Blueprint for Continuous Improvement
Summary
The Blueprint for Continuous Improvement is the Acquisition Directorate’s (CG-9’s) top-level strategic planning document for the Coast Guard’s acquisition enterprise. This plan is built around the framework developed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), published in 2008 as the Guidelines for Assessing the Acquisition Function. It aligns with the direction establish by the Mission Support organization, Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security and outlines the strategic direction for the Coast Guard’s acquisition enterprise in the years ahead.
Blueprint Structure
Version 5.0 of the Acquisition Directorate’s Strategic Plan builds on past success to move the organization toward a performance measurement and management structure. That restructuring lays the foundation for a balanced approach to quantitative and qualitative performance measures (or metrics) that will be benchmarked and assessed to gauge the health of critical elements of the acquisition enterprise in the years ahead.
The plan’s basic structure includes goals, objectives and performance measures (or metrics) that will help establish a baseline of performance and assess progress as the directorate moves forward. Adding to its functionality as a tool for managers, it will also include a full tactical action plan, with individual actions and tasks linked directly to achievement of performance measure targets. To support the deliberate, building block approach to development of goals, objectives, performance measures and tactical actions, Version 5.0 will be published in two phases. Phase one will include publication of the basic plan with all goals, objectives and performance measures. Phase two will include publication of the detailed tactical action plan as an appendix to the Blueprint.
Each performance measure in the plan is assigned to a manager—the office responsible for planning and tracking progress toward achieving the measure. Measure managers will develop detailed plans of actions and milestones (including specific tasks to be undertaken) to achieve measure targets and objectives.
Monitoring Progress
Progress toward the objectives in the plan will be reported at least quarterly to executive leaders, who will monitor completion of actions associated with measures and objectives in the tactical action plan. By linking each goal to objective and subsequent performance measures and tactical actions, the directorate will be able to effectively monitor progress toward accomplishing established goals.
Lessons learned from the Blueprint monitoring process will influence the continuation or documented replacement of specific metrics as the organization develops and builds upon baseline data for assessing and managing future performance.
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