Phase I Steps:

• Assign Executive Sponsor and Steering Committee
• Cabinet Department Initiative Review
• Executive Office Review
• Comprehensive Analysis

Step One: Assign executive sponsor and steering committee

This step gained the required oversight from the cabinet and executive office by naming a small planning workgroup.  The steering committee and executive sponsor were selected during a cabinet retreat, with Ms. Teresa Takai named the cabinet executive sponsor for this effort.  Additionally, the Governor’s Advisory Planning (GAP) Team was named and assigned responsibility for project completion. The steering committee consists of the following participants:

• Teri Takai, Director of Information Technology
• Genna Gent, Director of Communications
• Cali Mortenson, Analyst Public Policy
• Lynda Rossi, Chief of Staff (Lt. Governor's Office)
• Carol Steffanni, Director Strategic Policy (DIT)
• Lisa Webb Sharpe, Director Public Policy
• Chuck Wilbur, Deputy for Policy and Planning
• Mary Zatina, Chief of Staff (First Gentleman's Office)

Step Two: Cabinet Department Initiative Review

The Governor’s Advisory Planning (GAP) Team gathered existing planning materials, project plans, goals, etc. and guided the State of Michigan cabinet-level agencies through a series of information gathering efforts.  These efforts included capturing the top priority initiatives, expected outcomes, measures and metrics, and other details needed in the planning process.

Once departmental information was compiled, the GAP team performed a rapid assessment to identify departmental priority initiatives, inter-departmental or inter-governmental initiatives, high profile initiatives, and the timeline of each initiative.

Step Three: Executive Office Review

Governor Granholm’s executive staff developed descriptions of the “Issue Areas” and “Seven Roads” on which the executive office is focused.  The steering committee provided a list of mandated initiatives and measurable outcomes.  This input was used to compile the governor’s priorities for the next three years

Step Four: Comprehensive Analysis

The GAP Team then compiled and analyzed the data from cabinet departments and a preliminary alignment of current agency work activity to executive public policy statements (State of the State, Securing Michigan’s Future and the “Policy Action Book”).   The GAP Team determined how current efforts within the agencies highlight executive goals.  Furthermore the team identified synergies, potential conflicts, and concerns among the cabinet organizations.

The first priority was to determine how the activities of the agencies, as a group, aligned with the Governor’s issue areas.  The secondary focus was to analyze initiative dependency, synergies and potential conflicts.  To this end, initiatives were examined to determine where agencies were duplicating efforts, working together to exploit synergies, and how the governor and cabinet could work together to ensure the initiatives’ success.  Furthermore the GAP Team identified common areas of business significance, geographic coverage, and alignment to public policy commitments.