a

GAO

United States General Accounting Office

Report to Congressional Requesters

January 2003 ARCHITECT OF THE 

CAPITOL

Management and 

Accountability 

Framework Needed 

for Organizational 

Transformation

GAO-03-231
AOC is an agency working to transform itself and has planned management 

improvement efforts, such as a new strategic planning process, to help it make 

this transition. GAO found that without AOC establishing a management and 

accountability framework, it might have difficulty leading and executing its 

organizational transformation. Leading organizations undergoing 

transformation efforts draw from the following management and accountability 

components: (1) demonstrating top leadership commitment to organizational 

transformation, (2) involving key stakeholders in developing an 

organizationwide strategic plan, (3) using the strategic plan as the foundation 

for aligning activities, core processes, and resources to support mission-related 

outcomes, (4) establishing a communications strategy to foster transformation 

and create shared expectations and build involvement, (5) developing annual 

goals and a system for measuring performance, and (6) managing human 

capital and information technology strategically to drive transformation and to 

support the accomplishment of agency goals. 

To support its transformation initiatives and to cope with shifting environments 

and evolving demands and priorities, AOC also should continue to develop its 

management infrastructure and controls. Establishing this management and 

accountability framework and further developing its management 

infrastructure and controls can also help AOC improve performance in program 

areas of long-standing concern to AOC’s employees and congressional 

stakeholders—worker safety, project management, and recycling. 

AOC’s mission is to preserve and enhance the Capitol and related 

facilities 

www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-231

To view the full report, including the scope 

and methodology, click on the link above. 

For more information, contact J. Christopher 

Mihm at (202) 512-6806 or mihmj@gao.gov. 

Highlights of GAO-03-231, a report to the 

Subcommittee on Legislative Branch, 

Senate Committee on Appropriations, and 

the Subcommittee on Legislative, House 

Committee on Appropriations 

January 2003

ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL 

Management and Accountability 

Framework Needed for Organizational 

Transformation 

The Office of the Architect of the 

Capitol (AOC) plays an important 

role in supporting the effective 

functioning of the Congress and its 

neighboring institutions. With a 

budget of $426 million, AOC is 

responsible for the maintenance, 

renovation, and new construction of 

all buildings and grounds within the 

Capitol Hill complex. GAO was 

mandated by the Legislative Branch 

Appropriations Act, 2002, to conduct 

a comprehensive management 

review of AOC’s operations to help 

identify improvements in strategic 

planning, organizational alignment, 

and strategic human capital 

management to help AOC better 

achieve its mission and to address 

long-standing program issues. To 

address these objectives, GAO 

reviewed AOC’s legislative authority 

and internal documents, interviewed 

key AOC officials and senior 

managers, and conducted employee 

focus groups. 

GAO recommends that AOC 

establish a strategic management 

and accountability framework, 

including strong management 

infrastructure and controls, to drive 

its agency transformation effort and 

to address long-standing program 

issues. 

AOC generally agreed with our 

recommendations and is developing 

a plan to implement them. 
Page i GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Contents

Letter 1

Executive Summary 3

Purpose 3

Background 4

Results in Brief 5

Principal Findings and Recommendations for Agency Action 6

Matters for Congressional Consideration 10

Agency Comments 11

Chapter 1

Introduction

12

Background 13

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 15

Chapter 2

Strategic Management 

Framework Needed to 

Achieve 

Transformation

19

AOC Needs to Undergo Organizational Transformation 19

Conclusions 35

Recommendations for Agency Action 36

Matters for Congressional Consideration 38

Agency Comments 38

Chapter 3

Management 

Infrastructure and 

Controls Needed to 

Support Organizational 

Transformation 

Initiatives

39

Standards for Internal Control Can Provide a Strong Foundation for 

Organizational Transformation 40

Strengthening Human Capital Policies, Procedures, 

and Processes 42

Continue Improving Financial Management to Support Program 

Management 47

AOC Could Benefit from an Agencywide and Disciplined Approach 

to IT Management 50

Conclusions 59

Recommendations for Agency Action 59

Agency Comments 62
Contents

Page ii GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Chapter 4

Strategic Management 

Framework Important 

for Addressing 

Long-standing Worker 

Safety, Project 

Management, and 

Recycling Issues

64

AOC’s Worker Safety Efforts Are Substantial, but AOC Needs to 

Develop a Strategic Approach to Achieve a Safer Workplace 65

Conclusions 78

Recommendations for Agency Action 79

AOC Has Identified Best Practices for Project Management, but 

Implementation Is Uneven 80

Conclusions 93

Recommendations for Agency Action 93

AOC Needs to Build on Current Efforts by Adopting a Strategic 

Approach to Recycling 94

Conclusions 102

Recommendations for Agency Action 102

Agency Comments 103

Appendixes

Appendix I: Employee and Supervisor Focus Groups—Objectives, Scope, 

and Methodology 104

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 104

Appendix II: Comments from the Office of the Architect of the Capitol 116

Appendix III: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgements 124

Tables Table 1: Federal Agencies with the Highest Injury and Illness Rates, 

Fiscal Years 1999 through 2001 65

Table 2: Components of an Effective Safety and Health Program 

and How They Are Demonstrated 67

Table 3: Ten Steps Identified by GSA for Best Administering a 

Recycling Program 98

Figures Figure 1: Strategic Plan for Aligning AOC’s Activities, Core 

Processes, and Resources to Support AOC’s 

Mission-Related Outcomes 23

Figure 2: AOC Workers’ Compensation Payments, Fiscal Years 

1997 through 2002 76

Figure 3: AOC Annual Appropriations for Capital Projects from 

Fiscal Years 1994 through 2003 81
Contents

Page iii GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Abbreviations

AOC Office of the Architect of the Capitol

BCA building condition assessment

CAA Congressional Accountability Act of 1995

CFO chief financial officer

COO chief operating officer

DOD Department of Defense

EAC Employee Advisory Council

EEO equal employment opportunity

GPRA Government Performance and Results Act

GSA General Services Administration

HRMD Human Resource Management Division

IT information technology

OAP Office of Attending Physician

OCODC Office of the Chief of Design and Construction

OIRM Office of Information Resource Management

OOC Office of Compliance

OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration

PHS Public Health Service

PIC Project Information Center

PMBOK A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge

PMI Project Management Institute

This is a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the 

United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without further 

permission from GAO. It may contain copyrighted graphics, images or other materials. 

Permission from the copyright holder may be necessary should you wish to reproduce 

copyrighted materials separately from GAO’s product.
Page 1 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

United States General Accounting Office

Washington, D.C. 20548

A

January 17, 2003 Letr

The Honorable Robert F. Bennett

Chairman

The Honorable Richard J. Durbin

Ranking Minority Member

Subcommittee on Legislative Branch

Committee on Appropriations

United States Senate

The Honorable Jack Kingston

Chairman

The Honorable James P. Moran

Ranking Minority Member

Subcommittee on Legislative

Committee on Appropriations

House of Representatives

In response to the management review of the Office of the Architect of the 

Capitol (AOC) mandated by the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 

2002, this report discusses (1) improvements in strategic planning, 

organizational alignment, and strategic human capital management that 

would help AOC better achieve its mission and accomplish its strategic 

goals, (2) actions that AOC can take in other key areas of its management 

infrastructure, such as financial and information technology management, 

to improve its performance and better accomplish its goals, and (3) best 

practices and specific improvements in three key program areas of longstanding concern to AOC’s congressional stakeholders and employees—

worker safety, project management, and recycling. This report contains 

recommendations to the Architect of the Capitol for establishing a strategic 

management and accountability framework, including strong management 

infrastructure and controls, to drive its agency transformation effort and to 

address long-standing program issues.
Page 2 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Please call me at (202) 512-6806 if you or your staff members have any 

questions concerning this report. Major contributors to this report are 

listed in appendix III.

J. Christopher Mihm

Director, Strategic Issues
Page 3 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Executive Summary

Purpose The Office of the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) plays an important role in 

supporting the effective functioning of the Congress and its neighboring 

institutions. With a budget of $426 million, AOC is responsible for the 

maintenance, renovation, and new construction of all buildings and 

grounds within the Capitol Hill complex, such as the Capitol building, the 

House and Senate office buildings, the Library of Congress, and the 

Supreme Court. The historic nature and high-profile use of many of these 

buildings creates a complex environment in which to carry out this 

mission. AOC must also perform its duties in an environment that requires 

balancing the divergent needs of congressional leadership, committees, 

individual members of the Congress, congressional staffs, and the visiting 

public. The challenges of operating in this environment were compounded 

by the events of September 11, 2001, and their aftermath, including the 

October 2001 discovery of anthrax bacteria on Capitol Hill, and the 

resulting need for increased security and safety. 

This review was mandated by the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 

2002.1

 Senate and House Appropriations Committee reports also asked 

GAO to help address certain management shortcomings at AOC that 

needed attention, with a focus on recommending solutions.2

 In April 2002, 

at the request of the Subcommittee on Legislative Branch, Senate 

Committee on Appropriations, GAO submitted a statement for the record 

for AOC’s appropriations hearing that outlined its preliminary observations 

on what AOC needed to do to improve its management. This report 

completes GAO’s review. This report discusses (1) improvements in 

strategic planning, organizational alignment, and strategic human capital 

management that would help AOC better achieve its mission and 

accomplish its strategic goals, (2) actions that AOC can take in other key 

areas of its management infrastructure, such as financial and information 

technology management, to improve its performance and better 

accomplish its goals, and (3) best practices and specific improvements in 

three key program areas of long-standing concern to AOC’s employees and 

congressional stakeholders—worker safety, project management, and 

recycling. This report also discusses actions taken to date by AOC and GAO 

recommendations for further enhancements. As mandated by the 

1

Section 129(d) of Pub. L. No. 107-68, Nov. 12, 2001.

2

Sen. Rep. No. 107-37 at 28, 29 (2001) and H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 107-148 at 73 (2001).
Executive Summary

Page 4 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2002, AOC is to develop a 

management improvement plan to address GAO’s recommendations.3

Background Organizationally, AOC is made up of a centralized staff that performs 

administrative functions and “jurisdictions” that handle their own day-today operations. These jurisdictions include the Senate Office Buildings, the 

House Office Buildings, the U.S. Capitol Buildings, the Library of Congress 

Buildings and Grounds, the Supreme Court Buildings and Grounds, the 

Capitol Grounds, the Capitol Power Plant, and the U.S. Botanic Garden. 

There are over 2,300 employees in AOC; nearly 1 out of every 3 employees 

is a member of a union. New requirements to meet long-standing labor and 

safety laws have added to the complexity of AOC operations. For example, 

the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (CAA) applied 11 civil rights, 

labor, and workplace laws to AOC as well as other legislative branch 

agencies.4

 CAA also requires AOC to meet standards set by the 

Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, which applied new life and fire 

safety codes, as well as other building codes, to the agency. 

Across the federal government, fundamental questions are being asked 

about what government does; how it does it; and in some cases, who 

should do the government’s business. The answers to these questions are 

driving agencies to transform their organizational cultures. AOC confronts 

many of these same issues. The experiences of successful major change 

management initiatives in large private and public sector organizations 

suggests that such initiatives can often take at least 5 to 7 years until they 

are fully implemented and the related cultures are transformed in a 

sustainable manner. To achieve such organizational transformation, 

agencies across the government will need to (1) elevate attention on 

management issues and transformation, (2) integrate various key 

management functions and transformation responsibilities, and

(3) institutionalize accountability for addressing management issues and 

leading transformation. 

3

Section 129(d) of Pub. L. No. 107-68, Nov. 12, 2001.

4

Pub. L. No. 104-1, Jan. 23, 1995.
Executive Summary

Page 5 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Results in Brief AOC has demonstrated a commitment to organizational transformation 

through the management improvements it has planned and under way, such 

as commencing a new strategic planning effort that focuses on developing 

mission-critical goals. To build upon this commitment and achieve the 

magnitude of change needed, AOC needs to establish a management and 

accountability framework as the centerpiece of its transformation efforts. 

This framework includes (1) demonstrating top leadership commitment to 

organizational transformation, (2) involving key congressional and other 

stakeholders in developing an AOC-wide strategic plan, (3) using the 

strategic plan as the foundation for aligning activities, core processes, and 

resources to support mission-related outcomes, (4) establishing a 

communications strategy to foster transformation and create shared 

expectations and build involvement, (5) developing annual goals and a 

system for measuring performance, and (6) strategically managing AOC’s 

human capital and information technology to drive transformation and to 

support the accomplishment of agency goals. 

To support its transformation initiatives and to cope with shifting 

environments and evolving demands and priorities, AOC also should 

continue to develop its management infrastructure and controls in the 

areas of human capital, financial, and information technology management. 

Establishing a management and accountability framework and further 

developing its management infrastructure and controls can also help AOC 

improve the performance of program areas of long-standing concern to 

AOC’s employees and congressional stakeholders—worker safety, project 

management, and recycling. 

The change under way at AOC will require further long-term and concerted 

action on the part of AOC, the Congress, and other interested parties. 

Organizational transformation does not come quickly or easily. However, 

such transformation is possible through focused efforts and careful and 

thorough planning. In that regard, GAO makes recommendations to the 

Architect of the Capitol, and suggests that the Congress consider actions 

directed at supporting this transformation and improving the strategic and 

operational management of AOC. In responding to this report, AOC 

generally agreed with our findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
Executive Summary

Page 6 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Principal Findings and 

Recommendations for 

Agency Action

Strategic Management 

Framework Needed to 

Achieve Transformation

AOC has demonstrated a commitment to organizational transformation 

through the management improvements it has planned and under way. AOC 

has recently (1) commenced a new strategic planning effort that focuses on 

developing mission-critical goals, (2) drafted congressional protocols 

patterned after GAO’s protocols, (3) conducted client surveys in the 

Capitol, House, Senate, and Library of Congress jurisdictions, and 

(4) implemented a senior executive performance evaluation system. 

To better serve the Congress, central AOC management needs to build the 

capability to define goals, set priorities, ensure follow-through, monitor 

progress, and establish accountability for results. Therefore, as a first 

priority, AOC needs to establish a management and accountability 

framework to help it lead and execute such organizational transformation. 

This framework includes (1) demonstrating top leadership commitment to 

organizational transformation, (2) involving key congressional and other 

stakeholders in developing an AOC-wide strategic plan, (3) using the 

strategic plan as the foundation for aligning activities, core processes, and 

resources to support mission-related outcomes, (4) establishing a 

communications strategy to foster transformation and create shared 

expectations and build involvement, (5) developing annual goals and a 

system for measuring performance, and (6) strategically managing AOC’s 

human capital to support the accomplishment of agency goals. 

Making such fundamental changes in AOC’s culture will require a longterm, concerted effort. Given the nature and scope of changes needed and 

under way at AOC, it can demonstrate that progress is being made along 

the way by establishing action-oriented implementation goals over the long 

term, and a time line with milestone dates to track the organization’s 

progress towards those achieving those implementation goals.

To implement the management and accountability framework, GAO found 

that AOC needs to (1) elevate attention on management issues and 

organizational transformation, (2) integrate various key management and 

transformation efforts, and (3) institutionalize accountability for 

addressing management issues and leading organizational transformation. 
Executive Summary

Page 7 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

To adopt the elements of the management and accountability framework—

strategic planning, organizational alignment, communications, 

performance measurement, and strategic human capital management—and 

build on efforts under way at AOC, GAO recommends that the Architect of 

the Capitol

• improve strategic planning and organizational alignment by involving 

key congressional and other external stakeholders in AOC’s strategic 

planning efforts and in any organizational changes that may result from 

these efforts;

• develop a comprehensive strategy to improve internal and external 

communications by completing the development of congressional 

protocols with stakeholder involvement and continuing to regularly 

measure customer satisfaction AOC-wide, among other strategies; and

• strengthen accountability for results by developing annual goals, 

measuring performance, and strategically managing human capital to 

support achieving those goals and measures. 

The Architect should work with key congressional and other stakeholders 

to develop this plan.

Management Infrastructure 

and Controls Needed to 

Support Transformation 

Initiatives

The effectiveness with which AOC can use the management and 

accountability framework—leadership, strategic planning, organizational 

alignment, communications, performance measurement, and strategic 

human capital management—to achieve organizational transformation will 

depend in part on its ability to focus on management improvement in its 

day-to-day operations. A key factor in helping an agency to better achieve 

its mission and program outcomes and minimize operational problems is to 

implement appropriate internal control—or management controls. 

Effective internal control also helps in managing change to cope with 

shifting environments and evolving demands and priorities. 

AOC has recently focused on improving its internal controls in a number of 

key areas: (1) improved budget formulation and execution processes, 

(2) begun preparations for producing auditable financial statements, and 

(3) begun drafting a policy to establish an agencywide approach to 

information technology management. AOC must continue to assess and 

evaluate its internal control to assure that the control activities being used 
Executive Summary

Page 8 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

are effective and updated when necessary in the areas of human capital, 

financial, and information technology management. 

GAO found that AOC will need to further develop and consistently apply 

transparent human capital policies and procedures in the area of leave, 

awards, and overtime and examine discrepancies in job classification and 

pay levels across the agency. AOC must also continue improving its 

approach to financial management to support effective and efficient 

program management. For example, it must continue to develop and 

implement effective budget formulation and execution policies and 

procedures that govern capital projects and operating activities AOC-wide. 

Finally, AOC will need to adopt an agencywide approach to information 

technology management to position itself to optimize the contribution of 

information technology to agency mission performance.

To continue to develop a management infrastructure and strengthen 

appropriate management controls, GAO recommends that the Architect of 

the Capitol

• strengthen and consistently implement AOC’s human capital policies 

and procedures, and assess ways in which AOC management could 

better gather and analyze data on employee relations issues; 

• continue to improve AOC’s approach to financial management by 

developing strategies to institutionalize financial management practices 

that will support budgeting, financial, and program management at AOC; 

and 

• adopt an agencywide approach to information technology management 

by establishing appropriate leadership and developing the policies, 

procedures, and tools needed to effectively and efficiently manage 

information technology resources across the agency. 

Strategic Management 

Framework Important for 

Addressing Long-standing 

Worker Safety, Project 

Management, and Recycling 

Program Issues

The need for AOC to put in place the management and accountability 

framework for organizational transformation, and the management 

infrastructure of financial, information technology, and other controls that 

support the transformation, cuts across the agency’s programs and 

influences its performance in all areas critical to achieving its mission. 

Improvements in these areas can also contribute to improving the 

performance of program areas of long-standing concern to AOC’s 
Executive Summary

Page 9 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

employees and congressional stakeholders—worker safety, project 

management, and recycling. 

AOC has made recent progress in all these areas. For example, AOC has 

(1) drafted a workplace safety and health master plan, (2) consulted with 

experts on how to structure its request for proposals for developing a longterm master plan for the Capitol Hill complex, and (3) improved recycling 

program coordination and client outreach.

However, significant opportunities exist to build on this progress to bring 

about lasting performance improvements. For example, the Architect has 

declared that safety is the agency’s number one priority and established a 

target for reducing injuries. Nonetheless, relating safety to other pressing 

priorities and developing a clear strategy for how working safely will 

become the cultural norm, is still a work in progress at AOC. Similarly, AOC 

has adopted industry best practices for project management, but 

implementation is uneven and would benefit from stronger leadership and 

improvements in performance and financial management, priority setting, 

communication, and strategic management of human capital. Finally, 

although AOC has recently made improvements to the House and Senate 

recycling programs, contamination of recycled materials remains high, and 

the goals for the overall program remain unclear.

To improve worker safety, GAO recommends that the Architect of the 

Capitol enhance AOC’s ongoing efforts to establish a strategy for the 

worker safety program by 

• establishing safety program goals that are fully integrated with AOC’s 

agencywide goals, performance measures for achieving the goals, and 

accountability for results;

• improving AOC’s capacity to report hazards, conduct investigations and 

follow-up, and provide employee safety training that fully supports 

safety program goals;

• clarifying the role of the Congressional Office of Attending Physician to 

help AOC meet its safety goals; and 

• establishing a senior management-level work group that will routinely 

discuss workers’ compensation cases and costs, and developing 

strategies to reduce these injuries and costs.
Executive Summary

Page 10 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

To improve project management at AOC, GAO recommends that the 

Architect of the Capitol 

• develop a Capitol Hill complex master plan and complete condition 

assessments of all buildings and facilities under the jurisdiction of AOC;

• develop a process for assigning project priorities that is based on clearly 

defined, well-documented, consistently applied, and transparent 

criteria;

• develop tools to effectively communicate priorities and progress of 

projects, as a part of a broader communication strategy;

• define project management-related performance measures to achieve 

mission-critical strategic and annual performance goals; and

• align project management staff and resources with AOC’s missioncritical goals.

To improve recycling at AOC, GAO recommends that the Architect of the 

Capitol adopt a strategic approach to recycling by

• developing a clear mission and goals for AOC’s recycling program, with 

input from key congressional stakeholders, as part of its proposed 

environmental master plan;

• developing a performance measurement, monitoring, and evaluation 

system that supports accomplishing AOC’s recycling mission and goals; 

and

• examining the roles, responsibilities, and accountability of AOC’s 

recycling program staff.

Matters for 

Congressional 

Consideration

The Congress should consider ways in which to elevate, integrate, and 

institutionalize accountability for addressing management issues and 

leading organizational transformational at AOC. One option would be to 

create a statutory Chief Operating Officer or similar position for AOC to 

improve its executive decision-making capacity and accountability.
Executive Summary

Page 11 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

To help ensure that AOC implements its management improvement plan, 

the Congress should consider requiring AOC to provide periodic status 

reports on the implementation of its plan, including progress made and 

milestones not met, and any adjustments to the plan in response to internal 

or external developments.

Agency Comments On November 20, 2002, we provided to the Architect of the Capitol a draft 

of this report for comment. We received written comments from the 

Architect, which are reprinted in appendix II. AOC also provided technical 

comments that were incorporated where appropriate. 

In his written comments, the Architect stated that he is “dedicated to 

preserving and enhancing the national treasures entrusted to my agency’s 

care, and to providing high quality service to the Congress and our other 

clients.” He further stated “the GAO testimony provided in April 2002 and 

our discussions with GAO regarding the report resulted in our advancing 

improvement efforts at the [AOC].” The Architect generally agreed with our 

findings, conclusions, and recommendations and indicated that AOC is 

developing an implementation plan to adopt recommended management 

changes and that three themes—strategic planning, communications, and 

performance management—will be the primary focus of its immediate 

efforts. The Architect disagreed with our statement that AOC’s 5-year 

Safety Management Plan was drafted independent of its broader strategic 

planning effort. Although we believe that this statement was true at the 

time of our review, AOC has subsequently made efforts to improve the 

alignment between its draft strategic and worker safety plans. Therefore, 

we deleted this statement.
Page 12 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Chapter 1

Introduction Chapte1r

The Office of the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is responsible for 

maintaining and caring for the buildings and grounds primarily located in 

the Capitol Hill complex, such as the Capitol building, the House and 

Senate office buildings, the Library of Congress, and the Supreme Court. 

AOC is also responsible for making all necessary capital improvements 

within the complex, including major renovations and new construction. 

The historic nature and high-profile use of many of these buildings creates 

a complex environment in which to carry out this mission. For example, 

the U.S. Capitol building is, at once, a national capitol, museum, office 

building, ceremonial site, meeting center, media base, and tourist 

attraction. In making structural or other physical changes, AOC must 

consider the historical significance and the effect on each of these many 

uses. Further, AOC must perform its duties in an environment that requires 

balancing the divergent needs of congressional leadership, committees, 

individual members of the Congress, congressional staffs, and the visiting 

public. The challenges of operating in this environment were compounded 

by the events of September 11, 2001, and their aftermath, including the 

October 2001 discovery of anthrax bacteria on Capitol Hill, and the 

resulting need for increased security and safety. 

