Improving Operational Delivery in Government: a Good Practice Guide for Senior Leaders

Summary

Government spends significant resources on delivering public services. In 2020-21, central government departments alone expected to spend £456 billion on the day-to-day running costs of public services, grants and administration. To get the best value from that spend, in the face of emerging operational challenges, government needs to be effective in how it manages and improves services.

This guide highlights principles of operational management – the specific skills and ways of working needed to translate policy intent into effective services for end users. Building on our previous analysis of government’s operational management capability, the guide describes the ‘whole-system’ approach needed for organisations to deliver outcomes together that they cannot achieve alone.

The guide shares insights on how to improve performance. We describe examples of good practice, even when all aspects of delivery may not have been perfect. We will continue to work with government to identify and share more good practice examples over time.