Respect Paperwork

One thing that the MPA program has taught me is the respect and understanding for the bureaucratic process. Even though we have all witnessed an excessively inefficient government organization, I like to believe that most government organizations are inefficient by design. The bureaucratic process that may hinder speedy service, enhances and protects the democratic process. Ensuring that proper documents are in place to show that an agency is doing what they are set out to do, slows down efficiency, but provides assurance for citizens.

In my job, I have high expectations of the paperwork and filing that must be in place to prove that we are spending appropriately, providing services that we claim we are providing, and maintaining a paper trail of our accomplishments and failures to better make adjustments. Although, this is crystal clear in my head, I am struggling with have the team I manage understand the importance and fulfill their paperwork expectation. I have just found out that very little of our accomplishments are being documented in the structure that was provided. I am blogging to all of you today to stream my thoughts before I act on the situation. I am disappointed in the team for not fulfilling this expectation and I feel the issue is beyond coaching; disciplinary actions may be the appropriate response.

Disciplinary action is not my style. If I respect you and am competent at my job, you will therefore respect me and be competent at your job. I will direct you with advice and suggestions. I will share my experiences and expertise. I will fulfill your expectations of me, and I will apologize when I make mistakes. In this particular case, the team has simply not fulfilled their expectations, even though I have provided the appropriate structure, expressed its importance, and checked in biweekly to see if it was being accomplished.

I must be strategical in my next move... To be continued...