Given the important role AOC plays in supporting the effective functioning 

of the Congress and neighboring institutions, the Legislative Branch 

Appropriations Act, 2002, mandated this review, 1 and Senate and House 

Appropriations Committee reports directed our review on certain 

management shortcomings at AOC that needed attention, with a focus on 

recommending solutions—strategic planning, organizational alignment, 

strategic human capital management, and financial management.2

 The 

committees also asked us to assess information technology, and three key 

program areas—worker safety, recycling, and project management—both 

to illustrate the management issues we are addressing and to help AOC 

identify best practices and areas for improvement in these important 

programs. This report also discusses actions taken to date by AOC and our 

recommendations for further enhancements. In April 2002, at the request of 

the Subcommittee on Legislative Branch, Senate Committee on 

Appropriations, we submitted a statement for the record for AOC’s 

appropriations hearing that outlined our preliminary observations on what

1

Section 129(d) of Pub. L. No. 107-68, Nov. 12, 2001.

2

Sen. Rep. No. 107-37 at 28, 29 (2001), and H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 107-148 at 73 (2001).
Chapter 1

Introduction

Page 13 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

AOC needed to do to improve its management.3 This report completes our 

review. The act also requires AOC to develop a management improvement 

plan to address our recommendations.4

We recognize that this report outlines a large and complex agenda for 

achieving organizational transformation at AOC, and that AOC cannot 

tackle all these changes at once. The experiences of successful major 

change management initiatives in large private and public sector 

organizations suggest that such initiatives can often take at least 5 to 7 

years until they are fully implemented and the related cultures are 

transformed in a sustainable manner. Nonetheless, this agenda provides the 

broad landscape of issues confronting AOC and is therefore important to 

crafting a comprehensive and integrated approach to addressing AOC’s 

challenges and setting appropriate priorities, even though by necessity it 

will have to be phased in over time. By drawing on the full potential of its 

management team, AOC can begin to take immediate steps on a number of 

actions, although we recognize that AOC will be able to implement some of 

these actions more quickly than others.

Background In fiscal year 2002, AOC operated with a budget of $426 million, which 

included $237 million for capital expenditures associated with the 

construction or major renovation of facilities within the Capitol Hill 

complex. Organizationally, AOC has a centralized staff that performs 

administrative functions; what AOC refers to as “jurisdictions” handle their 

own day-to-day operations. These jurisdictions include the Senate Office 

Buildings, the House Office Buildings, the U.S. Capitol Buildings, the 

Library of Congress Buildings and Grounds, the Supreme Court Buildings 

and Grounds, the Capitol Grounds, the Capitol Power Plant, the U.S. 

Botanic Garden. There are over 2,300 employees in AOC; nearly 1 out of 

every 3 employees is a member of a union.

New requirements to meet long-standing labor and safety laws have added 

to the complexity of AOC operations. For example, the Congressional 

3

U.S. General Accounting Office, Architect of the Capitol: Management and Accountability 

Framework Needed to Lead and Execute Change, GAO-02-632T (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 17, 

2002).

4

Section 129(d) of Pub. L. No. 107-68, Nov. 12, 2001.
Chapter 1

Introduction

Page 14 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Accountability Act of 1995 (CAA) applied 11 civil rights, labor, and 

workplace laws to AOC as well as other legislative branch agencies. 5 In 

particular, meeting the obligations of labor laws, such as the Fair Labor 

Standards Act of 1938 and the Federal Service Labor-Management 

Relations Statute, while overcoming a history of poor labor-management 

relations has been a struggle. CAA also requires AOC to meet standards set 

by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, which applied new life 

and fire safety codes, as well as other building codes, to the agency. CAA 

established the Office of Compliance (OOC) to enforce the provisions of 

the act through inspections, investigations, and prosecution of potential 

violations. In addition, OOC provides education to employees and 

employing offices, and administers dispute resolution procedures if 

violations are found.

AOC has demonstrated a commitment to change through the management 

improvements it has planned and under way. For example, consistent with 

the preliminary observations we provided in our April statement, AOC has 

recently

• commenced a new strategic planning effort that focuses on developing 

mission-critical goals,

• drafted congressional protocols patterned after our protocols,

• conducted client surveys in the Capitol, House, Senate, and Library of 

Congress jurisdictions,

• implemented a senior executive performance evaluation system,

• improved budget formulation and execution processes,

• begun preparations for producing auditable financial statements,

• begun drafting a policy to establish an agencywide approach to 

information technology management,

• drafted a workplace safety and health master plan,

5

Pub. L. No. 104-1, Jan. 23, 1995.
Chapter 1

Introduction

Page 15 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

• consulted with experts on how to structure its request for proposals for 

developing a long term master plan for the Capitol Hill complex, and

• improved recycling program coordination and client outreach.

Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

The Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2002, directed us to conduct a 

comprehensive management study of AOC’s operations. Under this 

mandate, we address three objectives: (1) What improvements in strategic 

planning, organizational alignment, and strategic human capital 

management would help AOC better achieve its mission and accomplish its 

strategic goals? (2) What actions can the AOC take to improve its overall 

management infrastructure in other key functional areas, such as financial 

management and information technology management, to improve its 

performance and better accomplish its goals? (3) What specific 

improvement can AOC make in selected program areas, including worker 

safety, project management, and recycling, vital to achieving its mission? 

To address these objectives, we have been working constructively with 

AOC managers to understand their complex operating environment and the 

long-standing challenges they must address. In addition to the standard 

audit methods described below, as part of our constructive engagement, we 

provided AOC briefings and GAO reports on best practices in the areas we 

reviewed. For example, at AOC’s request, GAO officials provided briefings 

on our own approach to strategic planning and establishing congressional 

protocols along with copies of our strategic planning and protocol 

documents. In addition, we provided GAO reports on areas such as 

strategic human capital management6

 and world-class financial 

management7

 and other guidance on GAO’s human capital policies and 

procedures. Finally, upon request we provided details of our focus group 

methodology discussed below to assist AOC in replicating our approach in 

AOC jurisdictions we did not cover.

6

U.S. General Accounting Office, A Model of Strategic Human Capital Management, 

Exposure Draft, GAO-02-373SP (Washington, D.C.: March 2002).

7

U.S. General Accounting Office, Executive Guide: Creating Value Through World-class 

Financial Management, GAO/AIMD-00-134 (Washington, D.C.: April 2000).
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Page 16 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

For each of the management functions and the worker safety and health, 

recycling, and project management programs, we reviewed AOC’s 

legislative authority and internal AOC documents, including selected AOC 

policies and procedures, internal and consultant reports on AOC 

management issues, reports by the Inspector General and GAO, and other 

reports on best practices.

To obtain management’s perspective on the objectives, we interviewed key 

senior AOC officials, including the Architect; the Chief of Staff; the 

Assistant Architect; the Chief Financial Officer; the General Counsel; the 

Deputy Chief of Staff; the Director of Safety, Fire, and Environmental 

Programs; the Director of the Office of Labor Relations; and the Acting 

Chief of the Office of Design and Construction. We also interviewed AOC 

officials at the next level of management responsible for strategic planning, 

human resources, information technology, budget, accounting, project 

management, architecture, engineering, construction, and recycling. We 

also spoke to senior AOC managers and toured facilities in the following 

AOC jurisdictions: U.S. Capitol Building, House Office Building, Senate 

Office Buildings, Library Buildings and Grounds, Supreme Court, Capitol 

Power Plant, and the U.S. Botanic Garden. We interviewed the Inspector 

General to discuss the work his office had done on the management areas 

we reviewed.

In addition to formal interviews, AOC allowed us to attend as observers a 

number of key internal meetings, including two budget review meetings on 

budget formulation and execution progress and issues for two 

jurisdictions, three quarterly capital project review meetings to discuss the 

status of AOC projects, an August 2002 National Academy of Sciences 

workshop to discuss Capitol Hill complex-wide master planning efforts, 

and a June 2002 workshop by DuPont Safety Resources on strategies for 

safety excellence.

To obtain additional perspectives on the areas examined as part of our 

review and as an initial effort to support AOC planned efforts to begin to 

routinely obtain employee feedback, we used focus groups to gather 

employee and supervisor perceptions, opinions, and attitudes about 

working at AOC. For our focus groups at AOC, we were interested in 

obtaining (1) employees’ views of what aspects of working at AOC were 

going well or needed improvement, (2) whether employees had the 

resources needed to perform their jobs, and (3) employees’ perspectives on 

AOC’s worker safety program. We contracted with the firm of 

Booz|Allen|Hamilton to conduct the focus groups and summarize and 
Chapter 1

Introduction

Page 17 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

analyze the results. We conducted 13 of these focus groups with employees 

randomly selected from the House and Senate Office Building jurisdictions, 

Capitol Power Plant, Senate Restaurants, and the Construction 

Management Division. We selected employees from these parts of AOC in 

accord with our specific review areas of worker safety and project 

management and also because they contained some of the largest 

employee populations. The other two focus groups consisted of randomly 

selected employee supervisors from the House and Senate jurisdictions. In 

all, we invited 200 employees to attend 15 focus groups and 127 employees 

participated. 

To obtain a better understanding of project management at AOC, we also 

conducted a focus group with full-time AOC project managers. For the 

focus group, we asked about what is working well at the AOC in project 

management and where there might be areas for improvement. We also 

discussed (1) the project management process at AOC, (2) the project 

management environment, and (3) resources and tools used in performing 

project management duties at AOC. We invited 14 project managers and 8 

attended. A more detailed discussion of our focus group objectives, scope, 

and methodology, including a list of our focus group questions is contained 

in appendix I.

To further understand how project management works at AOC, we 

conducted two in-depth case studies of projects currently under way—the 

relocation of the Senate Recording Studio and the modernization of the 

coal handling system at the Capitol Power Plant. We selected these case 

studies using the following criteria: both were drawn from AOC’s “hot”—or 

high priority—projects, one was a medium project and one was a large 

project, and one had a project manager from the central Assistant 

Architect’s office and the other from a jurisdiction. In addition both 

projects were on a critical path to the completion of other high priority 

AOC projects. Our methodology entailed reviewing relevant project 

documents as well as interviewing key internal and external stakeholders 

for the projects.

On November 20, 2002, we provided to the Architect of the Capitol a draft 

of this report for comment. We received written comments from the 

Architect. The Architect’s comments are reprinted in appendix II. AOC also 

provided technical comments that were incorporated where appropriate. 
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Introduction

Page 18 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

In his written comments, the Architect stated that he is “dedicated to 

preserving and enhancing the national treasures entrusted to my agency’s 

care, and to providing high quality service to the Congress and our other 

clients.” He further stated “the GAO testimony provided in April 2002 and 

our discussions with GAO regarding the report resulted in our advancing 

improvement efforts at the [AOC].” The Architect generally agreed with our 

findings, conclusions, and recommendations and indicated that AOC is 

developing an implementation plan to adopt recommended management 

changes and that three themes—strategic planning, communications, and 

performance management—will be the primary focus of its immediate 

efforts. The Architect disagreed with our statement that AOC’s 5-year 

Safety Management Plan was drafted independent of its broader strategic 

planning effort. Although we believe that this statement was true at the 

time of our review, AOC has subsequently made efforts to improve the 

alignment between its draft strategic and worker safety plans. Therefore, 

we deleted this statement. We performed our work in Washington, D.C., 

from November 2001 through September 2002 in accordance with generally 

accepted government auditing standards.

Major contributors to this report are listed in appendix III.
Page 19 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Chapter 2

Strategic Management Framework Needed to 

Achieve Transformation Chapte2r

The Office of the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) recognizes that because of 

the nature of the challenges and demands it faces, change will not come 

quickly or easily. AOC therefore must ensure that it has the policies, 

procedures, and people in place to effectively implement the needed 

changes. That is, to serve the Congress, central AOC management needs 

the capability to define goals, set priorities, ensure follow-through, monitor 

progress, and establish accountability. The themes we discuss in this 

chapter focus on building the capability to lead and execute organizational 

transformation. Therefore, as a first priority, AOC needs to establish a 

management and accountability framework by, among other things,

• demonstrating top leadership commitment to organizational 

transformation; 

• involving key congressional and other stakeholders in developing its 

strategic plan; 

• using its strategic plan as the foundation for aligning its activities, core 

processes, and resources to support mission-related outcomes;

• establishing a communications strategy to foster change and create 

shared expectations and build involvement; 

• developing annual goals and a system for measuring performance; and

• strategically managing its human capital to drive transformation and to 

support the accomplishment of agency goals. 

AOC Needs to Undergo 

Organizational 

Transformation

Across the federal government, fundamental questions are being asked 

about what government does; how it does it; and in some cases, who 

should do the government’s business. The answers to these questions are 

driving agencies to transform their organizational cultures. This 

organizational transformation entails shifts from

• processes to results,

• stovepipes to matrixes,

• hierarchical to flatter and more horizontal structures,

• an inward focus to an external (customer and stakeholder) focus,
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Page 20 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

• micro-management to employee empowerment,

• reactive behavior to proactive approaches,

• avoiding new technologies to embracing and leveraging them,

• hoarding knowledge to sharing knowledge,

• avoiding risk to managing risk, and

• protecting turf to forming partnerships.

AOC confronts many of these same issues. For example, to serve its clients, 

AOC is organized along jurisdictional lines—stovepipes that are not fully 

matrixed. In this environment, AOC faces the challenge of how best to 

marshal its jurisdiction-based resources to address the strategic planning, 

performance management, human capital, project management, and other 

functional issues that cut across the organization. AOC also faces the 

challenge of how to shift from reacting to problems as they arise to getting 

in front of the problems to address root causes, while still responding to 

the day-to-day service needs of its clients. Change is always risky, but 

continuing to address problems with only short-term tactical solutions can 

be even riskier—AOC needs to develop the capacity to identify the risks to 

achieving its goals and manage them before crises occur.

Making such fundamental changes in AOC’s culture will require a longterm, concerted effort. The experiences of successful major change 

management initiatives in large private and public sector organizations 

suggests that such initiatives can often take at least 5 to 7 years until they 

are fully implemented and the related cultures are transformed in a 

sustainable manner. As a result, it is essential to establish action-oriented 

implementation goals over the long term and a time line with milestone
Chapter 2

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Page 21 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

dates to track the organization’s progress towards achieving those 

implementation goals.1

The nature and scope of the changes require the sustained and inspired 

commitment of the top leadership. Top leadership attention is essential to 

overcome organizations’ natural resistance to change, marshal the 

resources needed to implement change, and build and maintain the 

organizationwide commitment to new ways of doing business. On 

September 9, 2002, the Comptroller General convened a roundtable of 

executive branch leaders and management experts to discuss the Chief 

Operating Officer concept and how it might apply within selected federal 

departments and agencies as one leadership strategy to address certain 

systemic federal governance challenges.2

 There was general agreement in 

the roundtable on a number of overall themes concerning the need for 

agencies to do the following:

• Elevate attention on management issues and organizational 

transformation. The nature and scope of the changes needed in many 

agencies require the sustained and inspired commitment of the top 

political and career leadership.

• Integrate various key management functions and transformation 

responsibilities. While officials with management responsibilities often 

have successfully worked together, there needs to be a single point 

within agencies with the perspective and responsibility—as well as 

authority—to ensure the successful implementation of functional 

management and, if appropriate, transformation efforts.

• Institutionalize accountability for addressing management issues and 

leading transformation. The management weaknesses in some agencies 

1

For GAO products discussing the elements of successful transformation in more detail, see 

U.S. General Accounting Office, Highlights of a GAO Forum on Mergers and 

Transformation: Lessons Learned for a Department of Homeland Security and Other 

Federal Agencies GAO-03-293SP (Washington, D.C.: November 14, 2002), Homeland 

Security: Critical Design and Implementation Issues, GAO-02-957T (Washington, D.C.: 

July 17, 2002), Managing for Results: Using Strategic Human Capital Management to 

Drive Transformational Change, GAO-02-940T (Washington, D.C.: July 15, 2002), and FBI 

Reorganization: Initial Steps Encouraging but Broad Transformation Needed, GAO-02-

865T (Washington, D.C.: June 21, 2002).

2

U.S. General Accounting Office, Highlights of a GAO Roundtable: The Chief Operating 

Officer Concept: A Potential Strategy to Address Federal Governance Challenges, GAO-03-

192SP (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 4, 2002).
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Page 22 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

are deeply entrenched and long-standing and will take years of 

sustained attention and continuity to resolve. In addition, making 

fundamental changes in agencies’ cultures will require a long-term 

effort.

In our April 2002 statement, we noted that we were exploring options to 

strengthen AOC’s executive decision-making capacity and accountability, 

including creating a Chief Operating Officer (COO) position, which could 

be responsible for major long-term management and cultural 

transformation and stewardship responsibilities within AOC. On July 25, 

2002, the Senate passed S.2720, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 

2003, in which it established a Deputy Architect of the Capitol/COO. This 

official was to be responsible for the overall direction, operation, and 

management of AOC. In addition to developing and implementing a longterm strategic plan, including a comprehensive mission statement and an 

annual performance plan, the bill requires that the Deputy Architect be 

responsible for proposing organizational changes and new positions 

needed to carry out AOC’s mission and strategic and annual performance 

goals. Regardless of whether the Congress decides to pursue a COO 

position for AOC, concerted efforts will be needed to elevate, integrate, and 

institutionalize responsibility for transformation at AOC.

Successful Organizations 

Align Their Activities, Core 

Processes, and Resources to 

Support Mission-Related 

Outcomes

In our prior work, we have concluded that for strategic planning to be done 

well, organizations must involve their stakeholders and align their 

activities, core processes, and resources to support mission-related 

outcomes. We found that leading results-oriented organizations 

consistently strive to ensure that their day-to-day activities support their 

organizational missions and move them closer to accomplishing their 

strategic goals. In practice, these organizations see the production of a 

strategic plan—that is, a particular document issued on a particular day—

as one of the least important parts of the planning process. This is because 

they believe strategic planning is not a static or occasional event. It is, 

instead, a dynamic and inclusive process. If done well, strategic planning is 

continuous and provides the basis for everything the organization does 

each day. Therefore, it is important for an organization to go through the 

strategic planning process first, and then align the organization to 

accomplish the objectives of that plan. Figure 1 shows how an agency’s 

strategic plan serves as the foundation for other strategic management 

initiatives, such as organizational realignment; performance planning, 

management, and reporting; and improvements to the capacity of the 

organization to achieve its goals.
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Figure 1: Strategic Plan for Aligning AOC’s Activities, Core Processes, and Resources to Support AOC’s Mission-Related 

Outcomes

Strategic plan

for serving the Congress

Annual Planning

• Annual performance plan

• Budget request

 (resource allocation)

Organizational

structure

Capacity

• Strategic human capital

management

• Financial management

• Information technology

management

Accountability

• Performance measurement

• Performance and

accountability report

• Performance management

Source: GAO.
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Since 1997, AOC and a number of its subsidiary offices and jurisdictions 

have attempted to implement strategic planning processes. In 1997, the 

Architect led the first effort to produce an AOC-wide strategic plan that laid 

out AOC’s mission, vision, core values, strategic priorities, and goals and 

objectives. Similarly, a number of business units within AOC, such as the 

Human Resources Management Division, the Office of Inspector General, 

and the House Office Buildings jurisdiction have developed their own 

strategic plans, and the Capitol Buildings jurisdiction is developing a new 

master plan for the Capitol, but these plans do not flow directly from, and 

therefore are not necessarily consistent with, an AOC-wide plan. 

According to AOC officials, turnover in key planning staff and inability to 

reach agreement on how to measure performance led AOC management to 

discontinue the AOC-wide strategic planning effort. Subsequently, in 2001 

AOC shifted to a scaled-back strategic planning approach that focused on 

tasks to be completed in a number of key priority areas: (1) develop a 

process and establish realistic goals and priorities, (2) improve employee 

support by, for example, addressing space and equipment needs and 

improving communication about where the organization is going, 

(3) improve safety, (4) improve project delivery, and (5) focus on quality 

assurance. In our April 2002 statement, we stated that AOC needed to 

refocus and integrate its strategic planning efforts to identify and 

implement mission-critical goals for key results.

Consistent with the preliminary observations in our April 2002 statement, 

AOC renewed its organizationwide strategic planning process. AOC formed 

a task force of senior managers to develop a “straw” strategic plan that 

outlines AOC’s mission; vision; core values; and long-term, mission-critical 

goals for fiscal years 2003 through 2007. When completed, AOC’s strategic 

plan should provide the starting point and serve as a unifying framework 

for AOC’s various business unit and jurisdictional planning efforts. The 

plan will also position AOC to answer questions such as what fundamental 

results does AOC want to achieve, what are its long-term goals, and what 

strategies will it employ to achieve those goals.

AOC Needs to Involve Key 

Congressional and Other 

Stakeholders in Developing 

Its Strategic Plan

Successful organizations we studied ensure that their strategic planning 

fully considers the interests and expectations of their stakeholders. Among 

the stakeholders of AOC are the appropriations and oversight committees 

and individual members of the Congress and their staffs, the management 

and staff of the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, and the 
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Congressional Budget Office, AOC employees, and, of course, the 

American public.

AOC strategic planning efforts have not yet involved such outreach. To 

date, AOC’s task force of senior managers has developed a straw 5-year 

strategic plan that outlines AOC’s mission, vision, core values, and high 

level goals and objectives for the four strategic focus areas its has 

identified: strategic management and business initiatives, human capital, 

facilities management, and project management.3

 Consistent with our 

constructive engagement with AOC, we have provided several best practice 

briefings to the agency’s leadership as requested. A senior GAO executive 

in GAO’s Office of External Liaison briefed the Architect of the Capitol and 

other AOC senior managers on October 8, 2002, on our continuing process 

to update and revise our strategic plan. The briefing emphasized the need 

for continual stakeholder involvement. As a result, according to AOC, it 

recently defined its key stakeholders and a methodology for obtaining their 

feedback on the strategic plan.

In moving forward with its strategic planning efforts, it will be critical that 

AOC fully engage its stakeholders and obtain their buy-in to provide a 

strong foundation for any organizational or operating changes that may be 

needed to implement the plan. In contrast to previous strategic planning 

initiatives, AOC needs to move beyond a focus on actions to be completed 

quickly to a broader focus on the mission-critical, long-term goals needed 

to serve the Congress. Thus, stakeholder involvement will be especially 

important for AOC to help it ensure that its efforts and resources are 

targeted at the highest priorities. Just as important, involving stakeholders 

in strategic planning efforts can help create a basic understanding among 

the stakeholders of the competing demands that confront most agencies, 

the limited resources available to them, and how those demands and 

resources require careful and continuous balancing.

An AOC-Wide 

Communications Strategy 

Will Help Achieve MissionCritical Goals

An effective communications strategy is a key success factor for 

organizations undergoing transformation. In a September 24, 2002, forum 

convened by the Comptroller General on mergers and transformation 

issues, there was consensus among the participants that communication is 

essential to organizational transformation. As we discussed in our April 

3

Architect of the Capitol, Draft Strategic Plan, Fiscal Years 2003-2007 (reflects comments 

from AOC Management Council meeting held June 18, 2002).
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2002 statement, for successful implementation of strategic planning and 

change management, AOC must develop a comprehensive communications 

strategy for its internal and external customers. The Architect of the 

Capitol agrees that improving communications is one of his top priorities. 

As AOC continues to develop its strategic plan, it should consider how it 

can build such a communications strategy to help to achieve the 

organization’s mission. It is also important for AOC to assess ways that it 

can measure the success of this strategy.

AOC continues to strengthen its internal communications by broadening 

participation in a series of regular meetings among its senior managers for 

decision making and routine sharing of information. For example, AOC has 

expanded participation in its management council meetings (biweekly 

meetings of AOC’s senior managers to address agency business issues and 

priorities) to include jurisdictional superintendents and office directors.

In our April 2002 statement, we noted that AOC could strengthen its 

internal communications by developing a communications strategy that 

would help AOC’s line employees understand the connection between what 

they do on a day-to-day basis and AOC’s goals and expectations, as well as 

seek employee feedback and develop goals for improvement. We further 

stated that one way of implementing such a strategy is to conduct routine 

employee feedback surveys and/or focus groups. In addition, we continue 

to believe that AOC could benefit from knowledge sharing to encourage 

and reward employees who share and implement best practices across the 

various jurisdictions, teams, and projects.

