Prioritizing Priorities: Establishing Budget Priorities with Elected Officials

Transcription

1 Prioritizing Priorities: Establishing Budget Priorities with Elected Officials M E R I D Y S E M O N E S, C P F O OMB M A N A G E R M S E M O N E L A R G O. C O M

2 Outline What is a Priority To you? To your manager? To your elected officials? To your community? Why are Priorities Important? Reconciling Priorities into Plans Turning Plans into the Budget Turning the Budget into Actions

3 What is a Priority? Merriam Webster: Priority: Something that is more important than other things and that needs to be done or dealt with first. Priorities: the things that someone cares about and thinks are important.

4 What is a Priority To You? Forbes Article: 10 Ways to be More Productive at Work Prioritize Prioritizing Establish Routines Batch Similar Tasks Together Take Breaks Create a 5 Minute List Don t Multi-Task Do a Daily Brain Dump Make Routine Tasks Fun We ll come back to this again later

5 What is a Priority to Local Government? Essential Services Unfunded Mandates Unions Emergency Preparedness Infrastructure Trash Collection Other Political Influences Zip Lines, Clock Towers, Owls/Eagles/Turtles oh my!

6 What is a Priority to the Community? Depends on the Community Aesthetics/Beautification Environmental Conservation Health & Safety Traffic/Mobility Issues Amenities: Recreation Complexes Pools Parks Culture/Performing Arts Thriving Business Community What s Missing?

7 What s a Priority to the Community? Self-actualization Self-esteem Social / Belonging Safety Physical / Physiological

8 Why Have Priorities? Optimal use of Energy, Time & Resources Allows for Purposeful vs. Reactionary Activities Allows you to Begin with the End in Mind Facilitates Swift Decision Making Prevents Total Chaos!

9 Reconciling Priorities Into Plans Strategic Planning Organizations can only perform effectively and efficiently on the condition that there is clear and common agreement on the tasks and objectives the organization seeks to accomplish (vision and mission) and on the way this must be realized (strategy). Strategic planning is not an end in itself but merely a tool to improve an organization's performance. VNG International

10 Strategic Plan Elements Sponsored/Managed by City/County Manager Outreach: Internal & External Stakeholders Formal Planning Sessions Establish Priorities / Focus Areas SMART Goals & Objectives Action Plans Performance Reporting

11 Outreach Perhaps the Most Important Element Multiple Different Methods Standard SWOT Analysis Work Shop Focus Groups Community Conversations Surveys Online Engagement Tools Goal: Determine Where Your Community and Organization Wants to Be

12 Community Conversations Community Outreach Model Developed by the Harwood Institute Positive Focus Non-Traditional Questions to Spark Constructive Dialogue Forces Participants to be Future-Focused Toolkits Available Online Participant Guide Ground Rules Questions Adaptable for Internal Outreach

13 Harwood s Five Questions What are your aspirations for the Community? What will it take for us to reach these goals? What 2 or 3 issues are standing in our way to achieve these goals? Is there a way to start working together to move us forward as a community?

14 Post Conversation Outreach Develop a Core Group of Engaged Citizens Re-Engage These Groups for Action Oriented Purposes Focus Groups Branding Initiatives Design Concepts Report Back Regularly on Impact of Engagement s / Memos from Elected Officials Follow-up Surveys

15 Operationalizing Outcomes Focus Areas / Priorities / Principles SMART Goals & Objectives Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time-Oriented Example: Focus Area: Sustainability Goal: Reduce Emissions of Greenhouse Gasses Objective: Replace 40% of the City s administrative vehicle fleet with hybrid vehicles by FY 2020.

16 The Strategic Plan is Complete!

17 Operationalizing Outcomes So how do we get this done??? Develop a Strategic Action Plan! Annual work plan complete with specific action items that demonstrate progress. Annual Retreat with Elected Officials/Executive Management Agree on desired outputs/outcomes for the year Agree on what success looks like. Establish a Regular Reporting Cycle (Quarterly) Do This BEFORE You Start the Annual budget Process!!

18 The Budget Why Priorities Are Important! Optimal Use of Time Energy & Resources Departments don t waste time on budget requests that are offmission. Leadership doesn t waste energy lobbying for causes that are off-mission. In theory, more dollars available for causes that are onmission.

19 The Budget Why Priorities Are Important! Allows for Purposeful vs. Reactionary Activities Planned projects/tasks are more efficient. Planned projects/tasks are easier. Planned projects/tasks are more likely to be completed. Reactionary projects are often done in haste without consideration for all stakeholders or outcomes.

20 The Budget Why Priorities Are Important! Allows You to Begin with the End in Mind Project Management Planning Shared outcomes garner more buy-in/teamwork Shows elected officials/community that their goals are in the process of being achieved.

21 The Budget Why Priorities Are Important! Allows for Swift Decision Making Provides guidance to departments for budget requests Helps Management sort through budget requests faster Provides political cover for denying funding requests Provides a transparent way to communicate funding decisions

22 Communicating Budget Decisions Reorient Budget Message Communicate Budget Discussions by Priority Area Use Action Oriented Language Don t Make it all About the Numbers Provide Summary Section All About Numbers Separating the numbers from the narrative caters to different communication styles. Easy way to meet budget award criteria! Provide Information Outside of the Budget Website / Brochures / Mailings

23 Conclusions Prioritize Prioritizing Establish Routines Batch Similar Tasks Together Take Breaks Create a 5 Minute List Don t Multi-Task Do a Daily Brain Dump Make Routine Tasks Fun

24 Questions? Thank you! Meridy Semones, CPFO OMB Manager