“The practice of studying how to perform better and inserting those insights into the operational decision-making process, solving problems through performance management systems and the use of analyses, and creating a culture of accountability.”
Phoenix, Arizona
2023 Platinum Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities Certification
While many cities have stepped up their game with performance management in recent years, Phoenix stands apart for its thorough and transparent approach. The city manager’s office sets the tone. All 31 departments are expected to identify metrics to track their performance and continually refresh the data to yield timely views on how well they’re delivering. Departments aren’t on their own; data experts in the city’s Office of Innovation act as internal consultants to support them with implementation.
The most visible culmination of this work is the City Manager’s Performance Dashboard. This online resource offers a detailed yet clear way for residents to see how their local government is doing across more than 170 different measures. Users can drill down into six service areas, such as public safety, transportation & infrastructure, or neighborhoods & livability. Within each, they can see whether departments are hitting or missing their goals, look at how performance has been trending in recent years, and learn exactly what these datapoints mean. It’s rare for performance dashboards like this to be so comprehensive and well designed for public consumption — and it’s the result of an iterative process that continuously improves the dashboard over time based on feedback. The point of all this transparency: to enable residents to hold their leaders accountable for results.
City leaders use this performance data, too. It’s critical in deciding where improvements are necessary and anticipating impacts of budget changes. Performance management is also key to strategic planning around big priorities. For example, when Phoenix adopted a “Vision Zero” action plan to reduce traffic deaths, the plan included a series of 31 performance measures. Those benchmarks apply to a wide range of activities, from reducing red-light running to improving street lighting to creating safer routes to school. It’s meant to keep the many departments who share responsibility for road safety aligned around meeting a goal of zero traffic fatalities by 2050.
As artificial intelligence and other new tools creep into the data landscape, Phoenix is taking steps to document how these tools are being used and the risks involved. For example, the city partnered with researchers at Arizona State University to pilot smart traffic cameras that not only see congestion but collect data on the number of vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, and near misses.
Phoenix City Government Resources:
- City Manager’s Performance Dashboard
- Inventory of 150 indicators in the Performance Dashboard
- Form for user feedback on the Performance Dashboard