The need for an organizationwide communications strategy is borne out by 

the results of the focus groups that we conducted with AOC employees and 

supervisors from June through July 2002. When we analyzed the results of 

the focus groups, several themes became apparent.4

 One of the themes 

cited by focus group participants involved supervisory communications 

and employee relations—specifically, that communications from 

supervisor to employee is insufficient. AOC plans to followup on our 

efforts by seeking employee feedback through focus groups and surveys. In 

a May 23, 2002, memorandum from the Architect to AOC’s employees 

announcing the focus groups we conducted, the Architect stated that AOC 

4

Crosscutting themes were found in majority view comments that were common across the 

jurisdictions, skills sets, and shifts we selected and represented the most pervasive issues 

coming out of the focus groups.
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planned to gather the views of employees from the jurisdictions that we did 

not cover. Moreover, in its draft strategic plan, AOC noted that employee 

surveys is one strategy it plans to use to help achieve the human capital 

strategic goal of attracting, developing, and retaining diverse, satisfied, and 

highly motivated employees.

AOC must continue to improve its external communications and outreach 

by (1) further developing congressional protocols, (2) improving its 

accountability reporting, and (3) continuing to measure customer 

satisfaction with its services organizationwide. In our April 2002 statement, 

we encouraged AOC to consider developing congressional protocols, 

which would help ensure that AOC deals with its congressional customers 

using clearly defined, consistently applied, and transparent policies and 

procedures. After working closely with the Congress and after careful pilot 

testing, we implemented congressional protocols in 1999. In response to 

our preliminary observations concerning the need for such protocols at 

AOC, on June 17, 2002, GAO’s Director of Congressional Relations and her 

staff briefed the Architect of the Capitol and AOC’s senior managers on 

lessons learned from GAO’s development of congressional protocols. They 

shared key lessons and success factors from our experiences in developing 

the protocols—that it is a time-consuming process that involves (1) the 

personal commitment and direction from the agency head, (2) senior 

management participation and buy-in, and (3) continuous outreach to and 

feedback from external stakeholders. As a result of our preliminary 

observations and our best practices briefing, AOC drafted an initial set of 

congressional protocols modeled after our congressional protocols. AOC 

noted that these protocols need to be finalized and distributed. In doing so, 

and consistent with the approach for AOC’s strategic plan, AOC needs to 

continually involve its stakeholders in developing these protocols.

Although AOC is not required to comply with the 1993 Government 

Performance and Results Act (GPRA) because it is a legislative branch 

agency, we believe that AOC could adopt the reporting elements of GPRA 

to strengthen accountability and transparency by annually reporting 

program performance and financial information. For example, although 

GAO is a legislative branch agency, since fiscal year 1999, we have annually 

produced performance and accountability reports as well as our future 

fiscal year performance plan. Such results-oriented accountability 

reporting would help AOC communicate what it has accomplished, as well 

as its plans for continued progress to its external stakeholders.
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In tandem with AOC’s efforts to gather internal feedback from its 

employees, we noted in April 2002 that AOC’s communications strategy 

should also include tools for gauging customer satisfaction with its 

services. Customer feedback is an expectation for AOC’s senior managers 

and conducting client surveys is one proposed method in AOC’s draft 

strategic plan to achieve the strategic objective related to facilities 

management. In June 2002, AOC made a concerted effort to gather the 

views of some of its clients through a building services customer 

satisfaction survey for the Senate, House, Capitol building, and Library of 

Congress jurisdictions, which it plans to conduct annually. The Architect of 

the Capitol indicated to the survey participants that he will use the results 

of the survey to initiate service improvements based on the priorities they 

identify. AOC surveyed a total of 1,883 congressional staff members and 

received 275 responses. The results of the survey were shared with the 

jurisdictions’ superintendents. AOC plans to report the results to the 

congressional leadership and members of the Congress and to the Library 

of Congress. In response, the jurisdictional superintendents are developing 

“action plans” to address areas of concern that were raised in the surveys. 

Continued AOC efforts to routinely measure customer satisfaction AOCwide with both its congressional customers as well as other customers, 

such as visitors to the Capitol Hill complex, will help AOC identify its 

service quality strengths, performance gaps, and improvement 

opportunities.

AOC Should Develop 

Annual Goals and Measure 

Performance

Another key action AOC needs to take is developing annual performance 

goals that provide a connection between the long-term strategic goals in 

the strategic plan and the day-to-day activities of managers and staff 

members. Measuring performance allows an organization to track the 

progress it is making toward its goals, gives managers crucial information 

on which to base their organizational and management decisions, and 

creates powerful incentives to influence organizational and individual 

behavior.

AOC’s draft strategic plan for 2002 through 2007 describes a number of 

strategic objectives and outcomes for each of its four focus areas. For 

example, under Facilities Management, AOC has as a strategic objective to 

“provide safe, healthy, secure, and clean facilities to our clients.” One of the 

outcomes described for this focus area is “satisfied visitors and occupants.” 

The draft plan also lists a performance goal methodology. In the case of 

Facilities Management, the methodology is “client surveys,” as we 

discussed above. According to the draft plan, AOC’s strategic plan is to be 
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supplemented by more detailed functional plans that are developed along 

the same planning time line. These plans are to contain the tactical level 

actions, performance targets, and milestone data necessary to carry out 

agency-level strategies. The draft plan states that AOC will use both 

quantitative and qualitative performance goals and measures to 

demonstrate progress toward its strategic goals and objectives. 

As AOC moves forward in developing its performance goals and measures, 

it should consider the practices of leading organizations we have studied 

that were successful in measuring their performance. Such organizations 

generally applied two practices. First, they developed measures that were 

(1) tied to program goals and demonstrated the degree to which the desired 

results were achieved, (2) limited to the vital few that were considered 

essential to producing data for decision making, (3) responsive to multiple 

priorities, and (4) responsibility linked to establish accountability for 

results. Second, the agencies recognized the cost and effort involved in 

gathering and analyzing data and made sure that the data they did collect 

were sufficiently complete, accurate, and consistent to be useful in 

decision making.

Developing measures that respond to multiple priorities is of particular 

importance for programs operating in dynamic environments where 

mission requirements must be carefully balanced. This is the case for AOC 

where the role of protecting and preserving the historic facilities under its 

control may occasionally conflict with its role of providing maintenance 

and renovation services to occupants who use the facilities to conduct 

congressional business. For example, according to AOC officials, following 

elections, new members of the Congress may ask AOC to modify office 

suites containing historic architectural features. In those cases, AOC must 

balance the members’ needs for functional office design with its 

responsibility for protecting the architectural integrity of the rooms. 

Consequently, AOC, like other organizations, must weigh its mission 

requirements against its priorities. AOC could better gauge its success by 

first employing a balanced set of measures that encompasses its diverse 

responsibilities and requirements, such as maintaining historic facilities 

and satisfying customers and then benchmarking its results both 

internally—across its jurisdictions—as well as against other leading 

organizations with comparable facility management operations.
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AOC Should Revisit Link 

between Its Performance 

Management Systems and 

Mission-Critical Goals in Its 

Strategic Plan

Once AOC has reached agreement with its stakeholders on its strategic 

plan, AOC should revisit both its senior executive and employee 

performance management systems to strengthen individual accountability 

to organizational goals and performance. AOC also has not yet aligned and 

cascaded its performance expectations with its mission-critical goals at all 

levels of the organization. As our September 2002 report on managing 

senior executive performance using balanced expectations noted, leading 

organizations use their performance management systems to achieve 

results, accelerate change, and facilitate communication throughout the 

year so that discussions about individual and organizational performance 

are integrated and ongoing.5

 Thus, effective performance management 

systems can be (1) strategic tools for organizations to drive internal change 

and achieve external results and (2) ways to translate organizational 

priorities and goals into direct and specific commitments that senior 

executives will be expected to achieve during the year. As we have 

reported in the past, another critical success factor for creating a resultsoriented culture is a performance management system that creates a “line 

of sight” showing how individual employees can contribute to overall 

organizational goals.

In June 2002, AOC implemented a senior executive performance 

management system—informed by our human capital policies and 

flexibilities and structured around the Office of Personnel Management’s 

Executive Core qualifications—based on six performance requirements: 

results-driven, leading change, leading people, equal employment 

opportunity, business acumen, and building coalitions and 

communications. The senior executive performance management system is 

based on a balanced measures approach—an approach to performance 

measurement that balances organizational results with customer, 

employee, and other perspectives. As a part of this system, AOC instructed 

its senior executives to incorporate the agency’s strategic goals and 

responsibilities into their performance requirements and individual 

commitments for subsequent evaluation by the Architect.6

 The resultsdriven performance requirement for AOC’s senior executives provides the 

basis for results-oriented accountability. The senior executive performance 

5

U.S. General Accounting Office, Results-Oriented Cultures: Using Balanced Expectations 

to Manage Senior Executive Performance, GAO-02-966 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 27, 2002).

6

AOC Performance Review Process for Employees Serving at the Pleasure of the Architect, 

Order 430-2, June 15, 2002, p. 3.
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management system—once aligned with the strategic goals and objectives 

in AOC’s strategic plan, will serve as an important means for helping AOC 

to achieve its desired organizational results. 

In June 2000, AOC implemented a performance management system—

Performance Communication and Evaluation System —for its General 

Schedule (up to GS-15) and Wage Grade employees (non-bargaining-unit 

employees). According to the Director of HRMD, approximately 875 

bargaining unit and trades employees—about 38 percent of AOC’s 

workforce—were not covered by these systems. As a next step, AOC 

should align its employee performance management system with its senior 

executive system to strengthen individual accountability to organizational 

goals and performance. For example, as we discuss later in the report, 

although the incentive to focus on safety has been built into the 

performance appraisal system for employees, it is not addressed in the 

senior executive performance evaluation system. While AOC supports this 

concept, AOC’s senior officials stated that they must balance the need to 

move forward in aligning these systems with the need to provide continuity 

in the employee performance management system currently in place.

A Competency-Based 

Approach Can Help AOC 

Meet Its Human Capital 

Goals and Objectives

The establishment and integration of organizational competencies into 

performance management systems is another mechanism to create 

accountability for achieving mission-critical goals. Competencies, which 

define the skills or supporting behaviors that employees are expected to 

exhibit as they effectively carry out their work, can provide a fuller picture 

of an individual’s performance. Competencies can also help form the basis 

for an organization’s selection, promotion, training, performance 

management, and succession planning initiatives. Our August 2002 report 

on other countries’ performance management initiatives found that the 

United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand are using competencies in 

their public sector organizations to provide a fuller assessment of 

individual performance.7

 GAO has also introduced a competency-based 

performance management system for analysts and specialists, driven by a 

best practice review of multidisciplinary professional service organizations 

in both the private and public sectors.

7

U.S. General Accounting Office, Results-Oriented Culture: Insights for U.S. Agencies from 

Other Countries’ Performance Management Initiatives, GAO-02-862 (Washington, D.C.: 

August 2002).
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AOC should consider developing core and technical competencies as the 

basis for its performance management systems. Agencywide core and 

technical competencies can serve as guidance for employees as they strive 

to meet organizational expectations. The core competencies should be 

derived from AOC’s strategic plan and workforce planning efforts and 

reflect its core values.8

 All employees should be held accountable for 

achieving core competencies as AOC moves to transform its culture. As we 

reported in April 2002, AOC has added to its professional workforce by 

hiring new jurisdictional superintendents, deputy superintendents, budget 

and accounting officers, a Chief Financial Officer, a Director of Facilities 

Planning and Programming, and worker safety specialists. As AOC works 

toward developing a cadre of managerial and professional employees, the 

development of specific technical competencies can assist the agency in 

creating and developing a successful leadership and managerial team.

AOC has made progress in establishing supervisory, management, and 

executive competencies. AOC’s Human Resources Management Division 

(HRMD) has also developed a competency model for its professional and 

administrative staff. HRMD intends to use this competency model to 

“reinforce its strategic focus ... and outline the workforce requirements 

necessary to develop a highly competent cadre of human resources staff 

dedicated and committed to providing high-quality, timely and responsive 

human resources services to managers and employees of the AOC.”9

 As 

AOC’s efforts move forward, it will identify opportunities to refine and/or 

develop technical competencies in other managerial and professional areas 

critical to achieving its mission, including project management, worker 

safety, financial management, and information technology. AOC can draw 

from best practices guidance and professional associations and 

certifications to assist it in developing these technical competencies. Some 

tools available to identify appropriate competencies are offered by the 

Joint Financial Management Improvement Program for financial 

management, and the Project Management Institute for project 

management.

After AOC has established its core and technical competencies, it can use 

these competencies as the basis for the performance requirements of its 

8

AOC’s core values are professionalism, respect and diversity, integrity, loyalty, stewardship, 

teamwork, and creativity. 

9

Office of the Architect of the Capitol, HRMD’s Model for Success, (Washington, D.C.:

October 1999).
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performance management systems for both senior executives and 

employees. The combination of a competency-based performance 

management system linked to mission-critical goals could provide AOC 

with a world-class mechanism for holding its workforce accountable for 

achieving its mission. 

AOC Needs to Determine 

Agency Workforce Needs 

and Assess Progress by 

Collecting and Analyzing 

Workforce Data

AOC does not currently collect and analyze workforce data in a 

comprehensive way that would allow it to determine its workforce needs 

and to measure its progress in achieving its human capital strategic goals 

and objectives. The ability to collect and analyze data will greatly enhance 

AOC’s ability to acquire, develop, and retain talent, while allowing it to 

effectively plan for the needs of its workforce. 

High-performing organizations use data to determine key performance 

objectives and goals that enable them to evaluate the success of their 

human capital approaches. Reliable data also heighten an agency’s ability 

to manage risk by allowing managers to spotlight areas for attention before 

crises develop and identify opportunities for enhancing agency results. 

Collecting and analyzing data are fundamental building blocks for 

measuring the effectiveness of human capital approaches in support of the 

mission and goals of an agency. AOC needs to develop a fact-based, 

comprehensive approach to the collection and analysis of accurate and 

reliable information across a range of human capital activities. AOC 

recognizes the need to comprehensively collect and analyze workforce 

data and has requested about $1 million in its fiscal year 2003 budget for an 

automated system to assist it in recruitment, classification, workforce 

management, and succession planning. 

Appropriate data sources and collection methods are necessary to measure 

progress in meeting AOC’s human capital goals and objectives. For 

example, in order for AOC to determine if it is meeting equal employment 

opportunity (EEO) and diversity requirements—one of its strategic 

objectives—it must first establish a reliable data gathering method. We 

found that AOC does not have comprehensive procedures in place to track 

its progress to assess whether it is achieving its goal of a diverse 

workforce. Based on reliable data, AOC can then monitor its progress in 

meeting EEO requirements and develop appropriate intervention strategies 

if it is not. 
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Strategic Workforce 

Planning Would Help AOC 

Identify Workforce Needs 

and Develop Strategies to 

Fill Gaps 

AOC can benefit from strategically identifying its current and future 

workforce needs and then creating strategies to fill any gaps. AOC 

recognizes the need to conduct workforce planning; however, it has not yet 

initiated this effort. According to the principles embodied in our Model of 

Strategic Human Capital Management, effective organizations 

incorporate human capital critical success factors, such as integration and 

alignment, and data-driven human capital decisions as strategies for 

accomplishing their mission and programmatic goals and results.10

Strategic workforce planning and analysis is one such approach that can 

help AOC to effectively align its resources with agency needs. 

Workforce planning efforts linked to strategic program goals and objectives 

can help the organization to identify such needs as ensuring a diverse labor 

force, succession planning for scarce skill sets, and other competencies 

needed in the workforce. For example, in AOC’s draft strategic plan, human 

capital is one of the four strategic planning focus areas. The strategic goal 

associated with the human capital focus area is to attract, develop, and 

retain diverse, satisfied, and highly motivated employees with the skills, 

talents, and knowledge necessary to support the agency’s mission. AOC 

established several strategic objectives to achieve this goal. One of the 

objectives is to develop a human capital plan designed to acquire, develop, 

and retain a talented workforce while integrating and aligning human 

capital approaches, equal opportunity requirements, and organizational 

performance. Specifically, an effective strategic workforce planning effort 

will entail

• determining how many employees AOC needs to accomplish its 

mission-critical goals;

• assessing the skills and competencies of the employees currently 

available to do this work (develop an employee skills and competencies 

inventory);

• determining gaps in the number, skills, and competencies of the 

employees needed to do this work;

10U.S. General Accounting Office, A Model of Strategic Human Capital Management, GAO02-373SP (Washington, D.C.: March 2002).
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• developing a training and recruitment plan for filling the gap, including a 

focus on the diversity and EEO goals of the organization; 

• creating a succession plan to address workforce gaps created by 

employees exiting the organization; and

• evaluating the contribution that the results of these strategic workforce 

planning efforts make to achieving mission-critical goals.

AOC does not currently have workforce planning efforts under way, 

although it does recognize the need to strategically plan for its workforce 

and has requested funding for four positions in its fiscal year 2003 budget to 

create an organization and workforce management team within the Office 

of the Architect.11 The purpose of this proposed team is to conduct 

workforce planning and analysis. The team would work collaboratively 

with AOC’s HRMD, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, and other agency 

managers to focus on skill mix, resource needs, and succession planning.

Conclusions AOC faces many challenges as it seeks to better serve the Congress. This 

report lays out a complex agenda for organizational transformation at AOC 

that includes developing the capacity to lead and execute change and 

becoming a more results-oriented, matrixed, client-focused, and proactive 

organization. AOC has indicated that it is committed to the long-term effort 

necessary to improve its service to the Congress and has already begun to 

make some improvements in areas such as strategic planning, client 

outreach, and accountability of senior management for achieving results. 

To make lasting improvements, AOC must continue on this path by 

• demonstrating top leadership commitment to long-term change; 

• involving key congressional and other stakeholders in developing its 

strategic plan; 

• using its strategic plan as the foundation for aligning activities, core 

processes, and resources to support mission-related outcomes;

11AOC, FY 2002 Budget Estimates, January 2002.
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• establishing a communications strategy to foster change and create 

shared expectations and build involvement; 

• developing annual goals and a system for measuring performance; and

• strategically managing its human capital to drive transformation and to 

support the accomplishment of agency goals. 

AOC’s needs to improve its executive decision-making capacity and 

accountability in order to help (1) elevate attention on management issues 

and transformation, (2) integrate various key management and 

transformation efforts, and (3) institutionalize accountability for 

addressing management issues and leading transformation. 

One option for addressing the transformation issues that AOC faces is to 

create a COO or similar position that would be accountable for achieving 

change at AOC.

Making such fundamental changes in AOC’s culture will require a longterm, concerted effort. In developing a management improvement plan to 

address the recommendations in this report, it is essential that AOC work 

with key congressional and other stakeholders to establish action-oriented 

implementation goals over the long term, and a time line with milestone 

dates to track the organization’s progress towards achieving those 

implementation goals. 

Recommendations for 

Agency Action

In order to adopt the elements of the management and accountability 

framework—strategic planning, organizational alignment, 

communications, performance measurement, and strategic human capital 

management—and build on efforts under way at AOC, we recommend that 

the Architect of the Capitol

• improve strategic planning and organizational alignment, by involving 

key congressional and other external stakeholders in AOC’s strategic 

planning efforts and in any organizational changes that may result from 

these efforts;

• develop a comprehensive strategy to improve internal and external 

communications, by
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• providing opportunities for routine employee input and feedback,

• completing the development of congressional protocols by involving 

stakeholders,

• improving annual accountability reporting through annual 

performance planning and reporting, and

• continuing to regularly measure customer satisfaction AOC-wide; 

and 

• strengthen performance measurement and strategic human capital 

management, by

• developing annual goals and measuring performance,

• creating a “line of sight” by linking AOC’s senior executive and 

employee performance management systems to mission-critical 

goals,

• establishing agencywide core and technical competencies and 

holding employees accountable for these competencies as a part of 

the performance management system,

• developing the capacity to collect and analyze workforce data, and

• identifying current and future workforce needs and developing 

strategies to fill gaps.

In developing a management improvement plan to address the 

recommendations in this report, we also recommend that the Architect of 

the Capitol establish action-oriented implementation goals over the long 

term and a time line with milestone dates to track the organization’s 

progress towards achieving those implementation goals. The Architect 

should work with key congressional and other stakeholders to develop this 

plan.
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Matters for 

Congressional 

Consideration

The Congress should consider ways in which to elevate, integrate, and 

institutionalize accountability for addressing management issues and 

leading organizational transformation at AOC. One option would be to 

create a statutory COO or similar position for AOC to improve its executive 

decision-making process and accountability.

To help ensure that AOC implements its management improvement plan, 

the Congress should consider requiring AOC to provide periodic status 

reports on the implementation of its plan, including progress made and 

milestones not met, and any adjustments to the plan in response to internal 

or external developments.

Agency Comments In his comments on this chapter, the Architect agreed with our 

recommendations and discussed the current efforts AOC has under way in 

response, including the development of a plan to implement our 

recommendations. For example, AOC is currently conducting an 

agencywide strategic planning effort—with stakeholder involvement—

focused on developing mission-critical goals and action plans for missioncritical programs, such as facilities management, project management, and 

human capital. AOC has also formed a team to develop a comprehensive 

communications strategy to improve its internal and external 

communications. To strengthen transparency and accountability, as we 

recommended AOC plans to produce an annual performance plan that 

outlines the specific actions, milestones, and performance measures 

planned to achieve its goals for that year and an annual accountability 

report on progress achieved. In the area of strategic human capital 

management, AOC stated that it would implement our recommendations in 

a phased approach that will entail firmly establishing its overall strategy 

before aligning individual performance management programs to that 

strategy. AOC plans to explore the benefits of expanding the use of core 

and technical competencies agencywide, but wants first to ensure that the 

use of competencies is appropriate for all occupations and jurisdictions. 

The Architect’s comments are reprinted in appendix II.
Page 39 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Chapter 3

Management Infrastructure and Controls 

Needed to Support Organizational 

Transformation Initiatives Chapte3r

The effectiveness with which the Office of the Architect of the Capitol 

(AOC) can use the management reforms discussed in chapter 2—strategic 

planning, organizational alignment, performance management, improved 

internal and external communications, and strategic human capital 

management—to achieve organizational transformation will depend in part 

on its ability to focus on management improvement in its day-to-day 

operations. A key factor in helping an agency to better achieve its mission 

and program outcomes and identify and manage risks while leveraging 

opportunities is to implement appropriate internal control.1

 Internal 

control is a major part of managing an organization. It comprises the plans, 

methods, and procedures used to meet missions, goals, and objectives and, 

in doing so, supports performance-based management. Internal control 

also serves as the first line of defense in safeguarding assets and preventing 

and detecting errors and fraud. In short, internal control, which is 

synonymous with management control, helps government program 

managers achieve desired results through effective stewardship of public 

resources. Effective internal control also helps in managing change to cope 

with shifting environments and evolving demands and priorities. As 

programs change and as agencies strive to improve operational processes 

and implement new technological developments, management must 

continually assess and evaluate its internal control to assure that the 

control activities being used are effective and updated when necessary. 

Other aspects of AOC’s management infrastructure will also require 

continued management attention to support its new focus on achieving 

reforms in mission-critical areas of facilities management, project 

management, strategic planning, and human capital management. AOC will 

need to further develop and consistently apply transparent human capital 

policies and procedures in the areas of leave, awards, and overtime and 

examine discrepancies in job classification and pay levels across the 

agency. AOC must continue improving its approach to budgeting and 

financial management to support effective and efficient program 

management. Finally, AOC will need to adopt an agencywide approach to 

information technology (IT) management to position itself to optimize the 

contribution of IT to agency mission performance.

1

U.S. General Accounting Office, Standards for Internal Control in the Federal 

Government, GAO/AIMD-00-21.3.1 (Washington, D.C.: November 1999).
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Standards for Internal 

Control Can Provide a 

Strong Foundation for 

Organizational 

Transformation

AOC has made a number of important and positive efforts to improve its 

internal control. For example, in response to our 1994 report that AOC’s 

personnel management system did not follow many generally accepted 

principles of modern personnel management, AOC developed and 

implemented basic personnel policies and procedures that are designed to 

meet the guidelines set forth by the Architect of the Capitol Human 

Resources Act and the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (CAA).2

More recently, AOC has been developing standard policies and procedures 

to address various worker safety hazards. In the area of financial 

management, AOC has contracted for the development of AOC-wide 

accounting policies and procedures. For information security, in March 

2002, AOC completed a partial risk assessment of its systems environment 

focusing on systems controlled by its Office of Information Resource 

Management (OIRM), and used that assessment to develop a security plan 

to address the identified vulnerabilities. These efforts are helping AOC to 

construct a sound foundation on which to build a high-performing 

organization.

However, Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government

reflects a broader approach to control that addresses, for example, how an 

agency demonstrates its commitment to competence, how it assures 

effective and efficient operations, how it communicates the information 

needed throughout the agency to achieve all its objectives, and how it 

monitors performance. As AOC moves forward in addressing the 

management reforms we discuss in this report, it should consider how 

adopting these standards for internal control could provide a strong 

foundation for institutionalizing the organizational transformation under 

way.

Internal control should provide reasonable assurance that the objectives of 

the agency are being achieved in the following categories:

• effectiveness and efficiency of operations, including the use of the 

entity’s resources;

2

See Pub. L. No.103-283, July 22, 1994, Sec. 312, Architect of the Capitol Human Resources 

Act.
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• reliability of financial reporting, including reports on budget execution 

and financial statements and other reports for internal and external use; 

and

• compliance with applicable laws and regulations. 

A subset of these objectives is the safeguarding of assets. Internal control 

should be designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention 

of or prompt detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of 

an agency’s assets.

Internal Control Is a 

Continuous, Built-in 

Component of Operations

Internal control is not one event, but a series of actions and activities that 

occur throughout an entity’s operations and on an ongoing basis. Internal 

control should be recognized as an integral part of each system that 

management uses to regulate and guide its operations rather than as a 

separate system within an agency. In this sense, internal control is 

management control that is built into the entity as a part of its 

infrastructure to help managers run the entity and achieve their aims on an 

ongoing basis.

People are what make internal control work. The responsibility for good 

internal control rests with all managers. Management sets the objectives, 

puts the control mechanisms and activities in place, and monitors and 

evaluates the control. However, all personnel in the organization play 

important roles in making it happen.

Framework for Internal 

Control

Five standards provide a general framework for the minimal level of quality 

acceptable for internal control in government and provide the basis against 

which internal control is to be evaluated:

• Control environment. Management and employees should establish 

and maintain an environment throughout the organization that sets a 

positive and supportive attitude toward internal control and 

conscientious management. For example, as AOC implements its new 

strategic planning process, it will need to demonstrate a positive and 

supportive attitude toward performance-based management by using 

the plan as the basis for all its programmatic decisions.

• Risk assessment. Internal control should provide for an assessment of 

the risks the agency faces from both external and internal sources. For 
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example, as part of AOC’s ongoing strategic planning process, AOC 

needs to continually assess the risks to achieving its objectives, analyze 

the risks, and determine what actions should be taken.

• Control activities. Internal control activities help ensure that 

management’s directives are carried out. The control activities should 

be effective and efficient in accomplishing the agency’s control 

objectives. As AOC identifies areas for management improvements, it 

also needs to define the policies, procedures, techniques, and 

mechanisms it will use to enforce management’s directives. For 

example, as AOC works to improve its information systems acquisition 

management to standardize its acquisition processes, it will need to 

establish control activities to ensure the processes are applied 

consistently and correctly for each acquisition project.

• Information and communications. Information should be recorded 

and communicated to management and others within the entity who 

need it and in a form and within a time frame that enables them to carry 

out their internal control and other responsibilities. For example, as 

AOC develops new performance and financial information to support 

program management, the information needs to be communicated in a 

way that meets users needs and time frames.

• Monitoring. Internal control monitoring should assess the quality of 

performance over time and ensure that the findings of audits and other 

reviews are promptly resolved. For example, as AOC develops new 

performance and financial information, it should ensure that this 

information is both useful to and used by program managers for 

purposes of managing program performance.

Strengthening Human 

Capital Policies, 

Procedures, and 

Processes

AOC is working towards transforming its culture and instituting regularized 

personnel policies, procedures, and processes, but there are still areas for 

improvement. In addition to internal control standards, we have found that 

there are key practices that can assist agencies in effectively using human 

capital flexibilities. In broad terms, human capital flexibilities represent the 

policies and procedures that an agency has the authority to implement in 

managing its workforce to accomplish its mission and to achieve its goals. 

These practices include educating managers and employees on the 

availability and use of flexibilities, streamlining and improving 

administrative processes, and building transparency and accountability 

into the system.
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Comments from a majority of our focus group participants indicate that 

supervisors are not perceived to have applied awards, overtime, and leave 

policies consistently; that there was supervisory favoritism; and that grade 

and pay levels are not consistent across jurisdictions and shifts. AOC has 

been addressing these concerns by developing a comprehensive leave 

policy and a strategy for communicating this policy, reviewing perceived 

inequities in job classification, and issuing specific guidelines and 

procedures for its employee awards program. AOC should continue to 

develop consistent and transparent human capital policies and procedures 

and communicate them. AOC has various offices and an employee council 

engaged in improving employee relations. AOC’s senior managers could 

benefit from comprehensively collecting and analyzing data from these 

groups to allow it to determine its employee relations needs, and to 

measure its progress in achieving its strategic human capital goals and 

objectives. AOC has recently established its Office of the Ombudsperson, 

but should realign the office’s reporting relationship directly to the 

Architect to ensure that it is adhering to professional standards of 

independence. 

AOC Should Continue to 

Develop and Communicate 

Consistent Human Capital 

Policies and Procedures 

Effective organizations establish clear and consistent human capital 

policies and procedures with clearly stated expectations for both 

employees and supervisors and ensure that there is accountability for 

following these procedures accordingly. According to internal control 

standards, such consistent procedures help to create a control 

environment that encourages employee trust in management. 

A majority of our focus group participants perceived that supervisors 

applied awards, overtime, and leave policies inconsistently and that there 

was supervisory favoritism. For example, some employees stated that 

supervisors determine on their own when an employee is entitled to sick or 

annual leave and are not consistent when allowing some employees to take 

off time from work. Others remarked that there were varying procedures 

for signing into work and grace periods for lateness were not consistently 

applied for every employee. Several employees commented that access to 

working overtime was uneven and felt as if only favored employees had the 

opportunity to work overtime. In addition, several employees believe that 

favoritism resulted in uneven and unfair distribution of work, and that 

hiring and promotions frequently are not based on qualifications and 

experience but on personal connections. 
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AOC has been addressing employees’ concerns by developing a 

comprehensive leave policy and a strategy for communicating this policy. 

According to AOC’s Director of HRMD, AOC has drafted an agencywide 

comprehensive leave policy—which it expects to issue in November 

2002—and is developing a strategy to communicate this policy internally. 

The issuance of a comprehensive agencywide leave policy is one way in 

which employees’ perceptions of inconsistent treatment by supervisors 

could be diminished. The policy could also provide a mechanism to hold 

supervisors and senior managers accountable for its fair and consistent 

application. 

Inconsistencies in grade and pay levels across jurisdictions and shifts was 

another area of concern noted by a majority of the focus group 

participants. The perception expressed in focus groups was that employees 

in other AOC jurisdictions in similar positions and in other federal agencies 

were classified at higher grade levels, even though their job duties were 

similar. AOC’s HRMD Director told us that the division is aware that many 

AOC employees are concerned about possible misclassification and has 

received many requests from employees to review job classifications.3

According to AOC’s Employment and Classification Branch Chief, most of 

the employees who have raised concerns about how their jobs are 

classified have been upgraded. As a result, AOC is engaged in an ongoing 

initiative to review certain position descriptions that have not been 

updated for some time across jurisdictions and to reclassify them, if 

needed. 

Employee rewards and recognition programs are an important human 

capital flexibility that is intended to provide appropriate motivation and 

recognition for excellence in job performance and contributions to an 

agency’s goals. In our December 2002 report on the effective use of human 

capital flexibilities, we report that agencies must develop clear and 

transparent guidelines for using flexibilities and then hold managers and 

supervisors accountable for their fair and effective use, and that agency 

managers and supervisors must be educated on the existence and use of 

flexibilities. 4 The Architect’s Awards Program, which is AOC’s employee 

rewards and recognition program, is in its second year of operation. 

3

AOC generally uses Office of Personnel Management General Schedule Qualifications 

Standards for position classification. 

4

U.S. General Accounting Office, Human Capital: Effective Use of Flexibilities Can Assist 

Agencies in Managing Their Workforces, GAO-03-2 (Washington, D.C.: December 2002).
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However, several implementation issues remained to be resolved. For 

example, a majority of the focus group participants felt that the program is 

not applied consistently across the jurisdictions and shifts for all 

employees. Some focus group participants also mentioned that they were 

promised awards by their supervisors for their good work on projects but 

never received them. Other views expressed by some members of the focus 

groups were that awards might be distributed, but only to certain members 

of a project team, even though everyone in the unit had worked on the 

same project or that supervisors did not always want to fill out the 

paperwork needed to make an award. 

In March 2002, AOC issued a policy containing responsibilities and 

procedures, for the administration of the employee rewards and 

recognition program.5

 However, as borne out by our focus group results, 

supervisors may be applying this policy inconsistently. AOC can strengthen 

and gain support for this program by holding managers and supervisors 

accountable for the fair and effective use of its rewards and recognition 

program as a useful tool for motivating and rewarding employees.

AOC Management Should 

Comprehensively Collect 

and Analyze Data from 

Employee Relations Groups 

In April 2002, we stated that to improve labor-management relations, we 

would explore the relationships between AOC’s various offices engaged in 

addressing employee relations. Several AOC offices and one employee 

group provide employees with assistance in resolving disputes or in dealing 

with other employment-related issues. These offices not only work to 

resolve disputes, but are also in a position to alert management to systemic 

problems and thereby help correct organizationwide issues and develop 

strategies for preventing and managing conflict.

• The Equal Employment Opportunity and Conciliation Program Office 

was created to include an affirmative employment program for 

employees and applicants and procedures for monitoring progress by 

AOC in ensuring a diverse workforce.6

 The office serves to promote a 

nondiscriminatory work environment and works to resolve employment 

concerns informally.7

5

AOC’s Human Resources Manual, Order 451-1, March 14, 2002.

6

See Pub. L. No. 103-283, July 1994, Sec. 312, Architect of the Capitol Human Resources Act.

7

AOC Draft Memo from Acting EEO Director, AOC EEO/CP Annual Report, fiscal year 2000.
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• AOC’s Office of the Ombudsperson, formerly called the Employee 

Advocate, was staffed in 2002 and provides advice and counsel to nonbargaining-unit employees concerning employment policies, 

employment practices, or other employment-related matters. 8

• The AOC Employee Advisory Council (EAC), created in 1995, has 

renewed its efforts to ensure its role of providing a voice for AOC 

employees on workplace and safety issues, and is another avenue for 

non-bargaining-unit employees to bring their concerns to management. 

The EAC consists of AOC employees, and its purpose is to help address 

AOC policy, procedures, work products and methods, and other issues 

that relate to the overall efficiency and safety of the agency, as well as 

the fair treatment of employees.9

It is not clear whether there is a coordinated approach to tracking 

agencywide patterns of employee relations issues among these offices and 

the EAC. If this information were to be collected and analyzed by AOC’s 

senior managers, it could provide a useful source of information to alert 

management of the status of employee relations. The advantages of an 

agencywide tracking method need to be balanced in a way so as not to 

compromise employee confidentiality. As discussed in chapter 2, AOC has 

established a strategic human capital goal and corresponding objectives 

related to acquiring, developing, and retaining a talented and diverse 

workforce. We believe that AOC senior managers could benefit from 

gathering and analyzing these data, in conjunction with results from the 

additional employee focus groups that AOC plans to conduct, to help 

determine how well it is meeting its human capital strategic goal and 

objectives. 

8

H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 106-796 at 41 (2000).

9

AOC Memo, March 7, 2002, on EAC.
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In assessing the functions of these employee relations groups, we also 

assessed the Ombudsperson position at AOC to determine whether it 

adhered to the standards of practice for ombudsmen established by 

professional organizations. Ombudsmen provide an informal option to deal 

pragmatically with conflicts and other organizational climate issues. In 

April 2001, we reported that ombudsmen are expected to conform to 

professional standards of practice that revolve around the core principles 

of independence, neutrality, and confidentiality.10 In our discussion with the 

AOC Ombudsperson, she stated that she was familiar with the standards 

for ombudsmen and that she provided services confidentially and neutrally. 

According to AOC officials, the AOC Ombudsperson reports to the 

Administrative Assistant to the Architect of the Capitol or his or her 

authorized designate, but not directly to the Architect. In our April 2001 

report, the Ombudsman Association Standards of Practice define 

independence as functioning independent of line management, with the 

ombudsman having a reporting relationship with the highest authority in an 

organization. In addition, the American Bar Association’s ombudsman 

standards for independence discuss that the ombudsman’s office must be 

and appear to be free from interference in order to be credible and 

effective. If the Ombudsperson were to directly report to the Architect and 

not through another senior manager, the core principle of independence 

would be strengthened. 

Continue Improving 

Financial Management 

to Support Program 

Management

AOC faces significant challenges in building sound budget and financial 

management functions into the culture of the organization. Accurate and 

reliable budget formulation and execution and reliable financial accounting 

and reporting are important basic functions of financial control and 

accountability and provide a basis for supporting good program 

management. In the past, AOC has lacked reliable budgets for both projects 

and operations and has lacked internal policies and procedures to 

effectively monitor budget execution. In addition, AOC has lacked 

accounting policies and procedures needed to properly account for and 

report financial information especially in accounting for, controlling, and 

reporting assets, including inventory. Moreover, AOC has not prepared 

auditable financial statements. 

10U.S. General Accounting Office, Human Capital: The Role of Ombudsmen in Dispute 

Resolution, GAO-01-466 (Washington, D.C.: April 13, 2001).
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A Chief Financial Officer (CFO) position was established at AOC, which 

the Architect filled in January 2002, in response to direction from the 

Subcommittee on Legislative Branch, Senate Committee on Appropriations 

that AOC begin essential financial management reforms.11 The new CFO is 

a member of the Architect’s Senior Policy Committee and, in carrying out 

his role in establishing a foundation of financial control and accountability 

at AOC, he is responsible for the activities of the Budget Office, the 

Accounting Office, and the Financial Systems Office. Among his first 

actions, the new CFO assembled a financial management team with the 

experience needed to establish a strong foundation of financial control and 

accountability by filling key budget and accounting officer positions.

As discussed in our executive guide on best practices in financial 

management,12 a solid foundation of control and accountability requires a 

system of checks and balances that provides reasonable assurance that an 

entity’s transactions are appropriately recorded and reported, its assets 

protected, its policies followed, and its resources used economically and 

efficiently for the purposes intended. The CFO, who has endorsed the 

executive guide as a road map for making improvements to financial 

management at AOC, has recognized the need for this foundation of 

financial control and accountability as well as the challenges his 

organization faces in establishing such checks and balances AOC-wide. 

Those challenges include

• developing and implementing effective budget formulation and 

execution policies and procedures that govern capital projects and 

operating activities AOC-wide,

• developing and implementing formal financial accounting and reporting 

policies and procedures and related operating procedures,

• developing and implementing internal controls and monitoring the 

reliability of financial information and safeguarding of assets,

• implementing and operating the new financial management system, and

11S. Rep. No. 107-37, at 29 (2001).

12U.S. General Accounting Office, Executive Guide: Creating Value Through World-class 

Financial Management, GAO/AIMD-00-134 (Washington, D.C.: April 2000).
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• preparing auditable comprehensive entitywide financial statements.

In response to these challenges, the CFO has set a goal for AOC to prepare 

auditable AOC-wide financial statements for the first time for fiscal year 

2003 and has made measurable progress in this and other areas in 

establishing a sound foundation of control and accountability at AOC. For 

example, some of the financial management team’s achievements to date 

include

• deploying phase two of the new accounting system AOC-wide, including 

continuing system support and periodic training;

• revising budget formulation guidance to include requirements for 

specific minimum detail needed to justify capital projects requested and 

support construction cost estimates;

• conducting an AOC-wide budget execution review to evaluate the 

effectiveness of AOC’s budget execution;

• conducting an AOC-wide inventory to establish a basis for closing 

accounting records for fiscal year 2002 and a establishing a beginning 

balance for fiscal year 2003; 

• developing a basis for valuing and classifying certain AOC assets, 

including property and equipment; and

• contracting for the development of AOC-wide accounting policies and 

procedures needed to establish internal control and prepare first-time 

financial statements.

A significant factor in the achievements to date is the experience the new 

financial team brings to AOC in carrying out the fundamentals of sound 

financial management and the fact that the initiatives fall under the direct 

control of the CFO. However, much work remains to be done on an AOCwide basis. Going forward, the CFO faces challenges, including

• having program managers routinely provide critical project justification 

and cost information and obligation plans;

• establishing AOC-wide accounting and control procedures, such as 

controls over the receipt and use of inventory; and
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• finding a way to interface financial information with the AOC Project 

Information Center system.

Implementing these and other financial-control and accountability-related 

initiatives will require the buy-in and support of key non-financial managers 

and staff. As the finance team seeks to build a foundation of financial 

accounting and control into the organization’s culture, top management 

must demonstrate a commitment to making and supporting the needed 

changes throughout the organization. As noted in our executive guide, 

leading organizations identified leadership as the most important factor in 

successfully making cultural changes.

AOC Could Benefit 

from an Agencywide 

and Disciplined 

Approach to IT 

Management

IT can be a valuable tool in achieving an organization’s mission objectives. 

Our research of leading private and public sector organizations shows that 

these organizations’ executives have embraced the central role of IT to 

mission performance.13 More specifically, these executives no longer 

regard IT as a separate support function, but rather view and treat it as an 

integral and enabling part of business operations. As such, they have 

adopted a corporate, or agencywide, approach to managing IT under the 

leadership and control of a senior executive, who operates as a full partner 

with the organization’s leadership team in charting the strategic direction 

and making informed IT investment decisions. 

Complementing a centralized leadership of IT management, leading 

organizations have also implemented certain institutional or agencywide 

management controls aimed at leveraging the vast potential of technology 

in achieving mission outcomes. These management controls include using 

a portfolio-based approach to IT investment decision making, using an 

enterprise architecture, or blueprint, to guide and constrain IT investments, 

following disciplined IT system acquisition and development management 

processes, and proactively managing the security of IT assets.

AOC currently relies heavily on IT in achieving its mission objectives.14 As 

an example, AOC uses the Computer Aided Facilities Management system 

to request and fulfill work orders for maintenance of the Capitol and the 

13U.S. General Accounting Office, Maximizing the Success of Chief Information Officers: 

Learning From Leading Organizations, GAO-01-376G, (Washington, D.C.: February 2001).

14AOC has budgeted $13 million for IT systems in fiscal year 2003. 
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surrounding grounds. In addition, it uses the Records Management system 

to archive architectural drawings pertaining to the U.S. Capitol, Library of 

Congress, Botanic Garden, and other buildings. According to AOC’s Chief 

Administrative Officer, the agency’s reliance on IT will increase in the 

future. 

Despite the importance and prevalence of IT at AOC, the agency’s current 

approach to managing IT is not consistent with leading practices, as is 

described in the following five sections. Until AOC embraces the central 

role of IT to mission performance and implements an agencywide and 

disciplined approach to IT management, it is not positioned to optimize the 

contribution of IT to agency mission performance.

AOC Needs a Senior 

Executive with Agencywide 

Responsibility and 

Authority for IT 

Management

Our research of private and public sector organizations that effectively 

manage IT shows that these organizations have adopted an agencywide 

approach to managing IT under the leadership of a chief information officer 

or comparable senior executive, who has the responsibility and authority 

for managing IT across the agency.15 According to the research, these 

executives function as members of the leadership team and are 

instrumental in developing a shared vision for the role of IT in achieving 

major improvements in business processes and operations to effectively 

optimize mission performance. In this capacity, leading organizations also 

provide these individuals with the authority they need to carry out their 

diverse responsibilities by providing budget control and management 

support for IT programs and initiatives. 

Currently, AOC does not have a senior-level executive who is responsible 

and accountable for IT management and spending across the agency, and 

AOC does not centrally oversee IT, according to AOC’s OIRM Director. 

Rather, budget and acquisition authority is vested in each AOC 

organizational component that is acquiring a given IT asset. With such a 

decentralized approach to IT management and spending, AOC does not 

have an individual focused on how IT can best support the collective needs 

of the agency, and thus is not positioned to effectively leverage IT as an 

agencywide resource. 

15GAO-01-376G.
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AOC Should Have an 

Agencywide, PortfolioBased Approach to IT 

Investment Management 

If managed wisely, IT investments can vastly improve mission 

performance. If not, IT projects can be risky, costly, and unproductive 

investments. Our best practices guide, based on research of private and 

public sector organizations that effectively manage their IT investments, 

outlines a corporate, portfolio-based approach to IT investment decision 

making that includes processes, practices, and activities for continually 

and consistently selecting, controlling, and evaluating competing IT 

investment options in a way that promotes the greatest value to the 

strategic interest of the organization.16

The first major step to building a sound IT investment management process 

is to be able to measure the progress of existing IT projects to identify 

variances in cost, schedule, and performance expectations, and take 

corrective action, if appropriate, and to establish basic capabilities for 

selecting new IT proposals. To do this, the organization needs to establish 

and implement processes and practices for (1) operating an IT investment 

board responsible for selecting, controlling, and evaluating IT investments 

and that includes both senior IT and business representatives, (2) providing 

effective oversight for ongoing IT projects throughout all phases of their 

life cycle, (3) identifying, tracking, and managing IT resources, (4) ensuring 

that each IT project supports the organization’s business needs, and

(5) establishing criteria for selecting new IT proposals. 

The second major step toward effective IT investment management 

requires that an organization continually assess proposed and ongoing 

projects as an integrated and competing set of investment options. That is, 

the organization should consider each new investment part of an integrated 

portfolio of investments that collectively contribute to mission goals and 

objectives. To do this, the organization needs to establish and implement 

processes and practices for (1) developing and implementing criteria to 

select investments that will best support the organization’s strategic goals, 

objectives, and mission, (2) using these criteria to consistently analyze and 

prioritize all IT investments, (3) ensuring that the optimal IT investment 

portfolio with manageable risks and returns is selected and funded, and

16U.S. General Accounting Office, Information Technology Investment Management: A 

Framework for Assessing and Improving Process Maturity, Version 1, GAO/AIMD-10.1.23 

(Washington, D.C.: May 2000).
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(4) overseeing each IT investment within the portfolio to ensure that it 

achieves its cost, benefit, schedule, and risk expectations.

AOC has not satisfied the components of either of these two major steps, 

and as a result does not currently have an agencywide, portfolio-based 

approach to IT investment management. For example, AOC has not 

developed the processes and established the key management structures, 

such as an investment review board, needed to manage and oversee IT 

investments. However, according to the OIRM Director, he has several 

activities under way to facilitate the agency’s movement to such an 

approach, should AOC choose to do so. These include

• developing an IT capital planning and investment guide that is to define 

key elements of a portfolio-based approach to IT investment 

management and acquiring an automated tool to facilitate its 

implementation,

• introducing new IT budget categories and collecting corresponding 

fiscal year 2004 budget information to track and control IT 

investments,17 and 

• reassessing the role of its Information Technology Standards and 

Architecture Committee, including how and when the committee 

reviews projects, what projects are reviewed, and what information is 

provided to the committee.18

Because the OIRM Director could not provide us with drafts or more 

detailed information on these activities, characterizing them as under 

development, we could not determine the extent to which these activities 

address the basic tenets of effective IT management. However, these 

17These categories are as follows: Infrastructure–-IT systems, including networks and 

personal computers, that have an IT cost focus and are necessary for daily operation and 

maintenance; Utility–-IT systems, including payroll and billing, that do not have a business 

focus, but are mission-critical; Enhancement–IT systems that have a business focus, such as 

supply chain management; and Frontier–IT systems, including e-commerce and customer 

tracking, that improve business performance.

