Operation Performance Management Primer: From Performance Measures to Performance Management

Chapter 5. Assessing Your Progress in Conducting Operations Performance Management

Primer Summary

This Primer has described the principles of OPMM in the context of transportation investment decisionmaking and other performance management activities. OPMM is a data-driven process that develops investments based on the actual performance of the transportation system. Its features are shared with the broader contexts of Transportation Performance Management and Performance-Bases Planning and Programming, but is tied specifically to mobility performance and the application of TSMO strategies. OPMM enables TSMO projects to be considered in these broader contexts and also supplies valuable mobility performance information for multimodal decisionmaking.

OPMM is also an iterative process based on the major functions of:

• Monitor and measure performance.
• Report performance.
• Evaluate improvements.
• Operate the system.
• Make investment decisions based on performance.
• Repeat and revise the process over time.

Each of these functions is described in detail in earlier sections of this Primer. The next section describes a process for evaluating agencies’ stage of OPMM development and for improving their level of development.

Operations Performance Measures and Management Capability Maturity Framework

Overview

A Capability Maturity Framework (CMF) is a formal process that can be used by agencies to understand how fully they have adopted specific concepts into their business practices and procedures. The CMF recognizes that improvements in capability should be implemented in incremental and “doable” steps that can be taken as resources and conditions permit. Those steps include clearly identified criteria that build upon previous activities to reduce the risk of failure. The CMF is designed to help agencies better understand how their business practices currently function relative to specific functional goals, and once they understand their current status relative to those goals, help them adopt new business practices and procedures by providing a path that guides the agency and its staff from ad hoc application of the desired business principals to formal application of them within the agency’s routine business processes.

CMFs have been developed for many functional areas including TSMO. CMFs are an enhanced form of self-assessment based on a matrix analysis of the level of sophisticated achieved by an agency for a given program. CMFs promote a process-driven approach to continually improve agency actions. The matrix is defined by two factors:

1. Process Improvement Areas. These are broad categories, sometimes called “dimensions,” that relate to how well an agency functions. There are typically six process improvement areas for the TSMO CMF, these are business processes, systems and technology, performance measurement, organization and workforce, culture, and collaboration. Each of these areas may be broken down into supporting categories.
2. Levels. For each process improvement area, four levels are defined, with each level representing higher forms of achievement and greater sophistication in agency actions.
   1. Level 1: Ad hoc. Activities and relationships are informal and champion-driven, substantially outside the mainstream of other agency (State DOT or MPO) activities.
   2. Level 2: Managed. Basic strategy applications understood; key processes support requirements identified and key technology and core capacities under development, but limited internal accountability and uneven alignment with external partners.
   3. Level 3: Integrated. Standardized strategy applications implemented in priority contexts and managed for performance; technical and business processes developed, documented, and integrated into agency; partnerships aligned.
   4. Level 4: Optimized. Full, sustainable core agency program priority, established on the basis of continuous improvement with top-level management status and formal partnerships.⁴⁵

Agencies assess what level they have achieved for each process improvement area. The CMF offers guidance for how to move to the next level for each cell in the matrix. Agencies then prepare an Action Plan to follow through on the guidance needed to improve their process (i.e., “advance to the next level”).

Implementing an Operations Performance Measures and Management Capability Maturity Framework

Table 3 shows the OPMM CMF. The goal of the OPMM CMF is to help transportation agencies operate the surface transportation system using data-driven decisions and data-driven investments. It addresses the stages that agencies, jurisdictions and regions advance through as they move from ad hoc consideration of transportation system operations to fully embracing OPMM as a key aspect of their routine work. In the context of the CMF, “fully embracing OPMM” means using both operational activities and performance measures to manage and optimize transportation outcomes.

