Setting goals and collecting data are foundations for a sound local government performance management system. And many cities and counties have discovered that joining forces with peer organizations through performance consortia can add significant value by providing an opportunity to compare with others and learn from them.

Advantages of the consortium approach include:

• A community of peers with something in common—perhaps jurisdictions of similar size or geographic proximity, or those that have a major tourist attraction, a port, or something else that sets them apart
• A set of agreed-upon definitions to enable apples-to-apples comparisons and benchmarking of performance data
• An opportunity to share resources for selecting measures, analyzing data, and training
• A built-in network for sharing experiences, lessons learned, and successful management practices.

Learn more about performance consortia in the free webinar “Performance Management Consortia -- Don't Go It Alone” on June 21. The webinar is offered free to ICMA members, thanks to generous sponsorship from ICMA-RC.

Presenters from the ICMA Center for Performance Analytics, the city of Scottsdale, Arizona, and the Florida Benchmarking Consortium will discuss their experiences with performance consortia and provide tips for establishing a consortium that works for you.