Recently, my friend and colleague Randy Reid, ICMA Southeast Regional Director and Director of ICMA Analytics, wrote a blog about a Time Magazine article on "How Information Overload Will Improve Our Lives."   Randy states that "a new cycle is developing from “measurement and comparison of metrics” to “analytics leading to insights” to “impacts on local priorities and image of communities” and hopefully to “better management data-driven decisions in the age of transparency.” 

Randy is challenging us to move beyond performance measurement to managing performance with the data we collect.   He says, "measurement and frequent comparison with other jurisdictions gives us better insight into our performance. Monitoring trends and analytics allows us to incorporate this data into our decision making and policy evaluation."

It is clear that managers who are measuring data need to take it to the next level of managing their operations using the data they collect.  For those who are not yet measuring, they need to start.   Yet, many don't know where to start or how to take their efforts to the next level.   

This is why it is important that all local government managers know that ICMA will be debuting a new performance management and analytics tool called ICMA Insights at the ICMA Conference in Charlotte.   This new tool is powered by SAS® and will feature a  national performance metrics data base.  Please check it out at the exhibit booth at the Conference, request a free demonstration or visit ICMA's Center for Performance Analytics on the web. 

The Center for Management Strategies exists to provide tools and strategies to assist local governments with their efficiency and effectiveness.   As such, we often write about strategies such as citizen engagement, collaborative service delivery and priority based budgeting.  It is also critical that managers look inward to the collection of data on their services and then utilize that data to compare themselves to others and incorporate the data into their decision making.   

ICMA Insights is a perfect tool to do just that!  Check it out at the ICMA Conference!