A CMF consists of six primary dimensions (areas which need to be examined/considered by the agency.) Table 3 is divided into these six dimensions, and one or two simple examples are given of detailed ways the OPMM CMF can be applied to each of the six TSMO operational topics (Traffic Management, Traffic Incident Management, Work Zone Management, Weather Management, Special Events, and Traffic Signal Systems Management). The six primary dimensions of the OPMM CMF are:

• Business Processes.
• Systems and Technology.
• Performance Measurement.
• Culture.
• Organization and Workforce.
• Collaboration.

The business process dimension examines the status of OPMM within the agency’s overall planning, project scoping, project selection, project programming, and budgeting business processes. It examines whether operational improvements are being considered on an equal basis with other types of system improvements. The systems and technology dimension examines how effectively OPMM is incorporated in the agency’s systems engineering, systems architecture and standards efforts. The better OPMM is incorporated into these areas, the more effectively it can ensure or encourage interoperability between the technologies being adopted, expanded or implemented, thus providing better traffic flow through more integrated operations. The performance measurement dimension examines the degree to which OPMM performance measures have been incorporated in the agencies processes. It includes whether formal OPMM performance metrics definitions have been adopted and used, whether the data needed to inform those metrics has been identified and collected, and the degree to which those metrics are being used.

The culture dimension addresses the degree to which OPMM has been supported within the overall direction the agency is taking. This includes areas such as whether agency leadership is actively promoting the use of OPMM, the degree to which OPMM is being included in outreach to stakeholders, the degree of technical understanding of OPMM which exists within the agency, and the extent to which legal authority to perform OPMM tasks is available. The organization and workforce dimension continues to look at this human development side of adopting the OPMM process within the agency. It examines whether the agency’s organizational structure supports OPMM, whether there are staff development resources available for teaching OPMM, whether the agency works to recruit and retain staff in the area of OPMM, and the overall programmatic status of OPMM within the agency.

The final dimension is collaboration. This dimension addresses the extent to which the agency routinely includes OPMM in its interactions with other agencies, jurisdictions, and organizations it works with. Coordination is often vital for the effective use of OPMM. Agencies that are often important collaborators in the delivery of effective OPMM include other transportation agencies, public safety agencies, local governments, metropolitan planning organizations, and the private sector.

Within each of these six dimensions the CMF describes four different levels of adoption relative to the activities in those dimensions. These four levels describe how a given activity associated with transportation system operations is performed within the agency and the degree to which the activity is a formal and integral part of how the agency routinely performs the transportation project identification, selection, and prioritization system.

These levels of adoption also provide the agency with insight into what changes can be adopted which can help an agency move gradually to a more systematic adoption and use of OPMM.

The four different levels of adoption incorporated in the CMF are:

• Performed or Ad-Hoc (Level 1).
• Managed (Level 2).
• Integrated (Level 3).
• Optimized (Level 4).

When an agency is in the Performed stage of adoption of OPMM, the OPMM activities being performed are generally outside the mainstream of other agency activities. They are typically performed by someone championing their adoption, with their relationship to other agency activities being informal or ad-hoc relative to the agency’s typical business practices.

When an agency’s adoption of OPMM progresses to the next level, Managed, OPMM activities have progressed to the point where core OPMM capacities are under development, but there is little internal accountability or direction for the outcome from those activities, and as a result, the outcomes from those efforts are uneven and not always connected to external agency partners.

The third level of OPMM adoption, Integrated, is reached when priority areas within the agency are being managed for performance. At this level, the technical and business processes that support OPMM are being developed within the agency, documented, and integrated into agency training and external partnerships.

The final level of OPMM adoption, Optimized, is reached when OPMM has become a core agency program priority. At this point, agencies have full adopted the use of data driven decisionmaking, and the goal of continuous improvement. These business approaches receive full support of high-level management and for agency partnerships.

The current version of FHWA’s OPMM CMF is shown on the following pages. It addresses the tasks that reflect the performance of operations performance management (monitoring/measuring—reporting—evaluating—operating), across examples of the various work areas of TSMO (traffic management, traffic signal systems management, traffic incident management, work zone management, weather management, and special event management).

