Massachusetts’ Strategy Team Partners with Agencies to Improve Government Operations and Services
Driving results for constituents through a centralized strategy group
Technology is key to enabling government operations and service delivery. The Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS) is responsible for providing secure and quality digital information, services, and tools to Massachusetts customers and constituents when and where they need them. EOTSS supports all Commonwealth agencies to effectively meet the diverse needs of our constituents in a consistent, secure, and user-friendly way.
In addition to technology, good operations and services rely on well-designed and modern business processes. Within EOTSS, the Office of Strategy Management (the Strategy Team) strives to support EOTSS’ mission and agency service goals by responding to service delivery challenges as well as opportunities for modernization and continuous improvement. The Strategy Team partners with agencies to map their current state (people, process, technology), conduct research and analysis, and recommend feasible business process changes, staffing, and technology solutions that will move the agency toward their goals. By employing a set of best practices, the Strategy Team works to increase operational efficiency and improve service delivery throughout Massachusetts.
How does the Strategy team work with agency partners?
Often the agency staff working to deliver government services are case workers, program managers, and policy makers — not typically technologists. While they rely on technology to deliver efficient, easy-to-use, and secure services, there can often be resource gaps in the form of time, knowledge, or skills necessary to make large-scale technology improvements. Additionally, because agencies are staffed to deliver and operate ongoing programs, people are busy with their day-to-day responsibilities and may have limited capacity to plan more strategically. The Strategy Team partners with agencies to provide technical expertise and additional capacity to support agencies in making informed decisions that address operational and technology needs. Of course, government operations range drastically across the many agencies and offices, so our work responds to a wide variety of situations. The Strategy Team has supported projects where:
- Legislation created a new government-provided benefit. The creation of the Department of Family and Medical Leave and its Paid Family and Medical Leave program necessitated new systems, staffing, and processes. The Strategy team defined a technology strategy, managed the procurement of software and services, and supported DFML as they set up processes and governance to manage the multi-vendor implementation.
- New funding created an opportunity to modernize service delivery. The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (formerly DHCD) leveraged federal funding to improve the disbursement of rental assistance. With deadlines for spending these funds, the agency was eager to procure new technology — the Strategy team conducted research on existing business processes to inform the procurement scope.
- Constituent feedback informed service delivery and accessibility improvements. The Strategy team coordinated with a user research vendor to develop research protocols and conduct user journey research for the Department of Early Education and Care’s (EEC) Childcare Financial Assistance program, providing valuable insight for EEC’s strategic planning initiative.
The Strategy Team tackles issues by identifying and responding to their root causes. In each instance, the actual work from start to finish may look different, but our approach follows a set of general steps.
What are the principles and best practices guiding our work?
The process above, in combination with the key best practices outlined below, ensures that the successful fulfillment of both business needs and end-user goals is specifically designed for, and not left to chance.
Prioritize Users
State government has a responsibility to make the experiences of constituents (individuals and businesses) as well as government staff as smooth and user-friendly as possible. To do this, staff need to have intuitive systems that enable them to answer questions and administer services as efficiently as possible. The public needs to be able to easily understand where to go, who to talk to, what information or materials are required of them, and what actions to take in order to access government-provided services. Regularly asking for and listening to feedback from users of Massachusetts’ services enables us to design and improve processes and systems that are responsive to real user needs. Proactively creating experiences that center the end user as best as possible means that people are more likely to use the services that exist and get the help they need. Consistently putting the end-user first builds trust and credibility between government institutions and the public, which is key to a well-functioning society.
Use service goals and operational processes to inform solutions
We should never assume that a particular technology is the right or only solution when facing a challenge. In fact, we should minimize assumptions and let our discoveries drive our proposed solutions. To do that, we map out both the current state (people, process, technology, and pain points) and the desired future state. A current state map illustrates the many stakeholders involved in a process, identifies points where things go wrong, and calls out how interactions could be made better. Comparing our current state with the desired future state, based on stakeholder input, administrative capacity, and technological capabilities, helps us design a feasible solution that is responsive to an agency’s underlying problems, goals, and constraints. If the business process does not function well for its intended purpose, no amount of new technology will fix things. Whether our solution consists of process improvements or a technology implementation or both, we’ll be successful when we focus on solving the root cause.
Follow best practices of modern software development when technology is part of the solution
We help agencies build solutions that will work for real users in real-life situations. Following best practices will ensure this is true during implementation and beyond. Regardless of the scope of a project or partnership, we recommend developing a regular practice of:
- Planning & prioritization: Undertaking dedicated planning and prioritization activities helps agencies identify where and how to spend their resources most effectively and how to sequence the work. Planning and prioritization are not one-time activities, they must be conducted on a regular cadence (e.g., quarterly, annually) to maintain focus on the highest priority and highest value work, even as business needs evolve over time.
- User-centered design & feedback: We recommend conducting user experience research, testing for usability and accessibility, and collecting regular feedback from users in the community to continuously improve and meet changing or emerging needs. These users should include both constituents and government staff, or other administrative end users, as appropriate. Similar to planning and prioritization, these are not one-time activities but on-going activities that can be deployed throughout the life of a service.
- Prototyping & testing: Building technology in small increments means prototyping and testing small pieces of work before launching larger releases, which lowers risk, delivers value, and ensures that service processes are scalable and interoperable.
EOTSS Strategy team and agency partners deliver results for constituents, together
Government staff deserve systems that are intuitive and responsive, and residents deserve interactions that are secure, helpful, and easy to understand. While there may not be a sustained need within every agency to fully staff a team of planners and strategists, there is a perpetual demand across the whole of government that is best met by a centralized team (that’s us!), who can partner with agencies when needed. Delivering results requires collaboration, creativity, and innovation from the Strategy Team and our agency partners.
