To effectively achieve their core missions, federal agencies need to have the right people, a clear strategy and vision, and sufficient resources. But as budgets shrink and the scopes of missions expand, federal executives must find every opportunity to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs.

By sharing resources and services across common management and mission areas, otherwise known as “shared services,” federal agencies can leverage efficiencies of scale and improve the quality of their core operations by working within an entire department and, ideally, across departments.

This guide will focus on the Assessment Phase of implementing shared services at a federal agency. Through the 5 components of the Assessment Phase, agencies will develop a clear plan to lead them into the implementation of shared services.