Moving to full implementation of the OPMM entails first understanding where an agency currently sits within the CMF, determining activities that allow the agency to move to more formal and comprehensive adoption of the OPMM concepts within the agency’s business processes, implementing those activities, and monitoring the changes in the organization that take place, and then continuing to review and refine agency processes, systems, culture and organization.

Table 3. Operations Performance Measures and Management capability maturity framework.

DIMENSIONS	LEVEL 1 PERFORMED, Low Level	LEVEL 2 MANAGED, Medium Level	LEVEL 3 INTEGRATED, High Level	LEVEL 4 OPTIMIZED, Highest Level
Business Processes (Planning, Programming, Budgeting)	Each jurisdiction managing its own issues as it’s needed according to individual priorities and capabilities; travel time monitoring only performed to fulfill Federal reporting requirements Actions to Advance to Level 2: Revise planning documents (e.g., long-range transportation plans, transportation improvement programs, corridor studies) to include regional coordination of TSMO strategies with other improvement types.	Consensus regional approach developed regarding Operations Performance Measures and Management goals, deficiencies, benefit/cost, networks, strategies and common priorities; operations data used as input to forecasting models and their calibration; TSMO planning and documents not used in broader planning and design processes and documents. Performance measures are reported but not directly incorporated into the planning process. Actions to Advance to Level 3: Revise planning documents to list TSMO projects. Adopt regional performance targets for adopted performance metrics. Update existing TSMO Strategic Plan to include Operations Performance Measures and Management principles.	Regional program integrated into jurisdictions’ overall multimodal transportation plans with related staged program and are integrated within agency plans, programs, and budgets, formation of multimodal, multi-agency corridor management teams/programs; TSMO plans are used as input to broader planning and programming plans. System performance relative to adopted targets are used to guide plan development and project selection. Actions to Advance to Level 4: Revise internal needs assessment procedures to allow consideration of TSMO strategies as viable alternatives at all stages of project development. Use travel time performance trends in the creation of transportation plans. Integrate TSMO into Performance Based Practical Design practices. Update transportation plans to consider the effectiveness of previous activities, and adjust plans based on those successes/failures. Create TSMO business case materials based on local performance measures: trends and successes.	TSMO integrated into jurisdictions’ multisectoral plans and programs, based on formal continuing planning processes; TSMO strategies considered simultaneously with capacity and demand management strategies at all stages of project development (planning, preliminary engineering, design); operations data used to diagnose congestion problems and assess impacts of all types of strategies as well as for program budget decisions. Agencies work jointly to develop multimodal solutions for meeting performance targets.
Systems and Technology	Ad hoc approaches to operations data system implementation without consideration of systems engineering and appropriate procurement processes; operations data systems exist only in a few functional areas (e.g., incident management). Actions to Advance to Level 2: Update the regional intelligent transportation systems architecture to include data archiving and analysis.	Individual data systems exist for operations data, but the data cannot be easily integrated and only rudimentary reporting functions exist; data analysis is performed with separate tools; System development is not coordinated and do not follow sound information technology principles. Data systems within the region routinely report performance measures. Actions to Advance to Level 3: Develop a Data Business Plan.	Individual systems for all forms of operations data are developed and data can easily be integrated when being analyzed, but users perform this integration for every analysis; separate analysis tools are used but a set of standardized analyses exist; a process has been established for updating data systems and analysis programs; data systems are used for real-time multimodal situational awareness present in the region. Actions to Advance to Level 4: Define and implement an Operations Performance Measures and Management monitoring program. Develop a Data System Requirements Plan, including the use of advanced analytics. Use the Requirements Plan to guide the development of an integrated regional data system. Update the Data Business Plan to include emerging/nontraditional sources of data.	A single data system houses all operations data which are seamlessly integrated. The system is routinely updated and modified using sound information technology principles; agency personnel receive ongoing training on the use of the system. Hardware architectures and technology are routinely upgraded to improve performance; systems and data integration/interoperability is maintained on a continuing basis across multiple agencies in the region, real-time multimodal situational awareness is actively used to support adaptive multi-agency operational plans.
