CategoryBureaucrat

I’m an exec in a public organisation, overseeing a branch that’s just finished some policy work mostly outsourced to a consulting firm. But now it’s over, I’ve had one of my direct reports reach out to me, concerned. Not because of the work: the project was successful. They pointed out that while the work was successful, they felt like it was a missed opportunity for them to build some important skills and knowledge. After they spoke to me, I considered why this work had to be outsourced to a consulting firm in the first place. Because it had to be. There’s just no capacity to handle it in...

As a regional director in the school system, I have to admit I’m pretty disappointed with how it’s being run by the state. A new strategy for improving educational outcomes for gifted and talented children was launched with great fanfare by the powers-that-be, all while schools in my region continue to have serious problems with attendance and attainment for disadvantaged children. I have had to deal with my fair share of parents, who are reaching out concerned about their kids falling behind, as well as with complaints from teachers. My teachers are far too busy and stressed supporting the...

Policy work can be difficult enough without contending with ghosts of the past. I’m so tired of having to shape and mould my work around obsolete policies that are hanging around from the dawn of time. I’m trying to design new accountability measures, which have robust supporting evidence, but am constantly thwarted by a whole heap of existing constraints, including policies and awards, that restrict and prevent them. My colleagues and I have had to compromise on the design of the new accountability measures – which is fine, because making compromises is a normal part of policy development –...

I’ve just received the annual budget for the team that I manage, and it’s a frightful squeeze. It’s completely unfeasible if I plan on actually getting our job done and it has a ton of errors in it! Every budget in recent memory has been tighter than the one preceding it, but this one is just too tight. Talking to my colleagues, I discovered that other operational departments are in the same spot; financial decisions affecting their departments are also made by the Finance department without consultation. Not liaising with any other department might explain some of the errors. It must be just...

At the end of last year, I transferred from one public organisation to another, having successfully applied for a management role, but I found that my new workplace produced mediocre work. The staff just seemed to lack any drive for high performance. This was not a problem at my previous organisation – we all strived for good outcomes there, and had a strong, shared commitment to quality work. I often found myself wishing I was managing my old team, rather than trying to learn how to be a manager at the same time as trying to learn how to deal with poor performance.  Staff attitudes in my new...