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June 27, 2008
It Feels like DC (Part III)
This week’s reflection is about the organizational background of the Partnership for Public Service. There are some interesting questions this week, I think, it’s more of the heady, theoretic stuff that I really enjoy. Here’s the prompt:
• Who are the clients of the Partnership for Public Service (PPS)?
• What products or services does PPS offer? How does your field of study contribute to the products/services of PPS/your team?
• Describe the relationship between PPS and the surrounding community? How do they interact?
This is an interesting question to ask, because I was thinking the other day, we don’t make anything here. There are no widgets produced in our office and our deliverables are knowledge, advice or influence. Crudely put, we’re information holders and information brokers at the Partnership. I think its an interesting problem to have—for most non-profits and government agencies—to produce knowledge or provide services because the results are difficult to track and measure. Sure, we see some movement in pieces of legislation that the Parternship supports and it’s easy to track attendees at the various events that the Partnership hosts. However, I can’t think of any direct measures of success that show whether the Partnership’s work is successful. If people keep coming back, we’re probably doing something right.
Then the thought of clients. Who are the clients here? Is it the public? The “average” federal employee or agency officials? Is it all of the above, can it be? I’d say the client is probably Federal Agency leaders and members of the workforce, in general. Though, the partnership forays into the public as a client and congress as a client, I think. The funny thing about the Partnership is that it caters to many clients, but doesn’t act bluntly. The approach to clients is comprehensive, but still scrupulous.
So, this reflection seems to be an exercise in fitting into an organizational background. I fit into the products and services of the partnership—as a student of Political Science and Organizational Studies—by being able to relate directly to the cause of the organization, instead of the functional areas of the organization. I think my field of study helps me see the major players in the macro-organizational structure of Federal Human Capital issues (because of political science) and then be able to look at structures that dictate the organizational behavior of the major players. It’s a nice combination, I think, because even though I don’t really have a functional specialty, I think I can be a bridge between various departments of the organization as a generalist. In the long run, I wonder what liberal-arts graduates (like most of us) will do. Will we quickly find functional specialties, or will be float along and be the “glue” of people who have functional specialties?
I’m really curious about where the Partnership is headed. They are in a stage of growth, so its interaction with bodies external to the organization are in a state of development and flux. Sustained management success and a balancing of short-term and long term are in order, I’m sure.
What does this all mean though, why is this talk of organizational background important? I think of it kind of like a puzzle box. With an awareness of the box, the puzzle pieces fit together more quickly, accurately and easily. I hope you're having a great time this summer!
Go Blue,
nt
Posted by ntambe at June 27, 2008 01:12 PM