Performance Measurement: Measures Definition	Measures are typically poorly defined and not straightforward to understand by technicians; only simplistic output measures exist. Limited data acquisition is in place. Data quality is questionable and usually not shared across agencies. Some outputs are measured and reported by some jurisdictions, but they are usually not used for meaningful decisionmaking. Actions to Advance to Level 2: Update TSMO Performance Measurement Plan or Strategic Plan to include Operations Performance Measures and Management. Include in planning documents discussion and presentation of outcome travel time-based performance measures and external factors.	Measures are clearly defined but are agency-specific and might be highly technical and not easy to understand and visualize by technicians; outcome measures are defined but are not used by all agency functional areas. Data usually are available but are not integrated across different department/agencies. Some data quality issues may exist. Output data are easily available and reported via dashboards and used directly for after-action debriefings and improvements. Actions to Advance to Level 3: Synchronize performance measures between forecasting models and monitoring (same measures are used).	Measures are clearly defined and are easy to understand by technicians/nontechnicians, measures address multiple modes and multiple desired public outcomes, and apply to both the regional planning objectives and effectiveness of the adopted operations activities; input, output, and outcome measures are defined. High-quality data are available, integrated across different department/agencies, and collected across modes, with specific emphasis on the interaction between modes. A formal data quality control process is defined and used. Outcome measures are identified and routinely used for decisionmaking and objective-based program improvements. A formal project evaluation program is established; routine reporting mechanisms are created (e.g., annual scorecards); operations performance measures used routinely in TSMO planning. Actions to Advance to Level 4: Define a full suite of outcome and output measures for use by all involved agencies.	Measures are clearly defined/easy to understand/visualize by technicians/nontechnicians; provide decision support for TSMO activities (e.g., needed signal timing plan changes), describe multimodal performance, and are directly usable for decisionmaking. Some measures focus on the traveler’s perspective. Standardized high-quality data are available and integrated across all agencies; long term budget commitments are made for required data collection. Performance measures are used internally for system management and reported externally for accountability. Reporting systems automatically flag areas where performance does not meet targets or expectations; operations performance measures are used in general agency planning and programming activities.
Performance Measurement: Data Acquisition	Data collection and reporting is based on available reporting capabilities of legacy management systems. Data quality is questionable, only a limited set of metrics can be computed. Performance reporting is not typically used for meaningful decisions.	Performance metrics are adopted, and include multijurisdiction trips. Performance reporting is multimodal. Data systems within the region routinely report those measures, but are not linked, do not include all jurisdictions (e.g., city arterials), and may have periodic data quality issues. Action to Advance to All Higher Levels: A Data Acquisition Plan is prepared that specifies: the internal and external data sources to be used; data purchases; funding stream; and data stewardship.	Performance reporting is routinely performed by all jurisdictions. Regional performance targets are set for adopted performance metrics. High-quality data are available to all jurisdictions and across all modes. Action to Advance to All Higher Levels: A Data Acquisition Plan is prepared that specifies: the internal and external data sources to be used; data purchases; funding stream; and data stewardship.	Regional operational decisions are directly influenced by outcomes from routine performance reports relative to adopted targets. Performance reports are routinely used to examine and adjust traffic management activities. The public and public decisionmakers can easily understand why specific decisions are being made, and track performance relative to adopted targets. Action to Advance to All Higher Levels: A Data Acquisition Plan is prepared that specifies: the internal and external data sources to be used; data purchases; funding stream; and data stewardship.
