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• Board Meeting Date: 7/11/2007
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Reclamation-Managing for Excellence: Reclamation held the fifth in a series of
public meetings on Managing for Excellence in Denver on May 30-31. The focus of the
workshop was "rightsizing," under five conceptual organizational alternatives for the
assignment and more efficient management of Reclamation's workload. At present
technical work and expertise is spread across the area, program and regional offices, as
well as the Denver Technical Services Center (TSC).

There are four different action alternatives under consideration. Under the "enhanced
utilization" alternative, a Reclamation Design and Construction Coordination Team
(RECCT), as well as Resources Management and Development Work Group (RMWG),
would be created to improve resource utilization, transparency and accountability
without altering the current organizational structure. The resources of other regions
would be considered before outsourcing work through the area office. Under the
"corporate utilization" alternative, a corporate "coordination" group would be
responsible for all Reclamation's technical workflow and tracking costs, but otherwise
there would be no changes in organization-al structure, workplace locations or lines of
supervision. Best practices would be identified and shared to enhance efficiency and
effectiveness. All work would be performed under a "fee-for-service" model, which
could be similar to the present TSC model. The coordination group would also make
recommendations for when and where to fill vacated technical positions.

Under a "six centers" alternative, Reclamation's technical services would be
consolidated under its five regions, with the current TSC remaining unchanged. All
workload planning would be done collaboratively between the program office and
coordination group, with fee-for-service work distributed to the appropriate regional
service center. Most technical staff would remain in their present locations, but some
would report to supervisors in different offices (virtual reorganization). A team leader
would be identified to coordinate work within the service center, as well as coordinate
technical resources work with other service centers as needed and be the liaison with
the program office. Whereas staff now perform multiple technical and program
functions, "wearing multiple hats," work would be better matched with staff capability
and competence. Workload planning and distribution would be centralized, with
decentralized, regional operations.

Reclamation is also considering a "three centers" alternative that would further
consolidate and segregate technical resources, avoiding overlapping functions. A
virtual organization, technical staff would be located in many different geographic
locations, but all three centers would report to one "director," under the supervision of
the Deputy Commissioner for Operations. The centers would be organized by function,
discipline and expertise. One possible division of responsibilities would include a: (1)

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