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(Note: this is an example of the TBS Analyst Interview Guide)
Government Consulting Services (GCS) has been engaged by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) to conduct an evaluation of the Treasury Board (TB) submission process. The purpose of this evaluation is to examine if the process continues to be relevant, if the intended results of the process have been achieved, and whether it is cost-effective and any improvements could be made.
As part of the evaluation, GCS is conducting interviews with key stakeholders involved in the process. The goal of the interviews is examine how the process is being implemented, collect information to assess the success of the process, and identify possible process improvements.
The following questions will serve as a guide for our interview. In some cases, questions will not be relevant to your particular situation. The interviewers will focus on those questions relevant to you. Please note that the responses you provide will not be attributed to you in the evaluation report (only aggregate information will be released) or in any documentation provided to the responsible department. If you have any questions regarding the enclosed, please feel free to contact the GCS project manager, Susan Cole, at (613) 943-3401.
For the purpose of this evaluation, the TB submission process within TBS is defined by the following five steps.
The scope of the evaluation focuses only on "Part A" submissions and excludes "Part B" submissions.
1. What is your role and involvement with the TB submission process?
2. Based on your understanding, what are the TB submissions to be used for?
3. Do TBS analysts have a strong understanding of the elements of a TB submission, the policies and guidance related to TB submissions, and the TB submission process? If not, what would help improve their level of understanding?
4. In the past year, have you consulted any of the following material regarding the TB submission process? Did it help improve your understanding of the elements of TB submissions, policies, and TB submission process?
5. Are TBS analysts providing accurate, consistent, useful, and timely policy advice/interpretation in regards to TB submissions:
6. In general, do TBS analysts have the appropriate training and support to enable them to provide accurate, consistent, useful, and timely advice to federal organizations in regards to the TB submission process? If not, what is required?
7.
8. In the past year, how frequently have federal organizations sought exemptions and exclusions with their TB submissions? Please explain.
9. How would you characterize your relationship with the individuals in federal organizations who you interact with in regards to the TB submission process?
10. Does your program area have a review process in place to validate the advice provided by its analysts? If yes, please briefly describe this process.
11. Do you have confidence that the advice and consultation you provide is reflected in the final TB submission documents? Please explain.
12. Are you aware of the risk criteria applied to TB submissions?
13. Please describe the role of each stakeholder (federal organization and TBS) in the risk assessment process?
14. Do the risk criteria appropriately define the risks associated with TB submissions?
15. Are the risk criteria being applied consistently across TB submissions? Please explain.
16. In your view, in the past year, how has the risk rating associated with a submission influenced your program or policy division's response to it with regards to the process, due diligence, précis, etc.?
17. Has the quality of the submission documents being put forward to Treasury Board changed over the past five years? If yes, how so?
18. Are there mechanisms in place to ensure that TB decisions are carried out?
19. What is the process for tracking the conditions applied to approved submissions?
20. How are submission approvals filed for future reference?
21. Have there been any unexpected benefits or challenges related to the process? Please explain.
22. Is the submission process efficient?
23. Are you aware of the measures proposed by internal studies such as the 2003 internal audit of the TB submission process and the 2007 EXCO Retreat? Did you find that they helped to improve the efficiency or effectiveness of the program?
Some measures undertaken as a result of the 2003 audit include:
24. Do you have anything else to add?
25. Has the amount of legal contestation of TB submissions changed over the last few years? If so, how?
(Note: this is an example of the Federal Organization Interview Guide)
Government Consulting Services (GCS) has been engaged by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) to conduct an evaluation of the Treasury Board (TB) submission process. The purpose of this evaluation is to examine if the process continues to be relevant, if the intended results of the process have been achieved, and whether it is cost-effective and any improvements could be made.
As part of the evaluation, GCS is conducting interviews with key stakeholders involved in the process. The goal of the interviews is examine how the process is being implemented, collect information to assess the success of the process, and identify possible process improvements.
The following questions will serve as a guide for our interview. In some cases, questions will not be relevant to your particular situation. The interviewers will focus on those questions relevant to you. Please note that the responses you provide will not be attributed to you in the evaluation report (only aggregate information will be released) or in any documentation provided to the responsible department. If you have any questions regarding the enclosed, please feel free to contact the GCS project manager, Susan Cole, at (613) 943-3401.
For the purpose of this evaluation, the TB submission process within TBS is defined by the following five steps:
The scope of the evaluation focuses only on "Part A" submissions and excludes "Part B" submissions.
1. What is your role and involvement with the TB submission process?
2. Based on your understanding, what is the TB submission process to be used for? Are there other vehicles that might be more appropriate for these areas?
3. In the past year, have you consulted any of the following material regarding the submission process? Did it help improve your understanding of the elements of TB submissions, the policies and guidance related to TB submissions, and the TB submission process?
4. Do the TBS analysts you have been in contact with have a strong understanding of the elements of TB submissions, the policies and guidance related to TB submissions, and the TB submission process? If not, what would help improve their level of understanding?
5. When deciding whether a TB submission is required, do you consult a TBS analyst? Why or why not?
6. In the past year, how frequently has your organization sought exemptions and exclusions through TB submissions?
7. How would you characterize your relationship with TBS and the analysts that you interact with at TBS?
8. Once you submit a draft to TBS, to what extent is the advice and consultation provided by TBS on the draft accurate, consistent, useful, and timely?
9. Does TBS Legal Services provide advice consistent with your own organization's Legal Counsel?
10. To what extent do you incorporate the input TBS provides into the final version of the submission?
11. Are you aware of the risk criteria applied to TB submissions?
12. Please describe the role of each stakeholder (federal organizations and TBS) in the risk assessment process?
13. Do the risk criteria appropriately define the risks associated with TB submissions?
14. Has the quality of the submissions your organization puts forward to Treasury Board changed over the past five years?
15. Have there been any unexpected benefits or challenges related to the process? Please explain.
16. Is the submission process efficient?
17. Do you have anything else to add?
(Note: this is an example of the External Stakeholder Interview Guide)
Government Consulting Services (GCS) has been engaged by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) to conduct an evaluation of the Treasury Board (TB) submission process. The purpose of this evaluation is to examine if the process continues to be relevant, if the intended results of the process been achieved, and whether it is cost-effective and any improvements could be made.
As part of the evaluation, GCS is conducting interviews with key stakeholders involved in the process. The goal of the interviews is examine how the process is being implemented, collect information to assess the success of the process, and identify possible process improvements.
The following questions will serve as a guide for our interview. In some cases, questions will not be relevant to your particular situation. The interviewers will focus on those questions relevant to you. Please note that the responses you provide will not be attributed to you in the evaluation report (only aggregate information will be released) or in any documentation provided to the responsible department. If you have any questions regarding the enclosed, please feel free to contact the GCS project manager, Susan Cole, at (613) 943-3401.
For the purpose of this evaluation, the TB submission process within TBS is defined by the following five steps:
The scope of the evaluation focuses only on "Part A" submissions and excludes "Part B" submissions.
1. What is your familiarity with the TB submission process?
2. Based on your understanding, what is the TB submission process to be used for? Are there other vehicles that might be more appropriate for these areas?
3. Does the TB submission process contribute to ensuring that departmental/government management, programs, and spending are aligned with Government of Canada priorities? Please explain.
4. Are there any particular benefits or challenges related to the process?
5. Is the submission process efficient?
6. Do you have anything else to add?