	Action to Advance to All Higher Levels: A Data Acquisition Plan is prepared that specifies: the internal and external data sources to be used; data purchases; funding stream; and data stewardship.
Performance Measurement: Measures Utilization	Data collection and reporting is based on available reporting capabilities of legacy management systems. Data quality is questionable, only a limited set of metrics can be computed. Performance reporting is not typically used for meaningful decisions. Actions to Advance to Level 2: Produce an Annual Mobility Report or Scorecard.	Performance metrics are adopted, and include multijurisdiction trips. Performance reporting is multimodal. Data systems within the region routinely report those measures, but are not linked, do not include all jurisdictions (e.g., city arterials), and may have periodic data quality issues. Actions to Advance to Level 3: Mandate that all planning and preliminary engineering analyses and products use the regionally defined performance measures. Establish targets based on the performance measures; use the targets to support regional vision, goals, and objectives. Add targets to short- and long-term planning documents. Extend the Annual Mobility Report to include bottleneck and high priority facilities in its analysis; progress toward short- and long-term targets; outcome measures for TSMO, capacity, demand, and alternate mode strategies.	Performance reporting is routinely performed by all jurisdictions. Regional performance targets are set for adopted performance metrics. High-quality data are available to all jurisdictions and across all modes. Actions to Advance to Level 4: Establish an ongoing Evaluation Program for completed congestion mitigation projects. Review performance measures every 2–3 years and revise if necessary; revisions are included in all documents that use the performance measures. Modify forecasting procedures to produce all target-based performance measures. Extend the Annual Mobility Report to include mapping of external factors to performance trends.	Regional operational decisions are directly influenced by outcomes from routine performance reports relative to adopted targets. Performance reports are routinely used to examine and adjust traffic management activities. The public and public decisionmakers can easily understand why specific decisions are being made, and track performance relative to adopted targets.
Culture (Changing Culture and Building Champions)	Individual Staff champions promote Operations Performance Measures and Management. Emphasis on TSMO varies among jurisdictions.	Jurisdictions’ senior management understands Operations Performance Measures and Management business case and educates decisionmakers/public. Educational material is provided to staff new to Operations Performance Measures and Management to help them integrate Operations Performance Measures and Management into their routine solutions set. Actions to Advance to All Higher Levels: Develop a persuasive business case for Operations Performance Measures and Management, especially how it supports TSMO; Develop a communications/outreach plan/branding for stakeholders; produce outreach documents and presentations that promote the business case.	Jurisdictions’ mission statements identify Operations Performance Measures and Management and Operations Performance Measures and Management benefits, and a formal Operations Performance Measures and Management program achieves wide public visibility/understanding; Most employees have previous involvement in some aspect of performance management. Operations Performance Measures and Management training is a routine part of professional development activities. Actions to Advance to All Higher Levels: Develop a persuasive business case for Operations Performance Measures and Management, especially how it supports TSMO; Develop a communications/outreach plan/branding for stakeholders; produce outreach documents and presentations that promote the business case.	Customer mobility service commitment accountability accepted as formal, top level core program of all jurisdictions; Data-driven decisionmaking based on real-time information is adopted, multi-agency coordinated operations is the norm. Actions to Advance to All Higher Levels: Develop a persuasive business case for Operations Performance Measures and Management, especially how it supports TSMO; Develop a communications/outreach plan/branding for stakeholders; produce outreach documents and presentations that promote the business case.
	Actions to Advance to All Higher Levels: Develop a persuasive business case for Operations Performance Measures and Management, especially how it supports TSMO; Develop a communications/outreach plan/branding for stakeholders; produce outreach documents and presentations that promote the business case.