18The Information Technology Standards and Architecture Committee currently sets IT 

policy relating to software and hardware standards and reviews agencywide IT projects for 

conformance with architecture standards.
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activities are currently limited because they are confined to OIRM, which is 

not positioned to implement effective IT investment management on its 

own. Achieving an agencywide, portfolio-based approach to IT investment 

management needs the full support and participation of AOC’s senior 

leadership. Until this occurs, AOC will continue to be limited in its ability to 

effectively leverage IT to achieve mission goals and objectives. 

AOC Needs to Establish the 

Management Foundation to 

Effectively Develop an 

Enterprise Architecture

Our experience with federal agencies has shown that attempting to 

modernize IT environments without an enterprise architecture to guide and 

constrain investments often results in systems that are duplicative, not well 

integrated, unnecessarily costly to maintain and interface, and ineffective 

in supporting mission goals. Managed properly, architectures can clarify 

and help optimize the interdependencies and interrelationships among 

related corporate operations and the underlying IT infrastructure and 

applications that support them. The development, implementation, and 

maintenance of architectures are recognized hallmarks of successful public 

and private organizations that effectively leveraged IT in meeting their 

mission goals.

An enterprise architecture—as defined in federal guidance, and as 

practiced by leading public and private sector organizations—acts as a 

blueprint and defines, both in logical terms (including business functions 

and applications, work locations, information needs and users, and the 

interrelationships among these variables) and in technical terms (including 

IT hardware, software, data communications, and security) how the 

organization operates today, how it intends to operate tomorrow, and a 

road map for transitioning between the two states.19 This guidance also 

defines a set of recognized key practices (management structures and 

processes) for developing and implementing an enterprise architecture. 

Among other things, these practices include the following:

• The head of the enterprise should recognize that the enterprise 

architecture is a corporate asset for systematically managing 

institutional change by supporting and sponsoring the architecture 

effort and giving it a clear mandate in the form of an enterprise policy 

statement. Such support is crucial to gaining the commitment of all 

19Chief Information Officers Council, A Practical Guide to Federal Enterprise Architecture,

version 1.0 (Washington, D.C.: February 2001).
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organizational components of the enterprise, all of which should 

participate in developing and implementing the enterprise architecture.

• The enterprise architecture effort should be directed and overseen by an 

executive body, empowered by the head of the enterprise, with 

members who represent all stakeholder organizations and have the 

authority to commit resources and to make and enforce decisions for 

their respective organizations.

• An individual who serves as the chief enterprise architect, and reports to 

either a chief information officer or comparable senior executive, 

should lead the enterprise architecture effort and manage it as a formal 

program. A formal program entails creating a program office, 

committing core staff, implementing a program management plan that 

details a work breakdown structure and schedule, allocating resources 

and tools, performing basic program management functions (e.g., risk 

management, change control, quality assurance, and configuration 

management), and tracking and reporting progress against measurable 

goals.

• The enterprise architecture should conform to a specified framework.

AOC does not have an enterprise architecture or the management 

foundation needed to successfully develop one. Thus far, AOC’s 

architecture activities are confined to OIRM, and they consist of meeting 

with peer agencies, such as the U.S. Capitol Police, to learn about their 

architecture development experiences, and selecting a framework to use in 

developing the architecture. OIRM officials also told us that they are 

finalizing an approach for developing the architecture. 

AOC has much to do and accomplish before it will have either the means 

for developing an architecture or the architecture itself. Central to what 

remains to be done is AOC’s executive leadership providing a clear 

mandate for the architecture and for managing its development consistent 

with recognized best practices and federal guidance. To do less risks 

producing an incomplete architecture that is not used to effectively guide 

and direct business and technology change to optimize agencywide 

performance. 
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AOC Should Define and 

Implement Institutional 

Processes for Acquiring and 

Developing IT Systems

Our experience with federal agencies has shown that the failure to 

implement rigorous and disciplined acquisition and development processes 

can lead to systems that do not perform as intended, are delivered late, and 

cost more than planned. The use of disciplined processes and controls 

based on well-defined and rigorously enforced policies, practices, and 

procedures for system acquisition and development can reduce that risk. 

Such processes for managing system acquisition/development are defined 

in various published models and guides, such as Carnegie Mellon 

University’s Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity ModelSM.

20

Examples of key processes from this model include the following: 

• Requirements management describes processes for establishing and 

maintaining a common and unambiguous definition of requirements 

among the acquisition team, the system users, and the software 

development contractor. Requirements management includes 

documenting policies and procedures for managing requirements, 

documenting and validating requirements, and establishing baselines 

and controlling changes to the requirements. 

• Test management describes processes for ensuring that the 

software/system performs according to the requirements and that it 

fulfills its intended use when placed in its intended environment. Test 

management includes developing a test plan, executing the plan, 

documenting and reporting test results, and analyzing test results and 

taking corrective actions.

• Configuration management describes processes for establishing and 

maintaining the integrity of work products throughout the life cycle 

process. Configuration management includes developing a 

configuration management plan; identifying work products to be 

maintained and controlled; establishing a repository or configuration 

management system for tracking work products; and approving, 

tracking, and controlling changes to the products.

• Quality assurance describes processes for providing independent 

verification of the requirements and processes for developing and 

producing the software/system. Quality assurance includes developing a 

20Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute, Software Acquisition Capability 

Maturity Model, version 1.03, (March 2002), and Software Capability Maturity Model, 

version 1.1 (February 1993).
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quality assurance plan, determining applicable processes and product 

standards to be followed, and conducting reviews to ensure that the 

product and process standards are followed.

• Risk management describes processes for identifying potential 

problems before they occur and adjusting the acquisition to mitigate the 

chances of the problems occurring. Risk management includes 

developing a project risk management plan; identifying and prioritizing 

potential problems; implementing risk mitigation strategies, as required; 

and tracking and reporting progress against the plans.

• Contract tracking and oversight describes processes for ensuring that 

the contractor performs according to the terms of the contract. Contract 

tracking and oversight includes developing a plan for tracking 

contractor activities, measuring contractor performance and conducting 

periodic reviews, and conducting internal reviews of tracking and 

oversight activities. 

OIRM has defined some of these key processes, but it has not defined 

others, and some that are defined are not complete. Moreover, the 

processes that have been defined have not been adopted and implemented 

agencywide. In 1995, OIRM developed its Information Systems Life Cycle

Directive that defines policies and procedures for software development 

and acquisition. This directive fully addresses the tenets of two key process 

areas—requirements management and test management—and partly 

addresses the tenets of two other areas— quality assurance and 

configuration management. For example, for quality assurance, the 

directive includes the need to conduct quality assurance reviews to ensure 

that product and process standards are followed; however, it does not 

address the need to first identify the process and product standards to be 

followed or the development of a quality assurance plan. Similarly, for 

configuration management, the directive includes requirements for 

developing and executing a plan; identifying work products to be 

maintained and controlled; and tracking, controlling, and releasing work 

products and items. However, it does not include requirements for a 

repository or for a configuration management system that supports 

tracking and controlling changes to work products. Finally, the directive 

does not address two key process areas—risk management and contract 

tracking and oversight. 

The OIRM Director told us that OIRM plans to improve its directive and 

acquire tools to facilitate its implementation. These efforts, if properly 
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implemented and adopted, could allow AOC to institutionalize disciplined 

processes for system development and acquisition management. Until AOC 

implements agencywide, disciplined processes for managing the 

development and acquisition of IT systems, it risks investing in systems 

that do not perform as intended, are delivered late, and cost more than 

planned. 

AOC Should Develop an 

Effective Information 

Security Program

Effective information security management is critical to AOC’s ability to 

ensure the reliability, availability, and confidentiality of its information 

assets, and thus its ability to perform its mission. If effective information 

security practices are not in place, AOC’s data and systems are at risk of 

inadvertent or deliberate misuse, fraud, improper disclosure, or 

destruction—possibly without detection. Our research of public and 

private sector organizations recognized as having strong information 

security programs shows that their programs include (1) establishing a 

central focal point with appropriate resources, (2) continually assessing 

business risks, (3) implementing and maintaining policies and controls, 

(4) promoting awareness, and (5) monitoring and evaluating policy and 

control effectiveness. 21

AOC has taken important steps to establish an effective information 

security program, but much remains to be done. In May 2001, the OIRM 

Director established and filled an IT security officer position. The officer’s 

responsibilities include planning and coordinating security risk 

assessments, developing IT security policies, conducting security training, 

and evaluating the effectiveness of IT security policies and controls. In 

March 2002, the Security Officer completed a partial risk assessment of 

AOC’s systems environment focusing on systems that are controlled by 

OIRM, and used that assessment to develop a security plan to address the 

identified vulnerabilities. The plan contains steps to develop user access 

and network administrator account policies, as well as a security 

awareness and training program. 

21U.S. General Accounting Office, Executive Guide: Information Security Management, 

Learning From Leading Organizations, GAO/AIMD-98-68 (Washington, D.C.: May 1998), 

and Information Security Risk Assessment: Practices of Leading Organizations, A 

Supplement to GAO’s May 1998 Executive Guide on Information Security Management, 

GAO/AIMD-00-33 (Washington, D.C.: November 1999).
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However, the Security Officer has since resigned and the position is vacant. 

Moreover, because the Security Officer was the only staff member 

dedicated to these tasks, the OIRM Director stated that AOC has yet to 

begin addressing the tasks outlined in the security plan. Currently, AOC is 

attempting to hire a new security officer and plans to hire an information 

systems security specialist. Until AOC addresses the elements of an 

effective security program, it will not be in a position to effectively 

safeguard its data and information assets. 

Conclusions The effectiveness with which AOC can use the elements of the 

management and accountability framework—strategic planning, 

organizational alignment, improved internal and external communications, 

performance management, and strategic human capital management—to 

achieve organizational transformation will depend in part on its ability to 

focus on management improvement in its day-to-day operations. A key 

factor in helping AOC to better achieve its mission and program outcomes 

and identify and manage risks while leveraging opportunities is to 

implement and strengthen appropriate internal controls. As it transforms 

the agency, AOC will need to ensure that it adopts management controls by 

(1) further developing and consistently applying transparent human capital 

policies and procedures, (2) continuing to improve its approach to 

budgeting and financial management to support effective and efficient 

program management, and (3) adopting an agency wide approach to IT 

management to position itself to optimize the contribution of IT to agency 

mission performance.

Recommendations for 

Agency Action

In order to continue to develop a management infrastructure and 

strengthen appropriate management controls, we recommend that the 

Architect of the Capitol take the following actions:

Strengthen AOC’s human capital policies, procedures, and processes by

• continuing to develop and implement agencywide human capital 

policies and procedures, and holding management and employees 

accountable for following these policies and procedures; 

• assessing ways in which AOC management could better gather and 

analyze data from the various employee relations offices and EAC while 

maintaining employee confidentiality; and
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• establishing a direct reporting relationship between the Ombudsperson 

and the Architect, consistent with professional standards.

Continue to improve AOC’s approach to financial management by 

developing strategies to institutionalize financial management practices 

that will support budgeting, financial, and program management at AOC. 

Such strategies could include developing performance goals and measures 

and associated roles aimed at increasing the accountability of non-financial 

managers and staff, such as jurisdictional superintendents, program 

managers, and other AOC staff—whose support is critical to the success of 

AOC’s financial management initiatives—and ensuring that these staff 

receive the training needed to effectively carry out their roles and 

responsibilities.

Adopt an agencywide approach to IT management by doing the following:

• Establishing a chief information officer, or comparable senior executive, 

with the responsibility, authority, and adequate resources for managing 

IT across the agency, who is a full participant in AOC’s senior decisionmaking processes, and has clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and 

accountabilities.

• Developing and implementing IT investment management processes 

with the full support and participation of AOC’s senior leadership. 

Specifically, the Architect must develop a plan for developing and 

implementing the investment management processes, as appropriate, 

that are outlined in our IT investment guide. 22 At a minimum, the plan 

should specify measurable tasks, goals, time frames, and resources 

required to develop and implement the processes. The Architect should 

focus first on the management processes associated with controlling 

existing IT projects and establishing the management structures to 

effectively implement an IT management process. 

22GAO/AIMD-10.1.23.
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• Developing, implementing, and maintaining an enterprise architecture 

to guide and constrain IT projects throughout AOC. The Architect 

should implement the practices, as appropriate, as outlined in the Chief 

Information Officer Council’s architecture management guide.23 As a 

first step, the Architect should establish the management structure for 

developing, implementing, and maintaining an enterprise architecture 

by implementing the following actions: 

• developing an agencywide policy statement providing a clear 

mandate for developing, implementing, and maintaining the 

architecture;

• establishing an executive body composed of stakeholders from AOC 

mission-critical programs offices to guide the strategy for developing 

the enterprise architecture and ensure agency support and resources 

for it; and

• designating an individual who serves as a chief enterprise architect to 

develop policy and lead the development of the enterprise 

architecture, and manage it as a formal program.

• Requiring disciplined and rigorous processes for managing the 

development and acquisition of IT systems, and implementing the 

processes throughout AOC. Specifically, these processes should include 

the following:

• quality assurance processes, including developing a quality 

assurance plan and identifying applicable process and product 

standards that will be used in developing and assessing project 

processes and products; 

• configuration management processes, including establishing a 

repository or configuration management system to maintain and 

control configuration management items;

• risk management processes, including developing a project risk 

management plan, identifying and prioritizing potential problems, 

23Chief Information Officers Council, A Practical Guide to Federal Enterprise Architecture,

version 1.0 (Washington, D.C.: February 2001).
Chapter 3

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Page 62 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

implementing risk mitigation strategies, as required, and tracking and 

reporting progress against the plans; and

• contract tracking and oversight processes, including developing a 

plan for tracking contractor activities, measuring contractor 

performance and conducting periodic reviews, and conducting 

internal reviews of tracking and oversight activities. 

• Establishing and implementing an information security program. 

Specifically, the Architect should establish an information security 

program by taking the following steps:

• designate a security officer and provide him or her with the authority 

and resources to implement an agencywide security program; 

• develop and implement policy and guidance to perform risk 

assessments continually; 

• use the results of the risk assessments to develop and implement 

appropriate controls; 

• develop policies for security training and awareness and provide the 

training; and

• monitor and evaluate policy and control effectiveness. 24

Agency Comments In his comments on this chapter, the Architect generally agreed with our 

recommendations and discussed the relevant efforts AOC has under way in 

the areas of human capital policies, financial management, and IT 

management. For example, the Architect stated that AOC has formed a 

team including representatives from all key offices and employee groups to 

explore the development of a confidential process to track employee 

relations issues agencywide. In the area of financial management, the 

Architect underscored a number of initiatives under way, including the 

piloting of financial management training for line managers and staff and 

indicated that AOC’s implementation plan will include a strategy for 

incorporating financial management best practices throughout AOC. 

24GAO/AIMD-98-68.
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Finally, the Architect stated that IT is a key enabler of AOC’s strategy for 

organizational improvement and that OIRM will work closely with the 

Senior Policy Committee to establish an agencywide approach to IT 

management. The Architect cautioned that fully implementing the 

information technology framework that we laid out will take considerable 

time, but that AOC’s implementation plan will include a more specific 

approach to developing and implementing this framework. The Architect’s 

comments are reprinted in appendix II.
Page 64 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Chapter 4

Strategic Management Framework Important 

for Addressing Long-standing Worker Safety, 

Project Management, and Recycling Issues Chapte4r

In the preceding chapters, we discussed the need for the Office of the 

Architect of the Capitol (AOC) to put in place the management and 

accountability framework needed for organizational transformation—

leadership, strategic planning, organizational alignment, communications, 

and performance measurement—and the management infrastructure of 

financial, information technology, and other controls that support the 

transformation. The management and accountability framework needed 

for transformation and the management infrastructure of financial, 

information technology, and other controls cut across AOC’s programs and 

influence its performance in all areas critical to achieving its mission. 

Improvements in these areas can also ameliorate the performance of 

program areas of long-standing concern to AOC’s employees and 

congressional stakeholders—worker safety, project management, and 

recycling. In recent years, AOC has had among the highest worker injury 

rates in the federal government. Furthermore, AOC’s annual appropriations 

for capital projects have increased substantially in recent years, placing 

AOC at greater risk of project delays and cost overruns. Finally, high rates 

of contamination of recyclable materials continue to detract from 

accomplishing the environmental goals of AOC’s recycling programs. 

AOC has made recent progress in all these areas. However, significant 

opportunities exist to build on this progress to bring about significant, 

lasting performance improvements. For example, the Architect has 

declared that safety is the agency’s number one priority and established a 

target for reducing injuries. Nonetheless, relating safety to other pressing 

priorities and developing a clear strategy for how working safely will 

become the cultural norm, is still a work in progress at AOC. Similarly, AOC 

has adopted industry best practices for project management, but 

implementation is uneven and hampered by weaknesses in leadership, 

performance and financial management, priority setting, communication, 

and strategic management of human capital. Finally, although AOC has 

recently made improvements to the House and Senate recycling programs, 

contamination of recycled materials remains high, and the goals for the 

overall program remain unclear.
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AOC’s Worker Safety 

Efforts Are Substantial, 

but AOC Needs to 

Develop a Strategic 

Approach to Achieve a 

Safer Workplace

Worker safety at AOC has been the subject of congressional scrutiny for the 

past several years because AOC had higher injury and illness rates than 

many other federal agencies and substantially higher rates than the federal 

government as a whole, as seen in table 1.

Table 1: Federal Agencies with the Highest Injury and Illness Rates, Fiscal Years 1999 through 2001

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Note: Job related injuries and illnesses per 100 employees as recorded under the Federal Employees’ 

Compensation Act program.

The Architect responded to these concerns by declaring safety the agency’s 

top priority and undertaking a number of initiatives that correspond to the 

components of an effective safety program, as identified by safety experts 

and federal safety agencies. These core components include management 

commitment, employee involvement, identification, analysis and 

development of controls for problem jobs, education and training, and 

medical management. Key among AOC’s activities is the planned 

development and implementation, by 2005, of about 43 specialized safety 

programs on topics ranging from handling asbestos to working safely in 

confined spaces. These programs are designed to help AOC comply with 

federal safety and health regulations. Fifteen of these specialized programs 

1999 2000 2001

Agency Rate Agency Rate Agency Rate

All federal government 3.91 All federal government 3.95 All federal government 3.98

Immigration and Naturalization 

Service

14.14 Architect of the Capitol 17.90 Presidio Trust 14.97

Architect of the Capitol 14.11 Immigration and Naturalization 

Service

14.04 Immigration and Naturalization 

Service 13.44

Bureau of Engraving and 

Printing

12.76 U.S. Mint 13.47 Architect of the Capitol 11.02

National Park Service 12.16 Bureau of Indian Affairs 12.69 National Park Service 10.92

U.S. Mint 10.52 Bureau of Engraving and 

Printing

12.28 U.S. Mint 10.38
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Page 66 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

have been approved; none have yet been fully implemented across all of 

AOC’s jurisdictions. 

AOC’s efforts are commendable and AOC employees who participated in 

our focus groups noted positive changes in worker safety. As a next step, 

AOC needs to integrate the safety goals in its draft Safety Master Plan with 

AOC’s strategic goals in its overall strategic plan, and to develop 

performance measures to assess its progress in achieving these goals. The 

Director of AOC’s Safety, Fire, and Environmental Programs, who oversees 

AOC’s workplace safety program, has acknowledged that the two strategic 

planning efforts must be further integrated. Also, AOC has established 

mechanisms to foster employee involvement, such as encouraging 

employees to report job-related injuries and hazards. Building on these 

efforts, AOC needs to establish a formal mechanism for reporting to ensure 

complete reporting of hazards. AOC’s approach to identifying, analyzing, 

and developing controls for problem jobs is inconsistent and does not 

ensure that all workplace hazards are being addressed. Moreover, AOC has 

provided a significant amount of training to its employees, but the training 

activities could be better linked to AOC’s safety goal of changing its 

workplace culture to increase staff awareness, commitment, and 

involvement in safety and health. Finally, AOC’s medical management 

activities could be better coordinated with the worker safety program, so 

that information about workplace injuries and illnesses could be more 

widely shared and used to better target prevention efforts.

Effective Safety and Health 

Programs Depend on a Set 

of Core Components

Safety experts and federal safety agencies agree that, to build an effective 

safety program, organizations must take a strategic approach to managing 

workplace safety and health. This objective is generally accomplished by 

establishing a safety program built upon a set of six core program 

components, which, together, help an organization lay out what it is trying 

to achieve, assess progress, and ensure that safety policies and procedures 

are appropriate and effective. The six core components of an effective 

safety and health program are (1) management commitment, (2) employee 

involvement, (3) identification of problem jobs, (4) analysis and 

development of controls for problem jobs, (5) education and training, and 

(6) medical management. Table 2 lists these components, along with a 

description of the key activities upon which each component is built.
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Table 2: Components of an Effective Safety and Health Program and How They Are Demonstrated 

Sources: OSHA, Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines, Issuance of Voluntary Guidelines, Federal Register 54:3904-3916 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 26, 1989) and U.S. General Accounting 

Office, Private Sector Ergonomics Programs Yield Positive Results, GAO/HEHS-97-163 (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 27, 1997).

a

Different terminology is often used to describe these components. For example, identification of 

problem jobs is sometimes referred to as hazard identification and assessment. Analysis and 

development of controls for problem jobs is sometimes referred to as hazard prevention and control. 

The terms used here are identical to those used in our prior work.

b

An organization may have a medical management program without necessarily having a safety and 

health program.

Componenta Supporting activities

Management 

commitment

• Establish goals for the program, collect reliable data, and evaluate results.

• Establish program responsibilities of managers and employees for safety and health in the workplace and hold 

them accountable for carrying out those responsibilities.

• Communicate to the staff the program’s importance.

Employee involvement • Establish mechanisms to get employees involved in the program, such as creating committees or teams to 

receive information on problem jobs or areas.

• Establish procedures for employees to report job-related fatalities, injuries, illnesses, incidents, and hazards; 

ensure that employees are not discouraged from reporting job-related fatalities, injuries, illnesses, incidents, 

and hazards.

• Establish regular channels of communication with employees regarding worker safety issues. 

Identification of 

problem jobs

• Follow up on employee reports of fatalities, injuries, illnesses, incidents, and hazards.

• Review injury logs or other data to identify problem areas.

• Conduct inspections of the workplace to identify incidents and hazards causing injuries, illnesses, or fatalities.

Analysis and 

development of controls 

for problem jobs

• Through investigation or other analysis, identify hazards present in problem jobs.

• Develop controls for problem jobs by brainstorming with employees or other methods.

• Follow up to ensure that hazards are abated and controls are effective. 

Education and training • Provide general awareness training to all employees so they can recognize hazards and risks; learn 

procedures for reporting job-related fatalities, injuries, illnesses, incidents, and hazards; and become familiar 

with the program.

• Provide targeted training to specified groups of employees because of the jobs they hold, the hazards they 

face, or their roles in the program. 

Medical managementb • Encourage early reporting of symptoms and ensure that employees do not fear reprisal or discrimination.

• Ensure a prompt evaluation by a medical provider.

• Provide employees who have work-related medical conditions with restricted or light duty employment. 
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Our April 2002 statement assessed AOC’s efforts in implementing the first 

four components. Since that time, we have assessed AOC’s activities in the 

remaining two areas: education and training and medical management. We 

also met with DuPont Safety Resources1

 and the Department of Defense to 

discuss best practices in worker safety. 

