The Best of DTS Issue 4: The Efficiency Issue

Ah, efficiency. It’s a buzz word, catch phrase and the tricky concept behind “Doing more with less.” This issue of the Best of DTS offers ideas to streamline your work life, eliminating all that is needlessly complex and time consuming. What’s that? You need to slash costs, too? Well, that’s going to require a bit more, along the lines of a culture shift.

Of course, DTS has the experts and answers to bring efficiency to any initiative, but we like a good challenge. Tell me about your biggest efficiency headache – they can be thorny – at Edward.Tuorinsky@consultDTS.com or call 571.403.1841.

Edward Tuorinsky
Managing Principal
David T. Scott & Associates, LLC

Five Things You Can Do Now to Enhance Efficiency and Manage Risk

We all want a quick fix but efficiency must be measured in nuances and details. After all, small savings add up, and risk reduction can be nearly invisible but vital. Pulled from a review of recent articles and our own handle on the Federal market, we offer five initiatives with the right kind of returns.

Include risk management in annual training and performance goals: Employees might not realize they are the first line of defense in protecting your systems and assets. Raise awareness, and provide the tools they need by including risk mitigation in onboarding and training, as well as annual performance goals.

Combine cybersecurity with physical security: A unified approach can save costs and close gaps.

Map your workflows and data: Too many government workflows are still offline and on paper. Inventory your processes and determine what can be digitized, optimized or even eliminated. Processes and information that is offline or repetitive should be first in line for a rework.

Leverage all that outside vendors have to offer: Rather than custom solutions or do-it-yourself data collection, look for what you need among the offerings available from vendors and third-party data sources. Off-the-shelf solutions can often provide the operations and intelligence needed for analysis and data-drive decision making.

Go mobile: Give your employees access to data in the field with mobile devices. You’ll be rewarded with better-informed decisions, made faster and information collected at the point of origin.

Managing business process reengineering

Our feature article suggested mapping out processes and data flow to identify inefficiency and redundancy. A series of articles from InnovateGov help you get started with details about the GAO Business Process Reengineering Assessment Guide and other tools that provide a framework for assessing efforts while cutting costs and boosting performance. Dive in.

Culture Shift
User interaction opens agency eyes to their purpose, impact

Directly involving users with the creation of better digital services is fostering an atmosphere of responsiveness, cooperation and customer service at government agencies. That’s the conclusion of an article from Government Technology and a great case-study for agencies wanting to become more purpose driven.

DTS SERVICES

» Program management and governance solutions

» Strategic planning and organizational advancement

» Business process efficiency solutions

» Learning enhancement solutions

Quoateable

“Simple can be harder than complex; you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.”

Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder

About DTS

DTS consultants go far beyond just “getting the job done.” We continually find better, more efficient and more effective ways to satisfy the needs of our public- and private- sector clients. DTS provides full lifecycle Management and IT consulting services, and can support your organization by researching and answering specific questions, solving critical issues or helping you plan for the future. Among a crowded field of contractors, DTS stands out for the quality of our people, the power of our approach, and the impact of our results. www.consultDTS.com

Continue the conversation:
Email sales@consultDTS.com or call 571.403.1841