Improving Government Performance Using Collaboration Technology
By James DeGenova, Senior Manager, PMP, CFE, CICA, CohnReznick

Innovative technologies are changing the way government agencies execute their programs, improve performance, and empower their people. With an evolving workforce and new technologies providing faster solutions, collaboration technology is allowing agencies to focus on communication, optimization and the ability to drive results that benefit the citizens they serve.  

C2 (Collaborate & Communicate)
Shifting towards cloud-based digital workspaces to combine conversation and content collaboration, government agencies are improving productivity and communication among teams throughout their departments and across agencies. Government leaders are driving success by using new technology that enhances teamwork and provides agencies with improved tools that increase conversation and effective decision making. 

Whether utilizing innovation labs, smart phones or tablets, teams maximize their digital technologies together.  Agencies share files instantly, visualize and review data, annotate, enhance visibility by discussing face-to-face over the screen and ensure their projects are managed and completed efficiently. For truly dynamic and results-oriented government leaders, it’s less about in-person meetings or conference call dial-in numbers with one-dimensional slideshow presentations and more about offering staff the freedom to connect and collaborate while storing their ideas and processes in a secure virtual environment that may be accessed anytime.

By tapping into the power of collaborative technology to scale projects and produce solutions in their space, leaders and teams maintain up-to-the-minute views of situations as they unfold and provide real-time monitoring of critical operations such as disaster recovery, cybersecurity, and complex financial and budgetary decisions.  With the ability to interface immediately, agencies can deploy their strategies rapidly and in synchronized fashion.  Whether an agency is fending off cyberattacks or helping citizens prepare for a natural disaster, collaborative technology such as virtual workspaces, social media, mobile applications and live video compresses the timeline of communicating critical information to decision makers and citizens.

Cost Savings and Optimization
Government agencies look to proactively enhance their mission, keep costs low and drive successful projects that benefit the public. With agencies paying close attention to cost-saving measures, utilizing collaborative technology improves communication within the government and across the public sector. When this technology is active across agencies, leadership and team members plan job duties together, build out work flow strategies, hand-off assignments, quality control work and review best practices all while optimizing agency goals miles apart.  

With the ability to collaborate, communicate and streamline processes together, agencies are saving by improving efficiency.  Reduced travel, less time wasted sending and receiving files, and fewer one-dimensional slideshow presentations provide teams with the ability to focus more on ideas and project goals that come to fruition faster. With increased discussions, decisions based on real-time interaction and improved production, government agencies may now focus on the bottom line – completing their mission on time in a cost-effective manner.  By implementing collaborative tools, agencies are maximizing their work rate which ultimately leads to long-term savings.  



Culture and Empowerment
Collaborative technology helps government agencies complete their projects faster and leaner, while improving their culture by providing an open forum for stakeholders to share their thoughts and views. Open communication helps to foster a culture of mutual respect and shared beliefs and values. By having a strong culture, agencies may build empowered action oriented teams that help drive the mission of the organization as people are motivated as they have a voice in how things get done.  

Agencies are driving better work processes and bringing forth more ideas when groups have a sense of contribution.  When individuals and teams have a sense of belonging, they feel more in-touch with their departments and want to ensure that their projects are successful.  Collaborative technology fuses creativity, goals, and people to instill culture.  When combined, collaborative technology and culture are bringing positive change to agencies that are driving motivation, cost savings, and better solutions. 

Conclusion
Collaboration technology is changing the way government agencies provide solutions, enable their people and bring about positive change.   By investing in these tools, leadership is building and empowering a connected workforce focused on innovation, productivity and culture.  Connected leadership and their teams are working simultaneously to promote their agency goals, raise performance, reduce redundancies and deliver faster solutions to achieve ideal outcomes that benefit the citizens they serve today and in 

###

This article appeared in PSC's Summer 2018 Service Contractor Magazine. Click here to view a PDF of this article.