Governments can enjoy more cost efficient and streamlined operations by capitalizing on some of the prominent shifts in technological advancements.
In an age where technological advancements and increasing customer sophistication are occurring exponentially, for many organizations it’s a matter of ‘keep up or become obsolete’. Although public sector entities are not directly threatened by the risk of obsolescence, managing to ride the wave of some of these shifting trends could result in faster more streamlined services that significantly cost less, which ultimately make residents happier by leaps and bounds – so the question must be asked, what can public sector entities change about the way they operate to allow them to position themselves better for success, and capitalize on some of the key changes that are occurring in their immediate external environment?
Governments must be open to change
Governments are traditionally known to be risk averse, rigid in their approaches, and heavily reliant on assumptions formed from previous experiences. Governments must cease these tendencies and be open to being guided by the ever-changing user-needs, expectations, and technology.
The biggest hindrance that plagues public sector entities across the globe is a rigidity to adopting anything new, as changes are often refuted with the stance that argues that what has worked previously will work today so and therefore does not need to be changed. This is a result of Governments’ tendencies to be notoriously risk averse due to the highly pressurized environments with constraints at every turn. The inability to be open to working differently has a crippling effect on public sector entities, because not only are they not tapping into some of the efficiencies that can be unlocked within their operations, but they also have an outdated view on how their consumers live/interact/utilize technology, which can oftentimes uncover valuable opportunities to provide services that take citizens’ relationships with technology into account. In addition to being open to the shifting technologies, public sector entities must also adopt a more reactive approach to changing user needs, in order to let that dictate the types of services being offered, as opposed to thoughtlessly offering services which may or may not hit the mark. Thus, operating based on assumptions on what they believe the consumers want, with very little willingness to conduct research to know their customers better to identify what has changed, and what new needs and wants have risen. Governments are only now beginning to realize how making an effort to getting to know their communities better through engagement, co creation, having the right conversations, and being an active member of society can give way to delivering services which truly make a difference in people’s lives.
Governments must not jump to conclusions
Governments must resist the urge to prescribe costly, complex and intricate solutions to problems. But instead, take a moment to hypothesize, consult with experts, and thoroughly study the situation for better outcomes.
Public Sector entities often have an inclination to solve problems as fast as possible the moment they arise, in attempt to get it out of the way and move on. This way of working is misleading in that it gives the impression that progress is being made when instead it leaves the problem halfheartedly addressed. Instead, all problems should be thoughtfully and methodically analyzed from various angles before prescribing solutions that have worked in the past for remotely similar problems. Besides blindly prescribing solutions without diligent thought, public sector entities often have the urge to solve problems through proposing costly, impressively complex, and intricate solutions to service hiccups when perhaps a detailed study and analysis of the problem might have alluded to a more simplified solution. The aforementioned tendencies can be offset by having an approach to solving problems that involves first taking a step back and realizing that they may not have all the answers already, and the problem presented may be totally unique – in any case, it should be investigated to either confirm or reject that hypothesis. Further, they must be able to revert to the central piece that needs to be considered before attempting to develop a solution – the user! It all boils down to the user’s needs, and the entities must review, and validate that their understanding of their user needs are accurate. The entity must then attempt to solve the problem through a process of asking open questions, collaborating with experts, drafting iterations, and conclude the most suitable solution before refining it to be the best possible approach. Notwithstanding that this method of problem solving may be perceived to be risky in the view of the public sector, it ensures much more targeted problem solving for better outcomes – instead of attempting to hastily solve a multi layered conundrum which clearly needs a higher degree of attention, and a sound approach to breaking it down and referring to the relevant user needs to help guide the problem solving process.
Governments must engage the community
The governments can leverage the impressive wealth of experience within the private sector regarding latest technology trends through offering access to platforms and incubators to support them. This will help stimulate a symbiotic relationship between private and public sectors while stimulating economic growth.
In addition to developing a more refined approach to problem solving, and an openness to technological advancements – It is vital that public sector entities play a more pivotal role in society with regards to uplifting budding private companies to higher levels of success by supporting their growth, engaging with them, offering them platforms to test their products in collaborative, and innovative incubator spaces that are open to the public. Doing so not only empowers the society, and instills confidence in the way the public perceives the public sector, but it also ignites economic growth in that your society all of a sudden becomes an attractive place to work/live for international experts. This will ultimately facilitate synergy between the public, the entity, and technology because public sector entities can leverage some of the innovative technology that private companies are creating in their space, allowing for better engagement with the society, a stronger awareness of latest technological trends, and a clearer understanding of the problems citizens are mindful about, and their motivations for doing so. This novel approach to engaging with the community will not only refresh the minds of public sector entities, but it will also increase their exposure to the inner working of their community which will boost the entities capability to achieve their main responsibility of delivering service excellent to the public.