Professional Development
Online Course: Performance Management in Government and Nonprofits
Performance Management Course Topics
Performance Management Learning Outcomes
Organizations around the world have increasingly come to realize the value of setting goals, measuring performance and using the resulting data as a core management tool to improve societal outcomes. This management approach is often referred to as “performance management” or “managing for results.” Experience has shown that, when well used, goals and measurement can greatly improve the operation and understanding of government and non-profit programs and priorities. Experience has also shown that misuse of goals and measures, especially when combined with incentives, can provoke dysfunctional, performance-dampening responses.
This course explores what performance management means and how government agencies and non-profits can adopt this management approach. Students will learn how to develop skills to refine the way goals and strategies are articulated so that they can be effectively measured, and to select practical performance measures. Also covered are how to identify target audiences, present data clearly, and analyze and use data to improve performance. Using theoretical readings, case studies, and exercises, the course provides a conceptual grasp of the underlying dynamics employed when you manage for results. It also provides a practical understanding of how to apply performance management tools successfully at all levels of government across policy areas and in non-profits.
The course consists of six online modules. Upon successful completion of this course, you will receive a certificate of completion and 2.0 Continuing Education Units (CEUs).
Topics Covered
- Introduction to performance management – envisioning the performance-driven organization
- Articulating goals and strategies to facilitate measurement – objective trees, logic models and results frameworks as ways of expressing current strategies and identifying what should be measured
- Selecting and collecting practical performance measures – choosing appropriate measures, options for data collection, ensuring data quality
- Identifying target audiences and presenting data clearly – typical audiences for government performance data; thegood, the bad and the ugly of charts, graphs, and dashboards
- Analyzing data and using it to improve performance – analytic techniques and traps; facilitating the data driven conversation, including tracking identified action items
- Understanding the potential pitfalls of using performance data as a tool of government -– worst case and best case scenarios; the latest thinking on one of the toughest cases: teacher pay-for-performance
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Define the role of performance management in the public and nonprofit sectors and understand the basics of how to design a performance management system
- Have a basic understanding of how to analyze data and effectively incorporate data in decision-making processes
- Recognize the elements of a good data report
- Understand the potential pitfalls of performance management systems and how to avoid them
At the end of this course, you will have developed a blueprint for a performance management system for a government or nonprofit program of your choice, including determining the results to be measured, selecting performance measures, developing a plan for using the data to inform management decisions, and drafting a sample data report.
Instructor: Betsy Bury
Ms. Bury holds a master’s degree in regional development planning from the University of California, Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and psychology from Dartmouth College. She also completed a Diversity Management Certificate from NTL Institute and holds a US Government Secret Security Clearance.
Who Should Take This Course?
The course is appropriate for municipal, state, and federal government and nonprofit officials at all levels of experience. Knowing what and how to measure can elevate your organization to a higher level of performance.
If you are just starting out, this will familiarize you with performance management using goals and indicators and give you a set of in-demand skills to help build your career.
If you’ve been in management for a while, you can add a solid understanding of how to use goals and performance indicators to your toolkit and begin to play a leadership or partnering role in building such systems in your organization.
If you are a senior manager, this course will help you identify whether and how you might want to introduce or improve the use of goals and measures within your organization and help you avoid some of the pitfalls.
Performance Management in Government and Non-Profits
PRFTRN 093 Online
Next offering: April 21 - June 2, 2013
Course fee: $700
Course fee: $600 for municipal, state, and federal employees
The course consists of six (6) online modules. Upon successful completion of this course, you will receive a certificate of completion and 2.0 Continuing Education Units (CEUs). This is a non-credit course.
Testimonial from a town manager in Maine: "I enjoyed the materials you presented and found them very useful in helping me to learn more about performance management. I have been trying to bring elements of performance management to what my organization does, but it wasn't until I took this course that I realized how little I knew. More accurately, this course helped take a lot of what I already knew, added to it, and organized it.
This was the first online course I took and likely won't be my last. This experience has started me thinking about working on a master's degree again. Seeing how well online learning can work has me thinking I just might be able to manage it after all, raise my level of knowledge, improve my skills for my organization, and make more of a difference in difficult times."
How to Register
Students may register online at: uc.umb.edu/corporate/government-performance/
For more information, please contact betsy.bury@umb.edu
