Precision Questioning & Answering for Auditors
CPEs - 3
Location - TBD
Date and time: Wednesday, March 3rd - 11:30-2:30 TBD
Cost: $15
Registration – Kymber.waltmunson@kingcounty.gov
A description of the training, generously offered for only the cost of materials by Vervago, follows:
About Precision Questioning+Answering
It used to be that smart was what you knew. Information was manageable, and problems usually developed at a controllable pace. But in today’s workplace, there is too much to know, and what we do know is changing rapidly. Our work now demands that we attack this complexity by asking questions that reveal assumptions and penetrate to the heart of the matter. Today smart is what you ask.
Yet there is often a gap between the precision of the questions in our minds, and the precision of the questions in our mouths. We want to ask, “What are the main risks to hitting your next milestone?” but instead we ask, “How’s the project going?” So we get the story of the project, not a bulleted list. This leads to information overload and high levels of inefficiency.
To do our work with the necessary intellectual rigor often requires both focused questions and crisp, concise answers. This workshop will introduce Precision Questioning and its sister skill, Precision Answering. Come get a taste for how these skills improve both our critical thinking and the effectiveness of our meetings and discussions.
How PQ+A Was Developed
Dennis Matthies developed the PQ+A methodology while working as an instructor at Stanford University. Demand for Dennis’ teachings in critical analysis spread from undergraduate and graduate classes to alumni association seminars and courses offered via the Stanford Instructional TV Network, where he first came into contact with executives in Silicon Valley. These executives wanted their employees both to ask questions that quickly drilled deep into the work and to give answers that concisely captured only the key details.
Who Uses PQ+A Today
Since 1995 over 27,000 people around the world have completed the PQ+A workshop. Nearly 20,000 of those people took it at Microsoft, where it remains the company’s most-requested workshop for intact teams. Cypress Semiconductor and Qualcomm have certified their own trainers so they can offer PQ+A internally. Vervago has also delivered PQ+A to clients in industries like accounting and health insurance. PQ+A develops a set of skills that benefit any organization looking to increase meeting efficiency and to improve decision-making processes.
Accountability in the Obama Administration: Implications from Practice
Friday, April 9, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Fairmont Hotel, San Jose, California
This symposium will compare and contrast the Obama administration's accountability initiatives with those of previous administrations. The focus will be on understanding new accountability developments, including the Obama Evaluation Initiative, against the backdrop of research about performance measurement, evaluation and other accountability measures adopted by previous administrations. Lessons learned from the practice of accountability and performance measurement as well as the likely effects of current accountability initiatives will be discussed.
Kathryn Newcomer George Washington University
| Keynote The Current Context for Performance Management in the Federal Government |
John Kamensky IBM Center for the Business of Government
| Obama’s Performance Management Plan |
Jeremy Hall University of Texas
| Performance Tracking of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Funds |
Maria Aristigueta University of Delaware
| Managing for Results in State Government: Institutionalizing Performance Management in Six States |
Kaifeng Yang Florida State University
| Federal Agency Performance Reporting Efforts and Employees’ Daily Work: 2002~2008 |
Jackie Nowicki Government Accountability Office
| Performance Budgeting: Past, Present and Future |
Marc Holzer Rutgers University | Keynote Obama and State Initiatives in Historical Perspective |
Robert Schwartz University of Toronto
| The Politics of Accountability Revisited |
Discussants
Cheryle Broom, County Auditor, King County Auditor's Office
Allen Lomax, Consultant
Andrew Murray, County of San Francisco, California
Jeff Tryens, Measures Matter
Kevin Woodhouse, City of Mountainview, California
REGISTRATION
http://www.aspanet.org/2010conference/page.cfm?name=itemdetail&id=NC10PROG/NC10_PD02
Note: Participants not planning to attend the ASPA conference are invited to register for the CAP Symposium only
Contact: Robert Schwartz, CAP Chair, Robert.Schwartz@utoronto.ca