This is a guest post by Barbara Moore, who focuses on performance management for ICMA’s Outreach and Communications Team.

The Performance Management blog shares leading practices, resources, and ideas for improving the quality of public services through performance measurement, management, and analytics. ICMA introduced the blog two years ago to underscore the importance of performance management as a professional practice. ICMA’s Center for Performance Analytics continually identifies “lessons learned” and successful initiatives that emerge from its comparative data collection and analytics program as well as thought-provoking ideas from the media and other sources.

Here are some examples:

1. Performance Management Is Not All About Data by featured columnist Thomas I. Miller warns that joining the “big data stampede” is not enough to ensure success. Data must be used, not simply collected. “Savvy local government managers, ahead of many colleagues, gather performance data intending to improve efficiency and community quality of life.“
2. In a surprising finding, the city of Seattle discovered that street sweeping was far more cost-effective than stormwater and watershed infrastructure to keep contaminants out of waterways. Data in Action: How Much Would You Pay for a Pound of Dirt? explains how they found out.
3. Another post highlights an example from a user of the ICMA Insights™ performance analytics platform. Out-of-the-Box Benchmarking in Bettendorf shows how one city produced a top-notch benchmarking report using the built-in Insights reporting tools.
4. Success in Leadership with Data and Budgeting captures highlights from the August 2015 Center for Priority Based Budgeting “unconference.”

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