Introduction
The programme “Developing Municipal Staff Competencies in Data Analysis” develops professional practice in Local Government and Municipalities. It connects the subject with workplace challenges by examining existing evidence and practices and choosing methods appropriate to the organization and its available resources.
The learning progresses from performance, competency, and individual development management to procedure analysis and work simplification, with practical work on municipal service development and city management, data analysis and decision support, public service development and policy outcomes. Participants prepare outputs to support workplace application and review the quality and results of implementation.
Learning objectives
- Build a performance agreement, feedback process, and development plan tied to specific gaps in an application related to “Developing Municipal Staff Competencies in Data Analysis”.
- Design a municipal service improvement connecting spatial planning, operations, and beneficiary experience.
- Turn available data into documented analysis that supports a specific professional decision.
- Analyze a public service and connect its improvement to beneficiary needs and accountability.
- Redesign a procedure to reduce delays and rework while maintaining controls.
Learning areas
1. Performance, Competency, and Individual Development Management
- Translate unit objectives into agreed individual results, specifying weights, success criteria, and sources of performance evidence.
- Define competencies using observable levels and behaviors, and connect assessment to role requirements without broad personal judgments.
- Conduct a follow-up discussion covering achievements, obstacles, and required support, and record facts and commitments professionally.
- Analyze performance gaps to distinguish causes related to skills, procedures, resources, and motivation, and select an intervention suited to the cause.
- Prepare a development plan with practical tasks, support, and review dates, and monitor the transfer of learning into actual work results. The application examines a case related to “Developing Municipal Staff Competencies in Data Analysis”.
2. Municipal Service Development and City Management
- Analyze municipal responsibilities, stakeholders, services, and local assets, and identify a measurable need within a clearly defined geographical area.
- Map a licensing or field service journey, review requirements and interagency handovers, and identify duplication, delays, and unclear responsibilities.
- Use spatial and operational data to prioritize work, checking update accuracy, boundaries, and the privacy of resident and establishment data.
- Design a municipal intervention connecting resources, contracts, operations, and community participation, and define acceptance and service quality criteria.
- Prepare indicators for coverage, responsiveness, cost, and beneficiary satisfaction, and a plan for piloting the intervention and reviewing its effects before expansion.
3. Data Analysis and Decision Support
- Frame an analytical question linked to a specific decision, and define the unit of measurement, time period, and data needed to answer it.
- Check data quality for completeness, accuracy, consistency, and duplication, and document cleaning steps and limitations on reliance.
- Select appropriate comparisons, indicators, and charts, and distinguish statistical correlation from causal explanations of results.
- Interpret results in the work context, test assumptions and unusual values, and present alternatives and their associated uncertainty.
- Prepare an analytical report containing the finding, recommendation, data source and date, review owner, and next follow-up step.
4. Public Service Development and Policy Outcomes
- Define the public value targeted by the service and its beneficiary groups, and review jurisdictional boundaries and responsibilities across agencies.
- Analyze the beneficiary journey, requirements, time, and access channels, and identify barriers affecting equity and ease of use.
- Collect the evidence needed to design service improvement options, distinguishing changes that require a procedural adjustment from those requiring a regulatory decision.
- Define indicators for outcomes, quality, efficiency, and beneficiary satisfaction, and mechanisms for receiving complaints and reviewing responses.
- Prepare a service initiative covering agency roles, resources, data controls, and a plan for piloting and monitoring achieved results.
5. Procedure Analysis and Work Simplification
- Define the procedure's start, end, owner, inputs, and outputs, and collect data on processing time, waiting, and rework.
- Map the actual workflow between roles, identifying approvals, handovers, bottlenecks, and duplicate data entry.
- Analyze the value added by each step and the controls it provides, and propose combining, removing, or running steps in parallel with reasons for the choice.
- Document the improved procedure with clear authorities, forms, timelines, and standards, and review its effects on beneficiaries and delivery teams.
- Test the procedure on a limited case, measure time, errors, and output quality, and document adjustments and the rollout plan.
Practical outputs
- A performance agreement card, individual development plan, and review session guide.
- A municipal service profile, needs map, intervention plan, and monitoring indicators.
- A dashboard and decision memo explaining the data, assumptions, and alternatives.
- A public service profile, stakeholder map, and improvement plan.
- An improved procedure map, service profile, and acceptance criteria for implementation.
Who should attend
- Practitioners, specialists and supervisors whose work relates to the programme subject.
- Managers and teams working in local government and municipalities, according to their practical responsibilities.
- Professionals responsible for applying the outputs of “Developing Municipal Staff Competencies in Data Analysis” within their organizations.
Prerequisites
- Working familiarity with the programme field and the ability to discuss a professional case or challenge.
- Confirm the suitability of your experience and any specialist prerequisites with the Union before participation.
Conclusion
The programme “Developing Municipal Staff Competencies in Data Analysis” brings together concepts, case review and a practical application. Participants prepare steps that can be adapted to their responsibilities and organizational resources, with an indicator to follow application and review results after returning to work.
Participation arrangements and any special requests are specified in the confirmation issued by the Union.