Greene County, Mo.
Greene County implemented and practices Open Book Management (OBM) and Jack Stack’s The Great Game of Business (GGOB), in an effort to create widespread financial literacy in the organization. The county had struggled in managing its resources across various departments. Specifically, the cash balance in the county’s general fund had waned in recent years. With a tax increase fix off the table, the county needed an alternative to increase its cash balance.
The Solution
- Improvement of communication within the organization
- Implementation of department-wide huddles once a week to update on current events, educate about financial literacy, and inspire attendees
- Monthly forecasting of revenues and expenditures with an open discussion environment
- Creation of MiniGames by the employees to find solutions to problems, explore opportunities, or create efficiencies in their process
- Embrace High Involvement Planning (HIP) sessions to plan for future obstacles or needs – we encourage public participation
- Engagement of the employees and citizens
- Establishment of the County’s Financial Advisory Board
- Formation of educational materials to promote financial literacy of the organization with complementary tools provided on the County Dashboard for employees and citizens
The Results
It had long been standard practice for the county to do forecasting only when it came to creating budgets for the coming year. But with the help of the GGOB, county employees have become apt at forecasting throughout the year as a way to make proactive rather than reactive decisions.
Regular huddle attendees have stepped up to take responsibility for sharing what they learn with others in their department. The county has also implemented a dashboard with the latest numbers on its website: greenecountymo.gov.
The team at Greene County continues to share their story and open book management experience with other governmental entities across the State.
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