Management Commitment: 

Safety Program’s 

Importance Has Been 

Communicated, but Goals 

Need to Be Integrated with 

Agency Goals and 

Performance Measures 

Need to Be Developed

AOC has undertaken a number of actions that demonstrate its commitment 

to worker safety. As a next step, it needs to develop safety program goals 

that are integrated with broader agency goals. In an effort to highlight the 

importance of worker safety, the Architect proclaimed safety to be the 

agency’s top priority in fiscal year 2001, and established the goal of 

reducing total injuries and illnesses by 10 percent each year through fiscal 

year 2005. As we reported in April 2002, AOC further demonstrated its 

commitment by devoting additional resources to safety, such as increasing 

staffing levels in its central safety office and assigning safety staff to seven 

of its eight jurisdictions. Additionally, AOC has consulted with the 

Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration 

(OSHA)2

 on how to record illnesses and injuries and with the congressional 

Office of Compliance on how to comply with OSHA requirements. AOC has 

also contracted with DuPont Safety Resources to provide a baseline 

assessment of AOC’s safety activities and to provide best practices 

briefings for AOC senior executives and safety specialists for adopting a 

safety culture, including key components of an effective safety and health 

program. AOC has also contracted with the Department of Health and 

Human Services’ Public Health Service (PHS),3

 which is developing AOC’s 

1

DuPont Safety Resources is a part of DuPont’s Safety and Protection business segment, 

which provides consulting and training services on worker safety, contractor safety, 

ergonomics, and asset effectiveness to public and private sector customers.

2

OSHA was established under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to “Assure so 

far as possible every working man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working 

conditions.” This mandate involves the application of a set of tools by OSHA (e.g., standards 

development, enforcement, and compliance assistance), which enable employers to 

maintain safe and healthful workplaces.

3

According to the PHS, it is one of the nation’s seven uniformed services and consists of 

approximately 6,000 officers, who serve under the leadership of the U.S. Surgeon General. 

Its mission is to provide highly trained and mobile health professionals who carry out 

programs to promote the health of the nation, understand and prevent disease and injury, 

assure safe and effective drugs and medical devices, deliver health services to federal 

beneficiaries, and furnish health expertise in times of war or other national or international 

emergencies.
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43 specialized safety programs, providing safety training, and identifying 

hazards associated with AOC job tasks. AOC is developing a 5-year Safety 

Master Plan that, when completed, is to be used as a road map to identify 

its safety goals and philosophy, establish priorities, assign responsibilities, 

and identify project and funding needs. AOC employees who participated 

in our focus groups also noted positive changes in communicating worker 

safety. Many participants felt that AOC takes safety-related incidents 

seriously and that there has been an increased emphasis on safety. 

To achieve a safer workplace, AOC needs to integrate the safety goals in its 

draft Safety Master Plan with the strategic goals in its draft Strategic Plan. 

The Director of AOC’s Safety Program has acknowledged that as a next 

step, the two strategic planning efforts must be integrated. Private sector 

best practices indicate that an organization needs safety goals that are 

consistent and integrated with other organizational goals. Safety goals 

should be well integrated into the organizational culture so that it becomes 

second nature for employees to perform all tasks safely, and so that there is 

little tolerance for unsafe work practices. 

AOC has not yet developed performance measures to assess progress in 

achieving these safety goals. AOC officials have indicated that the 

development and implementation of the 43 specialized safety programs is 

their primary focus, and they plan to implement all of these programs by 

fiscal year 2005. Although 15 of these programs have been written and 

approved by the Architect, the standard operating procedures that are 

needed to fully implement these programs in the jurisdictions have not 

been approved. AOC’s draft Safety Master Plan currently provides 

information about the development and expected approval dates for the 

remaining programs, but does not provide other milestones or performance 

measures for the full implementation of these programs in the jurisdictions, 

including the anticipated time frames for developing and approving the 

standard operating procedures. Identifying interim milestones would help 

AOC assess its progress in achieving its fiscal year 2005 completion target 

and underscore for AOC employees and external stakeholders the 

importance AOC places on worker safety.
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The only performance measure that AOC has developed for assessing the 

worker safety program is a 10 percent reduction in injuries. This measure 

was based on a general sense of how much of a reduction would be 

achievable overall and how high the goal should be to motivate 

improvements. As we reported in April 2002, AOC is measuring its progress 

in achieving this reduction using the number of claims for compensation 

for workplace injuries and illnesses under the Federal Workers’ 

Compensation Program. However, it provides an incomplete picture of the 

overall level of safety because the number of claims in any organization can 

be affected by factors not directly related to safety, such as poor morale 

among employees or a lack of knowledge about how or when to file a 

claim. Also, the use of these data as a measure of safety program 

performance is not directly comparable to key measures used in the private 

sector, which uses “OSHA recordables” to assess worker safety.4 We 

reported in April 2002 that AOC had begun to collect these data on a limited 

basis. Since that time, AOC has begun to develop a more standardized 

approach to collect and track OSHA recordables. AOC is also trying to 

formalize partnerships with the Office of Compliance and OSHA to provide 

technical assistance that could facilitate standardizing these data. 

Moreover, AOC employees at all levels need to be held accountable for 

achieving the safety goals. For example, the first goal in AOC’s draft Safety 

Master Plan—providing a safe and healthful environment through the 

identification and elimination of hazards—has as an objective to ensure 

that all facilities, processes, and equipment include safety considerations in 

their design, development, and implementation to eliminate hazards. Yet, at 

this stage, AOC has not fully linked employee performance with the 

achievement of these safety goals and objectives. For example, there was a 

recurring observation made by focus group participants that time 

constraints to complete jobs and supervisory pressure adversely affect 

attention to safety. Although the incentive to focus on safety has been built 

into the performance appraisal system for employees, it is not addressed 

for senior managers and does not apply to employees who do not 

participate in AOC’s performance appraisal system.

We also reported in April 2002 that AOC needed to clearly define roles, 

responsibilities, and authorities of safety personnel at the central and 

4

An OSHA recordable is any work-related injury or illness that results in death, loss of 

consciousness, days away from work, restricted work activity or transfer, or medical 

treatment beyond first aid.
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jurisdictional levels. According to the central and jurisdictional safety 

staffs, AOC has now clearly defined their respective roles and 

responsibilities. However, it is still unclear how they are being held 

accountable for achieving the safety program’s goals. The central safety 

office staff are responsible for the overall management of the 43 specialized 

programs, and they rely on the jurisdictional safety specialists to develop 

the specific procedures necessary for AOC to fully implement these 

programs. The jurisdictional safety specialists report to jurisdictional 

superintendents and not to the Director of Safety, Fire, and Environmental 

Programs, and they have other safety responsibilities and tasks, such as 

training and investigating accidents and injuries. Because jurisdictional 

safety specialists must focus on safety priorities as established by 

superintendents and line managers in their jurisdictions, they have limited 

time to spend on developing procedures to implement the specialized 

safety programs. 

Employee Involvement: 

AOC Has Established 

Mechanisms for 

Involvement, but Complete 

Reporting of Hazards Is Not 

Assured 

AOC has a number of mechanisms to obtain employee involvement in its 

safety program and encourages employees to report injuries and hazards. 

AOC now needs to establish a formal reporting mechanism in order to 

provide assurance that these safety data are complete. AOC has established 

employee safety committees at both the jurisdictional and senior 

management levels. The jurisdictional committees, referred to as 

Jurisdictional Occupational Safety and Health committees, include 

frontline employees and jurisdictional specialists who perform a variety of 

activities ranging from training to accident investigations. The senior 

management committee, referred to as the Safety, Health, and 

Environmental Council, or SHEC, consists of superintendents and AOC 

safety staff. This committee meets quarterly and addresses various topics 

on an ad hoc basis. As we reported in April 2002, establishing these 

committees is a positive step toward achieving employee involvement. In 

its baseline assessment of AOC, DuPont Safety Resources cited these 

mechanisms as a strength of the agency’s worker safety program. 

Employee involvement also includes establishing procedures for 

employees to report job-related illnesses, injuries, incidents, and hazards 

and encouraging them to do so. In April 2002, the Architect issued a 

memorandum encouraging employees to report all injuries and illnesses, 

regardless of severity. Many of the focus group participants indicated that 

they generally felt comfortable reporting injuries, incidents, and hazards. 

However, there were participants in some focus groups who indicated that 

they were hesitant to report hazards because they were not sure how 
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seriously their supervisors would treat these reports. Many participants 

commented that they did not feel protected from safety and health hazards. 

For example, some participants said that they were not adequately 

prepared to deal with hazardous substances. In that respect, policies and 

procedures for reporting accidents should also apply to hazards and other 

conditions that may lead to accidents. The recent implementation of a 

performance appraisal system that holds frontline employees under this 

system accountable for observing and promptly reporting safety issues to 

supervisors is a very encouraging step. If effectively implemented, this 

appraisal system will also help ensure that employees will be encouraged 

to report hazards, that supervisors will take those reports seriously, and 

that senior managers will be accountable for acting on these reports. 

Identification, Analysis, and 

Development of Controls 

for Problem Jobs: AOC’s 

Inconsistent Approach Does 

Not Ensure a Risk-Based 

Approach to Addressing 

Workplace Hazards 

AOC has a number of procedures in place to identify the underlying 

hazards that make jobs dangerous and to develop remedies for those 

hazards. However, these efforts are inconsistent and do not ensure that 

corrective actions are taken to eliminate hazards and prevent future 

injuries and illnesses. A comprehensive, consistently implemented system 

is critical to providing AOC with the assurance that its efforts are risk 

based—targeted directly toward identifying and abating those factors 

leading to the most severe and frequent incidents, accidents, and hazards. 

We reported in April 2002 that AOC has provided some assurance that 

accidents are being investigated and hazards addressed by placing safety 

specialists in several jurisdictions. Yet, there is no consistent AOC-wide 

system for conducting investigations and follow-up to ensure that workers 

across the jurisdictions are receiving the same level of protection. In the 

absence of an AOC-wide system, we found that some of the jurisdictions 

have (1) developed their own specific procedures for conducting 

investigations, (2) involved different staff members in the investigations, 

and (3) developed their own forms to gather accident or incident data. 

However, there were a few focus group participants who questioned 

whether sufficient controls existed to ensure that supervisors acted on all 

reports, particularly those that are not documented. We found that only two 

of AOC’s eight jurisdictions have procedures for tracking hazard reports 

and the follow-up actions taken to address those reports, even when there 

has not been an accident. In the absence of consistent AOC-wide processes 

for conducting investigations, we found generally ad hoc or infrequent 

efforts to use existing information from either the internal workers’ 

compensation database or from other sources to look for common problem 

areas to identify potentially hazardous jobs.
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Because AOC has not yet established an agencywide procedure to ensure 

that all jurisdictions perform at least a basic level of investigation and data 

gathering, it does not have the means for assuring that actual and potential 

causes of accidents will be abated. DuPont Safety Resources also found 

that AOC could improve its investigation process, and in 1998, the Office of 

Compliance recommended that AOC develop a system to routinely 

investigate accidents or hazardous situations and to ensure that hazards 

are corrected. 

AOC has recognized the need to have better information on problem jobs 

and is beginning to make several improvements in this area. For example, 

AOC has contracted with PHS to conduct agencywide job hazard analyses. 

Eventually, this information on job hazards will be integrated with the 

agency’s Computer Aided Facility Management System, although AOC has 

not set a date for when this will be accomplished. Also, AOC has procured a 

data system—the Facility Management Assistant system—that it plans to 

use for recording and monitoring the results of inspections. According to 

AOC safety officials, this system should help safety personnel identify 

potential problem areas. However, this system is not scheduled for full 

implementation until later in fiscal year 2003. Finally, as a part of its longterm effort to develop its 43 specialized safety programs, AOC has included 

at least 2 programs, scheduled to be implemented by the end of fiscal year 

2005 that will address “Mishap Prevention and Reporting” and “Hazard 

Abatement and Inspections,” but these programs have yet to be developed 

or approved. In the meantime, at the recommendation of DuPont Safety 

Resources, AOC has convened several work groups composed of safety 

and other relevant staff to help improve accident and near-miss reporting 

and investigations, which we hope will guide AOC’s efforts to develop an 

agencywide system for conducting investigations and follow-up.

Education and Training: 

Activities Could Be More 

Supportive of Improving the 

Safety Culture; 

Effectiveness Evaluated in 

Achieving a Safer 

Workplace 

AOC has adopted a compliance-based approach to providing safety training 

to its employees. However, this type of training is not sufficient, in itself, to 

achieve AOC’s long-range goal of instilling safety as a basic organizational 

value. In fiscal year 2001 alone, AOC reported that it provided over 13,000 

hours of formal training to its employees. Most of this training is driven by 

federal safety and health regulations, which provide the basis for AOC’s 43 

specialized safety programs. This safety training, covering such topics as 

asbestos management, is offered by or through AOC’s HRMD. AOC safety 

specialists and supervisors have also provided informal training—such as 

general safety awareness talks—to frontline staff in the jurisdictions. These 
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efforts were acknowledged in our focus groups, as almost all of the focus 

group participants reported receiving safety training in the last 12 months. 

In addition to helping AOC achieve compliance, training should support 

AOC’s safety goal of changing workplace culture to increase staff 

awareness, commitment, and involvement in safety and health. Comments 

from DuPont Safety Resources’ representatives and some AOC safety 

specialists suggest that in order to change the safety culture, AOC could 

target its safety awareness training so that it better motivates employees at 

all levels to incorporate safety into all aspects of their work. Many focus 

group participants reported that they did not understand how some of the 

training provided was pertinent to their work. Once AOC has gathered the 

safety data it needs to help it assess the areas of highest risk for hazards, 

injuries, accidents, and illnesses, AOC’s safety training could also be 

targeted to address these high-risk areas. 

A comprehensive approach to evaluate the effectiveness of training 

includes assessments of changes in employee behaviors and how the 

training influences organizational results. While AOC performs quality 

control assessments for each course offered, it has not evaluated the 

overall effectiveness of its training activities to determine if they are 

helping AOC achieve a safer workplace and improving the safety culture. In 

this regard, as noted above, the majority of the formal training provided is 

required by federal safety and health regulations, and although AOC 

routinely obtains feedback from employees and subject matter experts on 

the quality of individual courses, there is little effort to evaluate whether 

these courses are having an impact on AOC employees’ work habits, so it is 

not clear to AOC if this training is effective in achieving this objective. 

AOC safety and HRMD staffs have not yet established a systematic process 

to identify training needs for individual employees to help ensure the safety 

program’s success. Instead jurisdictional safety specialists, working with 

HRMD, are developing this training on an ad hoc basis. For example, 

according to the House jurisdiction safety specialist, supervisors needed 

additional skills to fully understand their role in the safety program. The 

House jurisdiction worked through HRMD and the National Safety Council 

of Maryland to deliver this type of training to supervisors in the House.

Also, the procedures and responsibilities for monitoring training 

requirements for the safety program are not well defined. Currently, the 

HRMD staff, the central safety office staff, jurisdictional safety specialists, 

and frontline supervisors share responsibilities for monitoring safety 
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training. HRMD maintains a central record of AOC-sponsored training 

courses and employees’ training attendance but does not identify when 

employees need training. As a result, jurisdictional safety specialists and 

frontline supervisors must determine when employees need required 

training and ensure that they receive such training. For example, 

jurisdictional safety specialists are tracking this information themselves 

using individual systems, thus leading to inconsistencies across 

jurisdictions and potentially duplicative record-keeping activities. AOC’s 

draft Safety Master Plan refers to a “tickler”5

 that, once developed, is to be 

included in the central training system and will identify training needs for 

individual employees. This tool, in addition to a system that inventories 

employees’ certifications and licenses, should be valuable in helping AOC 

employees stay abreast of their safety training needs and requirements.

Medical Management: 

Activities Can Be Better 

Coordinated with AOC’s 

Safety Program So 

Potentially Useful 

Information Can Be 

Routinely Shared 

AOC’s medical management activities are carried out by several offices 

with no central coordination, so valuable information about workplace 

injuries and illnesses is not routinely shared or best used to target 

prevention efforts. Overall, AOC’s medical management activities are 

aimed at reducing the incidence and severity of work-related injuries and 

illnesses and controlling workers’ compensation costs, which have 

changed little over the last several years. (See figure 2). AOC has partnered 

with the congressional Office of the Attending Physician (OAP) to conduct 

OSHA-mandated medical examinations for AOC employees exposed to 

hazardous substances, while HRMD has developed a return-to-work 

program that offers modified-duty assignments to enable recovering 

employees to return to work as soon as practical. HRMD also provides 

active outreach to AOC employees to keep them informed about their 

rights and duties with respect to the federal workers compensation 

program. In addition, HRMD follows up on reports of program abuses 

through private investigations and ongoing contact with the Department of 

Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs.

5

A file that serves as a reminder and is arranged to bring matters to timely attention. 

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition (Springfield, MA), 1977.
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Figure 2: AOC Workers’ Compensation Payments, Fiscal Years 1997 through 2002

Although these activities generally support AOC’s safety program, we have 

observed a lack of clarity regarding the roles of the many offices involved 

in these efforts. Medical management activities typically involve a number 

of separate entities, including human resources staff, health care providers, 

occupational health and safety experts, employees, and managers. To be 

effective, these activities require a high level of coordination among these 

entities. However, the lack of clarity at AOC has led to a limited exchange 

of important information that could be used to improve the safety 

program’s performance.

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Fiscal year

Compensation payment

Medical payments

Source: Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs and AOC.

Dollars in millions
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In particular, the role of OAP could be more clearly defined and expanded, 

in accordance with the 1998 Memorandum of Understanding between 

AOC and OAP.6

 OAP provides primary care and emergency, environmental, 

and occupational health services in direct support of members of the 

Congress, their staffs, pages, visiting dignitaries, and tourists.7

 As specified 

in the Memorandum of Understanding, OAP conducts OSHA-mandated 

medical examinations for AOC employees exposed to hazardous 

substances, provides first aid for many AOC employees, and approves 

modified-duty assignments for recovering AOC employees.8

 However, the 

Memorandum of Understanding allows a broader role for OAP in 

providing medical expertise, which could potentially include providing 

valuable data on the hazards causing injuries and illnesses at AOC, 

providing trend information on the results of medical examinations, and 

helping AOC standardize reporting procedures. According to the Director 

of AOC’s Safety, Fire, and Environmental Programs, as many as 30 percent 

of AOC’s reported injuries are probably not serious enough to warrant 

medical treatment. However, it is difficult to determine the severity of 

reported injuries without better injury data, underscoring the need for 

standardized reporting procedures. OAP could be instrumental in helping 

AOC develop these procedures.

AOC central safety staff and HRMD could coordinate more to facilitate the 

exchange of information to further control workers’ compensation costs. 

In particular, HRMD staff uses injury data primarily for processing workers’ 

compensation claims, but the central safety office does not systematically 

or routinely analyze these data to better understand and address the causes 

of injuries and illnesses. Also, superintendents do not routinely receive 

data on the costs associated with injuries in each jurisdiction, so they are 

not fully aware of them. Having these data would help AOC hold these 

managers accountable for reducing these costs. Furthermore, although 

6

Memorandum of Understanding Between the Office of the Architect of the Capitol and the 

Office of the Attending Physician, signed December, 1998, effective date: January 4, 1999.

7

OAP was established in 1928 and employs about 37 staff, 17 of whom are nurses employed 

by AOC. OAP also treats justices of the Supreme Court and maintains a liaison with military 

and civilian hospitals to facilitate necessary referrals of patients requiring hospitalization. 

8

Medical surveillance examinations are required by OSHA for employees whose jobs expose 

them to known hazards, such as arsenic or benzene. These examinations are conducted at 

scheduled intervals, that is, yearly, in order to detect health problems in exposed employees 

early enough to prevent or limit the progression of a work-related disease by limiting further 

exposure and by offering timely medical intervention.
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HRMD encourages supervisor involvement in identifying and overseeing 

modified-duty assignments that would enable AOC to engage injured 

workers in productive work to reduce injury costs, some jurisdictional staff 

we spoke with generally do not feel it is their responsibility to do so. One 

way to ensure that information is fully disclosed and analyzed is to provide 

a regular forum, such as a work group of superintendents, HRMD staff, 

OAP staff, and safety specialists, to discuss new and ongoing claims. This 

strategy has been adopted by the Department of Defense (DOD) and has 

proved to be useful in managing workers’ compensation claims and costs, 

according to DOD officials who specialize in this area. By focusing 

management attention on workers’ compensation claims and costs, AOC 

may provide a clearer incentive for staff at all levels to be more actively 

involved in modified-duty assignments and in other safety activities.

Conclusions AOC has taken significant steps toward implementing the necessary 

components of an effective worker safety and health program, and the level 

of effort it has devoted to worker safety is unquestionable. However, 

achieving a safer workplace at AOC will depend in part on AOC’s ability to 

integrate the safety goals in its draft Safety Master Plan with the strategic 

goals in its draft Strategic Plan to bring about long-term cultural change so 

that there is little tolerance for unsafe work practices. AOC’s potential to 

realize success is greater if it develops safety goals and measures that are 

fully integrated with AOC’s other agencywide goals; this is the best way to 

ensure that management and employees are clear about where safety 

stands in relation to the many other work priorities AOC faces every day. 

For example, in order to ensure that AOC achieves its fiscal year 2005 

completion target for the 43 specialized safety programs, we believe that 

identifying interim milestones and measures would help AOC assess its 

progress in achieving its target. 

AOC could also benefit from having clearly defined and documented 

policies and procedures for reporting hazards, much like those that exist 

for injuries and illnesses, for this is the best way to ensure that AOC fully 

understands problem areas. There is also merit to having consistent 

procedures for conducting investigations and follow-up, so AOC will be 

assured that potential hazards are being addressed consistently in all 

jurisdictions.

Regarding its safety training and medical management activities, AOC has 

made initial efforts to incorporate the knowledge and skills of various 

offices to help the safety program. Nonetheless, there are untapped 
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resources within AOC that could be better utilized to help the safety 

program achieve its goals. For example, training that is more directly 

linked to AOC’s goal of adopting a safety culture, as well as more effective 

assessments of that training, will help AOC achieve its goals more 

efficiently. Also, AOC could benefit from a clearer definition of 

responsibilities for tracking and recording training that is received. AOC 

could also make better use of OAP’s resources. There are a number of 

additional functions OAP can provide for AOC that we believe are 

consistent with the current Memorandum of Understanding, such as 

providing valuable data on the hazards causing injuries and illnesses at 

AOC. We also believe that a senior-management group that routinely 

discusses workers’ compensation claims and costs will help highlight these 

issues to all managers, and ultimately make managers more accountable 

for reducing these costs. By taking advantage of these opportunities, AOC 

could ensure that these medical management activities are better linked to 

the goals of the safety program and the overall mission of the agency.

Recommendations for 

Agency Action

To enhance AOC’s ongoing efforts to establish a strategy for the worker 

safety program by establishing safety program goals that are fully 

integrated with AOC’s agencywide goals, we recommend that the Architect 

of the Capitol

• identify performance measures for safety goals and objectives, including 

measures for how AOC will implement the 43 specialized safety 

programs and how superintendents and employees will be held 

accountable for achieving results;

• establish clearly defined and documented policies and procedures for 

reporting hazards similar to those that apply to injury and illness 

reporting;

• establish a consistent, AOC-wide system for conducting investigations 

and follow-up;

• establish a safety training curriculum that fully supports all of the goals 

of the safety program and further evaluate the effectiveness of the 

training provided;

• assign clear responsibility for tracking and recording training received 

by AOC employees, including maintaining an inventory of employees’ 

certifications and licenses; 
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• clarify and explore the possibility of expanding the role of OAP in 

helping AOC meet its safety goals, consistent with the broad 

responsibilities laid out in the 1998 Memorandum of Understanding

between AOC and OAP; and

• establish a senior management work group that will routinely discuss 

workers’ compensation cases and costs, and develop strategies to 

reduce these injuries and costs.

AOC Has Identified 

Best Practices for 

Project Management, 

but Implementation Is 

Uneven

AOC is responsible for the maintenance, operation, preservation, and 

development of the buildings and grounds primarily located within the 

Capitol Hill complex. The historic nature and high-profile use of many of 

these buildings create a complex environment in which to carry out this 

mission. As a part of that mission, AOC is responsible for making all 

necessary capital improvements within the complex, including major 

renovations and new construction. Over the next few years, four highprofile capital projects are expected to cost over a half billion dollars: the 

$265 million Capitol Visitors’ Center project, the $122.3 million Supreme 

Court Modernization project, the $81.8 million West Refrigeration Plant 

Expansion project, and a combined $72 million for the House and Senate 

Perimeter Security projects initiated following the events of September 11, 

2001. 