Organization/Staffing (Improving Capability of Workforce)	A limited number of Operations Performance Measures and Management champions exist in the agency, but Operations Performance Measures and Management principles have not been adopted; information technology support for Operations Performance Measures and Management data system is minimal; data analysis skills and software are severely limited or nonexistent.	TSMO managers have implemented some Operations Performance Measures and Management principles; Innovation/new process may not be commonly adopted; internal or contracted IT services are available for Operations Performance Measures and Management data systems; analysis skills of agency personnel limited. Advance to All Higher Levels: Define an appropriate organizational structure for implementing Operations Performance Measures and Management (e.g., at what points in project development should Operations Performance Measures and Management principles be applied); Identify core capabilities needed and develop related staffing and training plan.	TSMO Managers have direct reporting to top management; Operations Performance Measures and Management training is a routine part of professional development activities for TSMO personnel; agency personnel are assigned to caretake Operations Performance Measures and Management data and are knowledgeable of information technology; agency personnel are trained in Operations Performance Measures and Management data analysis. Advance to All Higher Levels: Define an appropriate organizational structure for implementing Operations Performance Measures and Management (e.g., at what points in project development should Operations Performance Measures and Management principles be applied); Identify core capabilities needed and develop related staffing and training plan.	TSMO senior managers at equivalent level with other jurisdiction services and staff professionalized; Jurisdiction is a pioneer of new process and innovation. Advance to All Higher Levels: Define an appropriate organizational structure for implementing Operations Performance Measures and Management (e.g., at what points in project development should Operations Performance Measures and Management principles be applied); Identify core capabilities needed and develop related staffing and training plan.
	Advance to All Higher Levels: Define an appropriate organizational structure for implementing Operations Performance Measures and Management (e.g., at what points in project development should Operations Performance Measures and Management principles be applied); Identify core capabilities needed and develop related staffing and training plan.
Collaboration	Relationships ad hoc, and on personal basis (public-public, public-private); Operations Performance Measures and Management are seen as distinct from other agency transportation management plan activities. Jurisdictions, agencies, and States plan for and manage their own road systems. Project specific improvements occur with project specific coordination between agencies/jurisdictions.	Objectives, strategies and performance measures are aligned among organized key players; Operations Performance Measures and Management and general transportation management plan activities are coordinated but separate. Regional plan discusses the need for regional coordination between adjacent traffic management systems. When competing for regional funding, additional points are awarded to projects that include coordination between agencies. Advance to All Higher Levels: Participate in joint activities with public safety partners, including training for TSMO activities and emergency response; Align partners’ TSMO objectives and interact on a regular basis; Conduct regular reviews with personnel responsible for implementing non-TSMO congestion relief improvements.	Operations Performance Measures and Management is integrated with general transportation management plan activities. Multiple agencies (across modes) work jointly to coordinate activities, plan for future improvements, and monitor performance. Advance to All Higher Levels: Participate in joint activities with public safety partners, including training for TSMO activities and emergency response; Align partners’ TSMO objectives and interact on a regular basis; Conduct regular reviews with personnel responsible for implementing non-TSMO congestion relief improvements.	Operations Performance Measures and Management is fully integrated into all related agency functions and used to create planning and programming documents on equal footing with all other functional areas (performance-based planning and programming, performance-based practical design, and the congestion management plan). Advance to All Higher Levels: Participate in joint activities with public safety partners, including training for TSMO activities and emergency response; Align partners’ TSMO objectives and interact on a regular basis; Conduct regular reviews with personnel responsible for implementing non-TSMO congestion relief improvements.
	Advance to All Higher Levels: Participate in joint activities with public safety partners, including training for TSMO activities and emergency response; Align partners’ TSMO objectives and interact on a regular basis; Conduct regular reviews with personnel responsible for implementing non-TSMO congestion relief improvements.

