Publication

Field forces: a service-orientated approach to programme management

Field forces are a popular method of delivering decentralised government programmes that aim to deliver services to local communities. At present, however, field forces work in a wide variety of ways, both in terms of the information they deliver to central government and the help they provide to local authorities. Not all are equally successful in either area.

By adopting a standardised, and strongly service oriented, approach to programme management, a department’s use of field forces can become far more effective, both at the level of individual programmes and across all programmes. With an approach like this, there is a clear definition of what is expected both of the field force and of the local authorities on every programme.

Our recommended programme management approach integrates three elements:

• a standardised programme management framework which is customised for each programme
• a standard support toolset (preferably software based and on-line) for all programmes
• a national support team for each programme (essentially the field force in a more rigorously defined, and service-oriented, role).

The more programmes that adopt the same approach, the easier it becomes for central government to ‘portfolio manage’; it can compare progress across programmes, and then reallocate resources and disseminate best practice across them.