factor • Requires data/tools to forecast performance • Benchmarking and peer comparisons • Historically a sensitive area • Every agency perceives they are “unique” • Can’t avoid peer comparisons and it is better to control agenda • Recognize variations among agencies and define appropriate peer groups

13. What Are Some of the Challenges? (continued) • Accounting for external influences on measures/performance • Behavioral factors in safety • Growth and development in mobility • Funding availability • Unintended consequences: “what gets measured….” • Developing mode-neutral and crosscutting performance measures • Integrating concepts such as livability and sustainability into performance-based planning and programming

14. Forum Presents a Great Opportunity • To develop strategies for advancing performance-based planning and programming and meeting the challenges • To get partners in state DOTs, MPOs, transit agencies, and rural planning agencies working together to advance the state of the practice • For key players in the transportation industry to define practical next steps and to identify potential challenges without waiting for new Federal initiatives or mandates