The magnitude of AOC’s recent projects and the recent growth in annual 

appropriations highlights the importance of managing this large portfolio of 

projects according to leading industry practices. As shown in figure 3, 

AOC’s annual appropriations for capital projects has increased over the last 

10 years from $23.6 million in fiscal year 1994 to $190.3 million in fiscal year 

2003. AOC’s capital appropriations peaked in fiscal year 2001 at $279 

million due to a $244 million emergency supplemental appropriation 

following the terrorist attacks—over a 700 percent increase above the 

original capital appropriation. The growth in capital appropriations is most 

evident in the last 5 years: the average capital appropriation from fiscal 

years 1999 through 2003 was $186.5 million, while the average capital 

appropriation over the previous 5 years was $35.6 million. 
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Figure 3: AOC Annual Appropriations for Capital Projects from Fiscal Years 1994 

through 2003 

Notes: The fiscal year 2003 capital project appropriation is the amount requested by AOC. Annual 

appropriations for capital projects do not include appropriations related to the Supreme Court 

jurisdiction.

AOC’s Office of the Chief of Design and Construction (OCODC) is 

responsible for the planning, design, and construction of capital projects 

vital to achieving the agency’s mission. The office also provides technical 

assistance to AOC jurisdictions as they handle their day-to-day operations. 

The office is divided into separate divisions that provide the direct and 

indirect services that are required throughout a project’s life cycle: 

(1) Architecture Division, (2) Engineering Division, (3) Construction 

Management Division, and (4) Technical Support Division. The office also 

has a Planning and Programming Division, which is not currently staffed, 

and there is a proposal for a separate Project Management Division. 

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Source: AOC.

23.6 27.9

17.3

47.9

61.1

72.0

154.3

278.6

237.0

190.3

Fiscal year

Dollars in millions
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As of May 2002, OCODC had a total of 128 full time equivalents, excluding 

Davis-Bacon workers assigned to the Construction Branch. Responsibility 

for the management of individual projects, including schedule, budget, 

scope, and quality, primarily falls to architects and engineers who are 

assigned as project managers. However, AOC jurisdiction staff can also be 

assigned as project managers for capital projects within their jurisdictions. 

As of July 2002, AOC had 83 individuals—58 from the Office of Design and 

Construction and 25 from AOC jurisdictions—listed as project managers in 

some capacity. The majority, however, are not dedicated solely to the task 

of project management. AOC supplements its staff by contracting for many 

of the design, construction, and construction management services. 

AOC divides capital projects into four categories: 

• small capital projects—those valued at less than $250,000 and estimated 

to take an average of 1 year to complete;

• medium capital projects—those valued from $250,000 to $5 million and 

estimated to take an average of 3 years to complete; 

• large capital projects—those valued at more than $5 million and 

estimated to take an average of 5 years to complete; and, 

• large capital projects with construction managers—those valued at 

more than $20 million and estimated to take an average of more than 5 

years to complete. 

As of June 2002, AOC’s workload consisted of 30 small capital projects, 94 

medium capital projects, 12 large capital projects, and, 4 large capital 

projects with construction managers. This does not include hundreds of 

other projects, such as floor plan redesigns, sketches, and jurisdictionfunded projects that are a core part of OCODC responsibilities. 

AOC Has Recognized the 

Need to Improve Its Project 

Planning and Delivery 

Processes

AOC recognizes that a disciplined project management process can help it 

complete capital projects on schedule, on budget, within scope, and of the 

highest quality. In 1999, AOC initiated several reviews of its project 

planning and delivery processes by independent consultant firms. The goal 

of the reviews was to streamline the agency’s processes and staff 

organization based upon “best practices” drawn from AOC and industry, as 

well as to address a management concern that a lack of continuity in 

project management resulted in a loss of effectiveness and efficiency in 
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overall project delivery. As a result of these initiatives, AOC sought to 

create a consistent process to which all projects and project managers 

adhere, create a system where project managers are dedicated to individual 

projects from “cradle-to-grave”—that is, from a project’s initiation to its 

completion, and increase the use of consultants to reduce the burden on inhouse staff.

According to AOC, the best practices process took a year to develop and a 

year to implement. The policies and procedures are codified in various 

manuals produced and updated by AOC since 1999, two of which have 

recently been finalized.9

 Since then, AOC has continued to review its best 

practices initiatives. For example, the consulting firm CenterLine 

Associates is assessing how the best practice standards and procedures 

have been applied across five capital projects.10 The effort is expected to 

identify improvements that can be incorporated into AOC standards, 

policies, and procedures, as well as identify areas to be covered in future 

project-delivery training sessions. AOC is also implementing a formal 

process for planning and budgeting for its capital projects, adapted from 

the DOD’s military construction budgeting process, that is intended to 

clearly define requirements and priorities, and requires that requests be 

reviewed, validated, and approved before submission to the Congress. This 

formal process augments the policy requiring a 100 percent complete 

design before AOC requests construction funds. 

As AOC moves forward with its project management initiatives and 

consistent with the strategic management framework discussed in chapter 

2, AOC needs to ensure that it has the overall infrastructure in place to 

effectively implement and take full advantage of the best practices that are 

designed to improve project planning, design, and construction 

management: 

9

The manuals include the AOC Project Managers Manual, which defines the roles and 

responsibilities of the project manager (Final, October 2002); the A/E Design Manual, which 

defines the requirements and deliverables from architectural and engineering consultants 

hired by AOC (Final, July 2002); the PIC User Guide, which details how project-related 

information should be entered into the Project Information Center system (Interim, 

November 2001); and the AOC Design Standards, which defines design practice and quality 

levels for facilities constructed for AOC (Draft, October 2002). 

10The five projects undergoing review are the Rayburn House Office Building 

Sprinkler/Telecom project, the Cannon House Office Building Garage Repairs project, the 

Dirksen Senate Office Building Infrastructure Modernization project, the Fort Meade Book 

Storage Facility Module I project, and the Relocation of the House Page Dormitory project.
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• top leadership commitment, 

• master planning for the Capitol Hill complex,

• transparent process to prioritize projects, 

• strategy and tools to communicate, 

• outcome-oriented goals and performance measures, 

• proper alignment of staff and resources, and 

• strategic human capital management.

Without these elements, AOC and the Congress have no assurance that the 

project management initiatives are being employed to their fullest 

potential. Consequently, AOC cannot be assured that the capital projects it 

is managing can be completed on schedule, on budget, and within scope 

and are of high quality and meet the needs of their customers.

Top Leadership Commitment As with other critical management issues, the sustained commitment of top 

leadership will be vital to the success of AOC’s project management 

initiatives. On an ongoing basis, AOC leadership must set the clear 

expectation that staff adhere to the established best practice policies and 

procedures and then hold project management staff and contractors 

accountable for meeting this expectation. However, several project 

managers stated that they rely more heavily on their own experiences than 

on the specific policies and procedures laid out in the project manager 

manuals. One AOC official with project management responsibilities 

specifically noted, with respect to the best practices, that he did not know 

“if any of it was required,” but that if something was required he would be 

doing it. 

AOC officials responsible for overall project management can also show 

leadership by initiating a shift in the way AOC supervises its projects from 

solely focusing on crisis management to more active oversight. Several 

senior OCODC officials noted that their principal supervisory role is to 

resolve problems faced by project management staff. Interaction between 

project managers and senior management then is often limited to times 

when they “kick problems upstairs.” This reactionary approach leaves open 

the possibility that other risks or opportunities exist that are not being 

addressed. We are not suggesting, however, that AOC supervisors engage in 
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micromanagement of the project managers’ day-to-day activities. Rather, 

more active supervision would help ensure that project managers are held 

accountable for following best practices, achieving measurable results or 

outcomes, meeting the needs of clients, and communicating routinely with 

project stakeholders—both internal and external.

Master Planning for the Capitol 

Hill Complex

AOC’s best practice initiatives are intended to begin with a planning 

process that incorporates four sets of plans: a 20-year master plan, a 10-

year facility assessment, a 5-year capital spending plan, and a 1-year 

jurisdiction plan. All capital projects are supposed to be consistent with 

those planning efforts, except for projects requested by individual 

members of the Congress outside of the normal budget cycle. However, 

AOC does not yet have a master plan or a facility assessment plan, nor does 

AOC have formalized capital spending or jurisdiction plans.

In July 2001, at the direction of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, 

AOC contracted with the National Academy of Sciences (National 

Academy) to hold a planning workshop to determine the scope of a Capitol 

Hill complex Master Plan.11 Based on the results of the workshop, which 

was held September 23 through 24, 2002, AOC will develop a request for 

proposal for the master plan. While these initial efforts are positive steps, 

the overall effort has been slow to take shape given that the workshop took 

place over a year after the Senate’s directive. Moreover, as stated in chapter 

2, AOC needs to tie its various long-term planning initiatives, including the 

master planning effort, to the agencywide strategic planning effort and 

obtain stakeholders’ input throughout the process. This message was 

reinforced by participants in the National Academy’s workshop, who 

explained that the master plan must be guided by a vision statement for the 

Capitol Hill complex, which is developed with stakeholder input and 

consistent with AOC’s strategic plan.

11S. Rep. No. 107-37 at 29 (2001).
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A key component of a master plan is building condition assessments 

(BCA), which are systematic evaluations of an organization’s capital assets. 

Such assessments will help AOC to “evaluate deferred maintenance and 

funding requirements; plan a deferred maintenance reduction program; 

compare conditions between facilities; establish baselines for setting goals 

and tracking progress; provide accurate and supportable information for 

planning and justifying budgets; facilitate the establishment of funding 

priorities; and develop budget and funding analyses and strategies.”12

A number of AOC executives agreed that BCAs are a necessary first step to 

a comprehensive preventive maintenance program. However, according to 

AOC officials, AOC has never completed formal condition assessments of 

the facilities it is responsible for maintaining. Senior AOC and jurisdiction 

executives also stated that preventive maintenance of AOC’s assets has 

never been a major focus. According to AOC officials, AOC’s recent pilot 

effort to conduct an assessment of the Capitol Building was unsuccessful 

due to miscommunication of expectations between the agency and the 

contractor performing the assessment. Without BCAs, the agency has no 

assurance that it has fully documented the Capitol Hill complex’s 

preventive maintenance needs and cannot develop an overall plan with 

which to address those needs. As a result, AOC is unable to assure the 

Congress that the facilities in the Capitol Hill complex will be effectively 

and efficiently maintained and preserved consistent with the historic and 

high-profile nature of those facilities.

AOC recently formed a condition assessment team with representatives 

from each of the larger jurisdictions to develop a detailed statement of 

work that specifies exactly what is required of a BCA contractor. When 

conducted, the BCAs must be carried out consistently across all 

jurisdictions to help ensure that all assets are evaluated in the same manner 

and that AOC-wide priorities can be set and trade-offs made. The project 

manager focus group participants also pointed out that the BCAs will 

require substantial involvement from employees of many of the 

jurisdictional shops who will be asked to provide technical information, 

logistical support, and other forms of assistance to the assessment teams. 

Therefore, AOC must also plan for and set aside resources required by AOC 

jurisdictions for the effort. According to the National Research Council, 

12National Research Council, Stewardship of Federal Facilities: A Proactive Strategy for 

Managing the Nation’s Public Assets (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1998), p. 

43.
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using a risk-based approach, the initial assessments should focus on life, 

health, and safety issues and on critical building system components 

needed to operate effectively.13

AOC also needs staff dedicated to ensuring that the master plan and 

building condition assessments are successfully completed. AOC officials 

told us they had hired a new Director of Facilities Planning and 

Programming in early December 2002. AOC officials stated that they are in 

the process of hiring an assistant planner and an assistant programmer. 

Because these individuals and the office would be the champions for the 

master planning and building condition assessment efforts, it is important 

that AOC fully staff the office with qualified individuals.

Transparent Process to Prioritize 

Projects

An agencywide strategic plan and a complexwide master plan will help 

AOC determine priorities and then communicate them both internally to 

employees and externally to clients. In the absence of a strategic plan and a 

master plan to help determine overall priorities, AOC does not have a 

transparent process to prioritize its current projects. In the near term, a 

transparent process that incorporates stakeholder input would allow AOC 

to prioritize projects in a well documented manner. In the long term, AOC 

would be able to integrate the guidance of the strategic plan and master 

plan within a transparent priority setting process. 

AOC assigns a priority designation for each of the projects in its 

appropriations request—1-A, 1-B, 1-C, and 2-A, 2-B, and so on through 3-C 

at the lowest end of the priority scale. These priorities are further 

categorized as Life Safety, Americans with Disabilities Act, Security, 

Cyclical Maintenance, Improvement, and Technology-Management 

Systems. According to an OCODC official, each jurisdiction prioritizes 

capital projects and safety programs on a building-by-building basis for the 

coming fiscal year. Priorities are determined based on the subjective 

decisions made by jurisdiction officials and not on predefined criteria. The 

priorities are then converted into the 1-A, 1-B, etc., priority designations by 

the Budget Office staff. 

However, based on our review, it is not clear that project managers use this 

prioritization scheme to guide their day-to-day activities. The only 

13National Research Council, Stewardship of Federal Facilities: A Proactive Strategy for 

Managing the Nations’s Public Assets (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1998), p. 

96.
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practical, day-to-day prioritization of projects we found being used was a 

“hot projects” list. Projects were placed on the list by a group of senior 

OCODC officials who based their decisions on two undefined, subjective 

criteria: (1) time sensitivity and (2) high dollar volume. According to one 

AOC official, however, the process for placing priority projects onto the list 

is neither formal nor consistently applied. In fact, the official stated that the 

current hot project list needs to be updated to reflect fiscal year 2003 

projects.

We also found a general consensus among AOC officials and project 

managers that prioritization of projects is a major weakness at the agency. 

Many lamented that AOC is unable to manage client requests for projects 

effectively. More specifically, AOC lacks a process that can communicate, 

both internally and externally, the trade-offs in prioritizing one project over 

another or how individual projects fit within a broader AOC framework. 

The confusion about overall agency priorities has also led to confusion 

about what individual priorities should be. 

Strategy and Tools to 

Communicate

Upon establishing priorities, AOC must then incorporate the 

communication of priorities and progress of projects within an agencywide 

communications strategy. Internally, that means AOC needs to 

communicate its priorities to staff and provide details on how related 

projects are linked to one another. However, we found that AOC lacks the 

project management tools necessary to assist in doing these tasks. For 

example, officials responsible for overall project management use the 

Project Information Center (PIC) system to prioritize work and ascertain 

the progress of individual projects. However, PIC is not capable of 

producing a unified document that shows schedules of active projects, 

their interrelationships, and required staffing. Without a resource-loaded 

master project planning document, it is difficult to determine the effect of 

priority changes and to quantify project manager staffing requirements.

AOC also needs to communicate the agency’s overall priorities to its clients 

and report progress on projects of importance to clients. The strategic and 

master planning efforts and BCAs discussed above will assist AOC in 

determining its project priorities. As discussed in chapter 2, an effort to 

establish congressional protocols could also help the agency determine 

how those priorities should be communicated, as well as how individual 

project priorities will be reported. 

AOC has made strides in communicating with its clients on the progress of 

projects. For example, AOC has developed a web site that includes a 
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Capitol Hill complex map of several ongoing projects. However, 

opportunities exist for additional progress in how AOC communicates with 

clients and reports progress to the Congress. Also, at the direction of the 

Senate Committee on Appropriations, AOC has begun issuing quarterly 

capital project reports on the status of all ongoing capital projects.14

However, the reports we reviewed described the status of all ongoing 

capital projects without highlighting those projects that were behind 

schedule, over budget, or otherwise of interest to clients. AOC needs to 

begin to incorporate stakeholder feedback to better structure this reporting 

mechanism. For example, in our April 2002 statement, we discussed the 

possibility of using a “reportable events” approach to accountability 

reporting that is based on predefined, risk-based events that would trigger 

a report to the Congress and prompt immediate attention.15

However, the information reported is only as good as the information 

entered into the PIC system, which is the source of all project-related 

information. We have found that the data produced by the system and 

reported out by AOC are questionable because project managers do not 

consistently update the information in PIC. For example, a majority of the 

participants in the project manager focus group said they failed to 

consistently put information into the system because they viewed PIC as an 

administrative burden that provided no direct benefit to their own day-today activities. Additionally, our case studies showed that the project 

managers do not always keep PIC completely updated. For example, the 

Senate Recording Studio project had a current working estimate listed in 

PIC that was nearly double the amount appropriated for the project. 

Although we were told that the estimate was outdated, the information had 

not been updated in the PIC system. AOC officials recognize the inadequate 

data entry into PIC. In response, an OCODC official has recently met with 

all of AOC’s project managers to reinforce the importance of keeping PIC 

updated and to instruct them on how and what needs to be entered. While 

this is a positive step designed to improve the documentation of project 

information, AOC would benefit from more routine, systematic reviews of 

PIC data to uncover pervasive problems and their root causes. 

14S. Rep. No. 107-37 at 28 (2001).

15GAO-02-632T.
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Outcome-Oriented Goals and 

Performance Measures for 

Project Management

As we discussed in chapter 2, AOC needs to work with its stakeholders to 

determine its long-term strategic goals for project management and 

develop annual performance goals that provide a connection between longterm goals and the day-to-day activities of its managers and their staff. This 

effort will enable AOC to track its progress, provide critical information for 

decision making, and create incentives for individual behavior by providing 

a basis for individual accountability. 

In its draft strategic plan, AOC has identified facilities management and 

project management as two “focus areas,” and defined strategic goals for 

each focus area. However, AOC has not yet clearly defined the outcomeoriented goals and performance measures in each focus area. For example, 

as an outcome within the project management focus area, AOC lists 

“Projects and related services are executed and delivered on time and on 

budget.” To further clarify its goals, AOC could define terms such as 

“projects and related services” and establish quantitative performance 

measures for outcomes such as “on time” and “on budget.” Because AOC 

lacks specific measures, it is unclear whether AOC will be able to assess its 

current performance baseline, or how AOC will seek to improve. For 

example, it is unclear to internal and external AOC stakeholders if AOC’s 

goal is to improve on time delivery by a percentage point, or if it is to 

achieve some undefined standard. As AOC moves forward and establishes 

goals and measures for project management, it will be in a better position 

to consider how to balance competing needs, such as client satisfaction 

and quality against the need to meet deadlines and stay within budgets.

Alignment of Project 

Management Staff and 

Resources to Achieve MissionCritical Goals

In June 2002, AOC officials responsible for overall project management 

identified several changes that were needed to improve the delivery of 

capital projects. Primarily, AOC recognized that the current “soft matrix” 

approach of assigning mostly architects and engineers as project managers 

who are assisted by task leaders from various sub-disciplines was 

ineffective because, according to an AOC report on a proposed staff 

realignment within the Office of the Assistant Architect, there was no 

“clear objective, no supervisory authority that can exercise accountability 

over the Project Managers, and no clear lines of communication.” 16 AOC 

officials responsible for project management proposed to senior AOC 

executives the creation of a new and independent Project Management 

Division, led with strong leadership, to “improve accountability, enforce 

16AOC, Office of the Assistant Architect, Proposed Reorganization, June 6, 2002.
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organizational discipline, focus on client service needs, and tailor the skills 

of existing staff to necessary tasks.” 

The proposed staff realignment, which is in its early stages of 

implementation, is a good step within the framework of implementing best 

practices, particularly the concept of dedicated, cradle-to-grave project 

managers. However, AOC must ensure that this and other interim steps 

ultimately support the agency in meeting mission-critical goals and 

objectives as it develops the agencywide strategic plan. Moving forward 

with this realignment will require AOC to determine which individuals have 

the skills to be dedicated projects managers, as well as to identify the 

specific projects they should manage. Officials within OCODC recognize 

that not all of the architects and engineers who are currently assigned as 

project managers have the requisite skills for the job. With qualified staff, 

however, the realignment will ultimately address accountability issues by 

clarifying roles and responsibilities and creating true cradle-to-grave 

project management staff. Many of the project managers in our focus group 

stated that they are currently being asked to wear “too many hats,” which 

often distracts them from their primary duty to manage projects, and 

wanted AOC to move more quickly to a dedicated project management 

staff environment. We also observed that the initially slow progress of the 

Relocation of the Senate Recording Studio project and the Coal Handling 

Modernization project improved once dedicated project managers were 

assigned. 

However, a missing component of the realignment proposal is the role of 

supervisors in the new project management division. AOC has not yet 

defined who will supervise the project managers, the number of 

supervisors that will be needed, nor the approach they will take with 

respect to supervision. AOC needs to evaluate all of these issues and 

integrate the role of day-to-day supervisors into the new Project 

Management Division.

Strategic Human Capital 

Management

As discussed in chapter 2, strategic human capital management can 

transform an agency into a results-oriented organization by aligning 

employee performance with goals and by providing tools to better plan its 

workforce needs. AOC has taken initial steps to address the strategic 

workforce analysis criteria set forth in chapter 2, by identifying its project 

management workforce needs in its staff realignment proposal. That plan 

detailed tactical approaches to reassigning current project management 

staff and determining where additional staff would be placed within a 

restructured OCODC. Consistent with the strategic human capital 
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challenges it faces in other areas, AOC has opportunities to strengthen its 

efforts for its project management workforce as well. Developing a set of 

core technical competencies for project management and implementing a 

training and development program for those competencies are two areas 

requiring particular attention.

AOC has not developed project management-specific technical 

competencies that define for what project managers will be held 

accountable. Defined competencies are important for ensuring that the 

right people are employed in the right positions and that they are routinely 

held accountable for their work. As a basis for developing these 

competencies, AOC can refer to standards developed by leading 

professional organizations. For example, the Project Management Institute 

(PMI) has published A Guide to the Project Management Body of 

Knowledge (PMBOK) that organizes the components of project 

management into nine knowledge areas: project integration management, 

project scope management, project time management, project cost 

management, project quality management, project human resources 

management, project communications management, project risk 

management, and project procurement management. Other entities have 

successfully used these knowledge areas as the basis for developing 

technical competencies. For example, the Australian government uses 

PMBOK as the basis for its National Competency Standards for Project 

Management. 

As a next step, AOC could identify and implement training programs that 

are linked to the core and technical competencies required of project 

managers. Doing so is an essential component of building an effective and 

professional project management staff. To date, it is unclear whether AOC’s 

training fully supports the implementation of best practices throughout the 

agency. For example, some project manager focus group participants noted 

that they were not given initial orientation that familiarized them with AOC, 

including services provided by other offices, or that familiarized them with 

their ultimate client—the Congress. And if AOC is to effectively implement 

best practices, newly hired project managers must be trained in the policies 

and procedures and all project managers must receive ongoing best 

practice training as policies and procedures are revised. We found that 

neither of the project managers for the case studies we reviewed was 

provided best practice training when they were first hired, and one was not 

provided a copy of the project manager manual. AOC officials also stated 

that they have not yet provided updated best practices training sessions for 
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project managers, although they said they plan to use the ongoing best 

practices assessments mentioned above to tailor such training. 

Finally, AOC should require professional development certification and 

training, although this may not need to be provided internally by AOC. PMI 

administers a globally accepted and recognized professional certification 

program for project managers, which requires a specific level of education 

and experience, adherence to a code of professional conduct, successful 

completion of an examination, and ongoing continuing education 

requirements. 

Conclusions As AOC moves forward with its project management initiatives, several 

elements are critical to the thorough implementation of best practices that 

are designed to improve project planning, design, and construction 

management. Project management could be improved by demonstrating 

top leadership commitment to change, planning, establishing outcomeoriented goals, and strategically managing human capital to achieve those 

goals. A Capitol Hill complex-wide master planning effort, including 

building condition assessments, will help AOC establish long-term 

priorities. Similarly, a transparent process to prioritize agency capital 

projects will help AOC clarify its short-term (1 to 5 years) focus. As a part 

of a broader communication strategy, effective reporting mechanisms will 

help AOC convey these long- and short-term priorities, as well detail the 

progress of projects to stakeholders. Clearly defining project-managementrelated measures will also help AOC achieve mission-critical strategic and 

annual performance goals. Finally, the alignment of project management 

staff and resources in accordance with best practices policies and 

procedures will help institutionalize those practices and help AOC meet 

mission-critical goals. Without these elements, AOC and the Congress have 

no assurance that the project management initiatives are being employed 

to their fullest potential. Consequently, AOC cannot be assured that the 

capital projects it is managing can be completed on schedule, on budget, 

and within scope and are of high quality and meet the needs of their 

customers.