Using the Operations Performance Measures and Management Capability Maturity Frameworks to Guide the Adoption of Operations Performance Measures and Management

Full adoption of operations performance management within an agency or region is not a fast and easy process. Agency business processes, culture, and training require time to shift from their current activities and attitudes to those that reflect the business view of performance management. The CMF is an excellent guide for helping make that transition.

The CMF is used in much the same way OPMM is intended to function. That is, the CMF guides a continuous improvement process that consists of measurement, reporting, evaluation, and the taking of actions based on those evaluation results. To use the CMF, the agency would:

• Measure and routinely monitor its current condition relative to where it wishes to go, using the CMF as a guide.
• Report that status to decisionmakers.
• Use that information to identify and evaluate the next activities that can be funded and implemented, in order to continue to improve the OPMM implementation.
• Implement those selected activities.

The agency then returns to the monitoring task, in order to observe and understand the effectiveness of those activities and to reassess the agency’s new condition. The result is a continuous improvement cycle.

Each of these tasks is discussed briefly below. More detailed guidance can be obtained from a number of resources. Two excellent resources are websites developed and maintained by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and guidance made available by the FHWA.

A key to the process of moving towards a more mature OPMM capability is the need for buy-in and active support of the senior agency leadership. Without senior leadership support it is almost impossible to move from the Performed/Ad-Hoc level of OPMM to the Integrated and Optimized levels of performance management. Senior management support is necessary for both supporting the changes in agency processes and culture, and for the resources needed to implement those technical and procedural changes.

Monitoring Current Status

The starting place for helping an agency, region, or State effectively use operations performance management is to assess the current state or condition of that agency.⁴⁶ This step can start with a self-assessment. A good starting place is the AASHTO self-assessment material found at AASHTO—One Minute Evaluation. This AASHTO website also offers guidance for developing a more customized evaluation. Many agencies hire consultants to help them through this process.

This process typically leads to a self-assessment workshop being held at the agency. It is vital that this workshop include the senior managers for the agency, key technical staff, as well as key managers and staff from partner agencies.

Reporting

A key outcome from the self-assessment workshop and any other self-assessments performed within the agency is the documentation that result. This documentation not only needs to discuss the current status of the agency (region, State) across the six dimension and TSMO activities, but the workshop also identifies actions that need to be taken, and constraints that need to be overcome, the resources that appear to be needed and the timeframe in which these activities can occur.

Evaluation and Decisionmaking

The third step involves the development of an Action Plan. This plan is the outcome of the evaluation of the findings documented in the self-assessment relative to the support for OPMM within the agency and its political oversight bodies. That is, what political support is there for making changes to the agency’s business processes, and what resources are available to make those changes.

The result is an Action Plan for maturing the agency’s OPMM process. Within that plan identifies specific actions to be taken, the individuals or groups that are to take those actions, the intended outcomes of those actions (both in terms of the technical outcomes and how those outcomes affect the self-assessment outcome of the CMF), the technical issues that need to be resolved, the resource requirements needed, the senior leadership support required to take those actions, and the schedule for taking those actions.

The Action Plan should cover all six dimensions of the CMF. Suggestions for the types of activities that can be included are in the above table. Action items for maturing the agency’s effectiveness in collaborating with its partners are divided into planning, outreach, and funding efforts that support collaboration with public safety agencies and MPOs, Regional Transportation Planning Organization, and local governments. Other actions items may apply to outsourcing or adoption of public-private partnerships in order to reduce costs or encourage innovative delivery of services.

Implementation

The fourth step in the process is for the agency to follow through on the Action Plan that was developed in step three. This requires that agency upper management successfully secure the resources to perform the next steps identified through the CMF evaluation process, and provide the leadership required to drive those changes through the current agency culture and business processes.

The implementation task is difficult, in that it involves changing the current business processes and culture. This typically means changes to historical funding priorities and resource allocations. It also pushes staff to think and act differently than they have in the past. Changes always create resistance, and active, vocal support from upper management is needed to encourage these changes to take place.

Repeat Continuously

A key component of OPMM is continuous improvement. Thus, agencies adopting OPMM need to periodically repeat the four-step process described above. That is, they need reassess the status of their agency, determine where and how improvements can be made, identify the actions which both need to be take and can be taken, determine how to obtain the resources needed to undertake those actions, and then implement those actions.