“Improving Collaboration by Federal Agencies:  An Essential Priority for the Next President”by Thomas Stanton


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Executive Summary

In today’s technology-driven and complicated environment improved collaboration of federal agencies with other organizations has become imperative. In many areas, such as creating interoperable systems for program delivery, collaboration with state and local governments and private sector organizations often can create a result superior to each agency or private organization trying to go it alone.

It is time to enhance the cultures of federal organizations to embrace greater collaboration and facilitate the rise of collaborative leaders and managers. But interorganizational collaboration must be done without weakening or blurring accountability of government agencies to spend public resources wisely.

Some legislation mandates interorganizational collaboration. The Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 transformed the Joint Chiefs of Staff from a weak coordinating body into a source of influence that could promote serious interservice cooperation. The Director of National Intelligence similarly has mandated interagency service as a requirement for promotion to senior levels of intelligence agencies. Yet, many governmentwide efforts at promoting collaboration have not succeeded in the face of organizational resistance.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the only agency with current capacity and clout to foster improved collaboration. To promote a culture of collaboration by federal agencies, OMB should expand application of tools such as interagency councils and agency performance rating systems to increase incentives for federal managers to collaborate with those outside their agencies’ boundaries. Individual departments and agencies should adopt systems that rate the quality and effectiveness of collaboration into their strategic and performance plans and into performance evaluations of senior executives and managers. OMB will need to exercise leadership systematically over many years to help federal agencies internalize collaboration into their organizational values and cultures.

Related Resources

EOM Panel Minutes:
Topic presented at EOM Panel on July 21, 2006.

Associated Presentation Materials:
None

Other Related NAPA Materials:
Improving Federal Relations with States, Localities, and Private Organizations on Matters of Homeland Security:  The Stakeholder Council Model (2003)