Center for Government Innovation

What is the biggest barrier to change in an organization?

By Steven Thomson
The Center for Government Innovation

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

By The Center for Government Innovation

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

By The Center for Government Innovation

As a follow up to our #Gov101 series on fire districts, let's take a look at what we can learn about these governments using the Financial Intelligence Tool (FIT)! FIT contains financial data on nearly 2,000 governments in Washington, including over 350 fire protection districts.

Our infographic below merely scratches the surface; there are amazing things to find through exploring the data. Everyone can find a story and learn about all the governments serving our state. What will you discover this time?
 

Governments have take-home vehicle programs because there is a benefit to the government and the public in doing so, such as to meet police or other emergency response needs. But when was the last time you assessed risks related to your take-home vehicle program, or updated your policy? Are you certain the benefits outweigh the costs?

Often local governments cite lack of resources for why they cannot move forward with their cybersecurity program – but did you know there are many resources available at no cost to you? This can be a great option to help stretch those dollars for your cybersecurity program efforts!

At work, staff come and go. And much must be done when a staff member leaves, such as ending health benefits and ensuring equipment gets returned. Some entities even have checklists to make sure all the offboarding steps are completed, which is a great practice! Even if you don't have a checklist, you probably wouldn't forget to take them off your payroll — but would you remember to shut down all of their system access? Employees could have access to many different systems to do their job.

By the Center for Government Innovation

Estimated reading time: 1 minute

Finance matters

Considerations extend beyond budget decisions

As a finance or administrative professional in a local government, you have key responsibilities for managing that government's resources. In your role, you interact with all aspects of a local government's operations as you inform budgetary decisions.