Recommendations for 

Agency Action

To improve project management—project planning, design, and 

construction—at AOC, we recommend that Architect of the Capitol
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• develop a Capitol Hill complex master plan and complete condition 

assessments of all buildings and facilities under the jurisdiction of AOC;

• develop a process for assigning project priorities that is based on clearly 

defined, well documented, consistently applied, and transparent 

criteria;

• develop tools to effectively communicate priorities and progress of 

projects, as a part of a broader communication strategy;

• define project-management-related performance measures to achieve 

mission-critical strategic and annual performance goals; and

• align project management staff and resources with AOC’s missioncritical goals.

AOC Needs to Build on 

Current Efforts by 

Adopting a Strategic 

Approach to Recycling

Programs that separate and collect recyclable materials from the waste 

stream produce numerous benefits. It is estimated that recycling 1 ton of 

paper saves 17 mature trees, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space, 7,000 gallons 

of water, 380 gallons of oil, 4,100 kilowatt hours of energy, and 60 pounds of 

air pollutants. Recently, AOC has taken several steps to improve the 

effectiveness of its office recycling programs; however, it could increase 

the benefits derived from its recycling program by taking a more strategic 

approach. Such an approach would include revisiting and clarifying 

recycling mission and goals as part of an AOC planned environmental 

strategy, measuring and monitoring performance against goals to gauge and 

improve program effectiveness, and reexamining the roles and 

responsibilities of the recycling program staff to ensure accountability for 

achieving recycling goals. We provide observations on how AOC could 

improve recycling results by organizationally replicating its own and 

others’ best practices.

AOC Has Taken Steps to 

Improve Effectiveness of 

Recycling Programs

AOC is responsible for implementing recycling programs for much of the 

Capitol Hill complex. Consistent with the preliminary observations in our 

April 2002 statement, AOC, both centrally and at the jurisdiction level, has 

taken recent steps to improve the overall effectiveness of its recycling 

programs. Some of the steps include
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• adopting a consultant’s recommendation to simplify the Senate’s 

recycling program to improve participation and increase effectiveness,

• developing a draft set of performance indicators and starting to collect 

data,

• increasing recycling promotion and education efforts,

• surveying recycling clients in the House to determine if the program is 

meeting their needs, and

• sharing information on recycling promotion and education strategies 

among the House and Senate recycling program managers.

AOC’s Recycling Program 

Has Made Limited Progress 

in Achieving Typical 

Recycling Goals

Office recycling programs can have a variety of environmental and 

financial benefits. A typical goal is reducing to the extent possible the 

amount of solid waste sent to landfills. Another typical goal is generating as 

much revenue as possible from the sale of the recyclable materials 

collected. A key to achieving either goal is making the recycling program as 

easy as possible for employees to use. Generally, the less sorting, decision 

making, and walking required by individual participants, the more 

successful the program will be. Although the two goals of waste reduction 

and revenue generation are not mutually exclusive, the relative importance 

placed on these goals generally affects the design of the recycling program 

implemented.

Specifically, a recycling program with the goal of generating revenue, 

commonly referred to as a source separation program, is more 

complicated, expensive, and difficult to implement than a program 

designed for waste reduction. This is because separating a greater variety 

of recyclable materials at the source requires more resources for educating 

clients and the recycling staff, collecting the recyclable materials, and 

monitoring for compliance. The complexity of source separation, 

unfortunately, also increases the likelihood of contamination of the 

recyclable materials collected (potentially recyclable materials are mixed 

together with other categories of recyclables or wet waste), reducing their 

value and increasing the volume of waste sent to landfills. Given the 

complexity and potential performance problems with a source separation 

program, an organization needs to analyze the costs and benefits of such a 

program compared to other, simpler options to determine whether such a 

program will be cost-effective.
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High levels of contamination have prevented the House and Senate 

recycling programs from substantially achieving either waste reduction or 

revenue generation. AOC’s recycling contractor does not pay for high-grade 

(e.g., white copy) paper with greater than 5 percent contamination or 

mixed-grade (e.g., glossy or colored) paper with greater than 10 percent 

contamination. From fiscal years 2001 through 2002, AOC did improve its 

recycling results. According to General Services Administration (GSA) 

data, the rate of contamination of recyclable paper products collected 

dropped from 70 percent in fiscal year 2001 to 55 percent in fiscal year 2002 

in the House jurisdiction and from 60 percent to 37 percent in the Senate 

jurisdiction. However, although AOC avoided the cost of disposing of the 

waste, the contaminated materials generated no revenue. The recycling 

contractor may sort and recycle some of this contaminated waste, but 

some potentially recyclable materials may be too contaminated and will 

ultimately go to a landfill. 

During fiscal year 2002, the Senate jurisdiction implemented a consultant’s 

recommendation to change from a source separation to a simpler 

combined-paper recycling program. According to the consultant’s report, 

simplifying the program by reducing the amount of source separation 

required could both increase revenue and decrease the contamination 

levels. In contrast, the House jurisdiction continues to operate a more 

complex source-separation program. Similar to the conclusions made in 

the review of the recycling program operations for the Senate program, a 

recently completed consultant study of the House program made the point 

that a mixed-paper program is easier to administer and usually leads to 

increased participation, decreased contamination, and less collection time. 

However, the consultant’s report did not recommend making any changes 

to the House’s program at this time because it found the existing program 

to be “user-friendly” and accepted. Nonetheless, given the high rates of 

contamination in the House recycling program, AOC needs to closely 

monitor contamination to determine if a simpler program design is 

warranted.

AOC Needs to Revisit and 

Clarify Recycling Mission 

and Goals as Part of Its 

Planned Environmental 

Strategy

AOC’s goals for its recycling programs are unclear. AOC has not 

documented any mission and goals for its recycling programs. We found 

various references—albeit indirect and inconsistent—to AOC recycling 

goals. For example, a 1999 audit by the AOC Inspector General, indicated 

that AOC is pursuing the goal of waste reduction. A similar goal is indicated 

in the position description of the AOC Resource Conservation Program 

Manager. In contrast, the position descriptions for the House and Senate 
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recycling program managers state that these managers are responsible for, 

among other things, increasing the financial returns of their programs. 

If AOC’s goal is to generate as much revenue as possible through a source 

separation program, then based on the high rate of contamination it will 

need to design a program that is much more aggressive in terms of the 

education, training, and equipment it provides to participants and the 

collection staff. However, if the goal is reducing the volume of waste sent to 

landfills, then AOC should implement a simpler program, requiring as little 

separation as possible to increase participation and compliance as was 

done in the Senate. In addition, AOC has made some effort to expand its 

recycling program to other facilities within the Capitol Hill complex, such 

as the Botanic Garden, the Page Dormitory, and—in response to our recent 

suggestion—the Capital Power Plant. Furthermore, according to AOC 

officials, AOC recycles fluorescent lamps, batteries, scrap metal, and some 

computer equipment and has required its contractors to recycle their 

construction debris. However, it has no formal plans to expand its recycling 

programs to include other types of recyclable materials, such as waste 

from its own landscaping or construction activities. Incorporating these 

materials into its overall recycling program could improve AOC’s overall 

performance in reducing waste sent to landfills. However, AOC 

management stated that adequate resources are not presently available to 

carry out such expanded recycling programs, although it has requested 

funding for an additional position in fiscal year 2003 to assist the recycling 

program manager, allowing for further expansion of the recycling program.

AOC recycling program staff recently discussed their view that the mission 

of their recycling programs ought to be primarily reducing waste sent to 

landfills rather than maximizing recycling revenues. AOC management 

stated that it would be important to obtain input from congressional 

stakeholders before making any changes to the mission or goals of the 

program. Furthermore, clarifying the goals of the program is something 

AOC management would address only as part of the long-term 

environmental management plan for the Capitol Hill complex that it plans 

to undertake after completing its Safety Master Plan. Consistent with the 

communication strategy we outline in this report, AOC will need to seek 

input from its stakeholders to determine the most appropriate mission and 

goals for its recycling program(s). Whether the resulting program is Capitol 

Hill complex-wide or is tailored to meet the specific requirements of the 

House or Senate, AOC needs to clarify whether the primary focus of the 

recycling program is to reduce the total amount of waste sent to landfills, 

to generate a desired level of revenue, or both.
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AOC Needs to Develop a 

Performance Measurement, 

Monitoring, and Evaluation 

System That Supports 

Accomplishment of 

Recycling Mission and 

Goals

As discussed in our April 2002 statement, to support the accomplishment of 

AOC’s recycling mission and goals, a performance measurement system 

should (1) show the degree to which the desired results were achieved, 

(2) be limited to the vital few measures needed for decision making, (3) be 

responsive to multiple priorities, and (4) establish accountability for 

results. Also, as part of its responsibility for handling waste from 

government facilities, including recyclable materials, the GSA has 

developed a guide that describes a number of steps an agency can take to 

measure and monitor recycling efforts that could be useful to AOC in 

developing its system. These steps are listed in table 3.

Table 3: Ten Steps Identified by GSA for Best Administering a Recycling Program

Steps Purpose and example

1. Determining the building profile Purpose: To ascertain the types of materials to be recovered in a recycling program and 

identify any special restrictions or requirements.

Example: Does the storage space have sprinklers or will special containers be required?

2. Determining the waste stream size Purpose: To manage and reduce a building’s waste stream; data on the total size of the 

waste stream are compiled.

Example: Obtain monthly reports showing the amount of waste hauled.

3. Analyzing the waste stream Purpose: To determine the quantity of various types of recyclable materials included in the 

waste stream.

Example: Develop an estimate of the quantity of recyclable material collected daily.

4. Determining the amount recycled Purpose: To show how much is being diverted from the waste stream.

Example: The recycling contractor provides a monthly report showing the amounts and 

types of materials recycled.

5. Tracking the information Purpose: To determine the percentage of the total waste stream diverted by recycling.

Example: Data are entered on a regular basis, for example, monthly, and totaled at the 

end of the fiscal year.

6. Reporting the information Purpose: To report status of the program to management and to offices participating in the 

program.

Example: Reports to offices keep employees informed about how their efforts are helping 

the environment and measuring progress and goals.

7. Reducing the waste stream Purpose: To determine whether trash includes recyclable materials that are improperly 

discarded and opportunities to recycle other materials (e.g., construction debris, 

discarded/leftover carpeting, or scrap metal).

Example: Meet with office representatives to ascertain their container needs and find out 

what types of waste they generate.

8. Assessing the program Purpose: To determine how well the program is working.

Example: Observe whether employees understand how the program works or what 

modifications might be necessary.
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Source: U.S. General Services Administration, Recycling Program Desk Guide (Washington, D.C.: March 2001).

In response to the Senate Committee on Appropriations’ requirement for 

quarterly updates on the recycling program in the Senate, AOC developed a 

performance measurement system that it is using to monitor both the 

Senate and the House recycling programs.17 Initially, the indicators on 

which AOC collected data included, among other things, a two-digit 

increase in tonnage recycled, revenue generated from the sale of 

recyclables, market prices for various recycled materials, customer 

satisfaction, education of participating offices, results of desk side 

container inspections, status of equipping offices with recycling containers, 

rate of office participation, and training of recycling collection staffs.

Consistent with the preliminary observations in our April 2002 statement, 

AOC significantly reduced the number of indicators it is collecting and 

reporting to two: total tonnage collected by type of material and total 

tonnage contaminated. This more focused approach to measuring the 

effectiveness of its program is noteworthy. As AOC revisits its program 

mission, goals, and design, it will have opportunities to reexamine and 

refine its performance measurement efforts to ensure that it has the right 

set of performance measures to support program monitoring and decision 

making.

The absence of AOC recycling program goals does not allow measures to 

be linked to a desired level of performance and thus AOC cannot 

demonstrate the extent to which performance is achieved. For example, 

AOC seeks to decrease contamination rates for recyclable materials 

collected, but does not state a goal for a desired level of contamination 

against which to measure progress. As shown in table 3, steps 2 and 3, AOC 

should determine how much waste the Capitol Hill complex generates 

9. Educating employees Purpose: To provide employees with reasons for recycling and a description of how the 

program works; to reduce the container contamination by giving detailed instructions on 

what is and is not acceptable.

Example: An environmental team consisting of building management and participating 

offices would promote and educate employees.

10. Monitoring and evaluating program Purpose: To be aware of fluctuations in the volume of recycled materials collected in an 

effort to identify the cause and determine whether associated waste disposal costs can be 

reduced.

Example: Periodically review waste disposal costs and assess whether the program 

implemented has had an impact.

(Continued From Previous Page)

17S. Rep. No. 107-37 at 10 (2001).
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overall and analyze how much of that waste could be recycled. AOC 

officials have told us that they plan to conduct such an analysis as part of 

its future, long term environmental management plan and use the 

information to form the basis of AOC’s overall waste reduction goals. 

Furthermore, AOC should develop its performance measurement system 

with input from recycling program staff members to ensure that the data 

gathered will be sufficiently complete, accurate, and consistent to be useful 

in decision making. As AOC clarifies its goals and performance measures 

for its recycling program, it will likely identify opportunities to create a 

balanced set of measures that respond to multiple priorities, such as 

increasing customer satisfaction while also achieving recycling 

performance goals. Consistent with our preliminary observations, AOC 

recycling program staff has begun surveying its clients to obtain feedback 

on their satisfaction with the program. This performance information could 

be a useful addition to the set of measures AOC is currently collecting and 

monitoring.

After establishing its mission and goals and building a performance 

measurement system, the next key step for AOC is to put performance data 

to work. As shown in table 3, steps 4 through 8 and step 10 provide 

guidance on ways to monitor and evaluate program performance. AOC has 

proposed a quarterly monitoring system. Such monitoring of performance 

against goals will enable AOC program managers to identify where 

performance is lagging, investigate potential causes, and identify actions 

designed to improve performance.

Reexamine Roles, 

Responsibilities, and 

Number of AOC Recycling 

Program Staff Members

The roles and responsibilities of AOC’s recycling program staff members 

have evolved in recent years, without the guidance of a clearly defined 

mission and goals. In revisiting its recycling program mission and goals, 

AOC should also reexamine the roles and responsibilities of its program 

staff members to ensure that they are performing the right jobs with the 

necessary authority. AOC recently changed the responsibilities of its 

recycling program management positions to incorporate a greater focus on 

program planning and evaluation. However, according to these staff 

members, much of their time is spent in day-to-day program 

implementation activities, leaving little time to fulfill their expanded roles. 

The AOC Resource Conservation Manager, originally responsible for only 

the AOC hazardous waste program, currently is responsible for planning 

and developing policies and programs for an AOC-wide approach to waste 
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management, analyzing waste removal programs, developing and 

presenting briefing and training materials on agency recycling efforts, and 

serving as the administrator and technical representative for the recycling 

collection contract. However, according to the Resource Conservation 

Manager, about half of her effort is devoted to hazardous waste 

management activities. She has little time and no staff to carry out the 

broad, agencywide planning and evaluation activities required by the 

position.

In fiscal year 2001, AOC replaced its recycling coordinator position with a 

Recycling Program Manager position in the House and Senate jurisdictions. 

These positions are responsible for working with other Capitol Hill 

complex recycling specialists to carry out agencywide recycling, planning 

and developing recycling policies and programs, reviewing program 

effectiveness and monitoring implementation (e.g., compliance 

inspections), and analyzing the financial returns of waste recycling 

contracts. However, the House Recycling Program Manager told us that her 

current focus has been primarily on implementation activities, such as 

providing recycling equipment to offices, limiting the time available to 

focus on other responsibilities, such as program monitoring and evaluation. 

However, according to this manager, the recent hiring of an assistant to 

focus on operations will allow her to devote more time to recycling 

program management activities.

As previously stated, AOC needs to provide a results-oriented basis for 

individual accountability. With respect to recycling, AOC has neither 

established clear goals nor assigned accountability for achieving results. 

Because program implementation occurs in the House and Senate 

jurisdictions, AOC needs to incorporate its desired recycling goals into its 

performance management system and cascade those goals down through 

the jurisdictions to the individuals responsible for program 

implementation.

Overlapping responsibilities for planning, education, monitoring, and 

evaluation between the Resource Conservation Manager and jurisdiction 

recycling program managers raise questions about the appropriate number 

of staff members and mix of responsibilities needed to carry out AOC’s 

recycling programs at the central and jurisdictional levels. For example, the 

jurisdiction recycling managers focus primarily on the implementation of 

the recycling program, including equipping offices, educating participants, 

and collecting recyclable materials. Furthermore, the AOC Resource 

Conservation Manager has little time and no staff to carry out broad 
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management and oversight responsibilities. As a result, little capacity 

exists to carry out the planning, development, monitoring, and evaluation 

of AOC’s recycling programs on an AOC-wide basis.

Conclusions Although the Architect of the Capitol has managed an office recycling 

program in the House and Senate jurisdictions for more than a decade, high 

levels of contamination present in the materials collected has prevented it 

from fully realizing either the environmental or financial benefits that it 

could have achieved. Adopting a more strategic approach to recycling—

clarifying AOC’s recycling mission and goals to assess whether it has the 

right program design, organization, and implementation strategies in place 

to achieve desired results, measuring and monitoring performance against 

goals, and reexamining the roles and responsibilities of the recycling 

program staff to ensure accountability for achieving recycling goals—could 

improve the environmental results of the program. AOC officials have 

indicated that the recycling program will be included in an overall 

environmental master plan that it will develop in 2003. We agree with this 

approach and believe that developing a clear mission statement for the 

recycling program and using that statement as a basis for establishing 

reasonable performance goals, developing a set of performance measures, 

and aligning the organization to hold managers accountable for results, 

would help AOC further improve its recycling program results. 

Recommendations for 

Agency Action

In order adopt a strategic approach to recycling, we recommend that the 

Architect of the Capitol take the following actions:

• Develop a clear mission and goals for AOC’s recycling program with 

input from key congressional stakeholders as part of its proposed 

environmental master plan. AOC may want to establish reasonable goals 

based on the total waste stream—information it plans to obtain as part 

of its long term environmental management plan—that could potentially 

be recycled. 

• Develop a performance measurement, monitoring, and evaluation 

system that supports accomplishing AOC’s recycling mission and goals.

• Examine the roles and responsibilities of AOC’s recycling program staff 

to ensure that they are performing the right jobs with the necessary 
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authority, and holding the staff accountable for achieving program and 

agency results through AOC’s performance management system. 

Agency Comments In his comments on this chapter, the Architect generally agreed with our 

recommendations and discussed the relevant efforts AOC has under way in 

the areas of worker safety, project management, and recycling. In the area 

worker safety, in addition to initial efforts to target areas that have the 

potential for danger to life and health, the Architect stated that AOC is in 

the process of developing program policies for incident reporting and 

investigation, inspection, and hazard abatement and control. AOC 

disagreed with our statement that its 5-year Safety Management Plan was 

drafted independent of the broader strategic planning effort. Although we 

believe this statement was true at the time of our review, AOC has 

subsequently made efforts to improve the alignment between its draft 

strategic and worker safety plans. Therefore, we deleted this statement. 

The Architect stated that AOC’s implementation plan will focus on 

strategic, long-term planning, training, and continuous improvement in 

worker safety.

The Architect stated that AOC plans to address our recommendations in 

the area of project management as another focus of its implementation 

plan. Current initiatives include developing and scheduling training for 

project managers; conducting condition assessments of the Senate, House, 

and Capitol buildings this fiscal year, and of other Capitol Hill complex 

buildings in subsequent fiscal years; and developing a 5-year capitol 

improvement plan and the scope of work for a 20-year master plan of the 

Capitol Hill complex.

In the area of recycling, the Architect stated that AOC is committed to 

defining clear goals for its recycling program and will establish a dedicated 

environmental function. AOC’s implementation plan will discuss its 

approach to establishing program goals, integrating environmental 

concerns into AOC’s overall strategy, and ensuring that measures reflect 

goals and are linked to performance of key activities.

The Architect’s comments are reprinted in appendix II.
Page 104 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Appendix I

Employee and Supervisor Focus Groups— Apendxies

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology ApendxiI

To obtain additional perspectives on the areas examined as part of our 

review and as an initial effort to support the subsequent collection of 

routine employee feedback, we used focus groups to gather employee and 

supervisor perceptions, opinions, and attitudes about working at the Office 

of the Architect of the Capitol (AOC). Focus group interviews are a form of 

qualitative research in which a specially trained leader, a moderator, meets 

with a small group of people (usually 8 to 10) who are knowledgeable about 

the topics to be discussed. This appendix describes our objectives, scope, 

and methodology for the focus groups and lists the specific questions used 

to conduct the focus groups.

Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology

For our focus groups at AOC, we were interested in obtaining 

(1) employees’ views of what aspects of working at AOC were going well or 

needed improvement, (2) whether employees had the resources needed to 

perform their jobs, and (3) employees’ perspectives on AOC’s worker 

safety program. We developed the overall approach to conducting the focus 

groups, including the development and pretesting of the focus group guide 

and questions and the selection of participants. We contracted with 

Booz|Allen|Hamilton to facilitate 15 focus groups sessions and provide a 

moderator, note taker, and analyses of the sessions.

We conducted 13 of these focus groups with employees from the House and 

Senate Office Building jurisdictions, Capitol Power Plant, Senate 

Restaurants, and the Construction Management Division. We selected 

employees from these parts of AOC in accordance with our specific review 

areas of worker safety and project management and also because they 

contained some of the largest employee populations. 

We attempted to assure that each group consisted of employees from the 

same jurisdiction and shift and worked in trades versus nontrades 

occupational categories, for example, a group comprising plumbers and 

electricians versus a group comprising custodians and laborers. In 

composing groups of employees from trade shops, we allocated our sample 

roughly proportional to the number of employees in each shop with the 

restriction that at least one employee from each shop within each 

jurisdiction be selected for participation. There was one session that was 

not composed in this manner due to scheduling difficulties and the 

disparate number of employees within certain jurisdictions on certain 

shifts. This session comprised employees from the evening shift from both 

the House and the Senate jurisdictions. 
Appendix I

Employee and Supervisor Focus Groups—

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Page 105 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Once the composition of each focus group was defined, we randomly 

selected 12 to 14 employees from a list of those employees who worked in 

the jurisdiction, shift, and occupational categories that defined the group. 

We invited a few more employees than would usually constitute a focus 

group to adjust for the possibility that there would be some employees who 

would not be interested in participating or would be unable to attend. 

The other two focus groups comprised randomly selected employee 

supervisors from the House and Senate jurisdictions. We held one focus 

group with supervisors of employees in trade shops and the other focus 

group with supervisors of nontrade employees. In all, we invited 200 

employees to attend 15 focus groups and 127 employees participated. 

A Booz|Allen|Hamilton facilitator and a note taker were present during 

each of these 15 focus group sessions along with a GAO observer. AOC 

management was not present during any session. During each session, the 

facilitator let participants know that we were conducting a general 

management review of AOC, and that they were randomly selected by GAO 

to participate. The GAO representative assured participants that all 

comments would be kept confidential and consolidated into one larger 

report without identification, so no one individual or jurisdiction could be 

identified. 

We also administered an anonymous paper exit survey at the end of each 

session to gauge whether employees felt comfortable speaking during the 

session and make additional comments. The exit survey asked participants 

whether they felt free to speak openly during the session. Only 7 

participants of the 115 participants returning the exit surveys marked the 

“no” response. 

To obtain a better understanding of project management at AOC, we also 

conducted one additional focus group with full-time, day-to-day AOC 

project managers. For this focus group, we asked about what is working 

well at AOC in project management and where there might be areas for 

improvement. We also discussed (1) the project management process at 

AOC, (2) the project management environment, and (3) resources and tools 

utilized in performing project management duties at AOC. 

We randomly selected 10 project managers from the Office of Design and 

Construction and 4 project managers from the AOC jurisdictions. Eight 

project managers participated in the focus group—5 from the Office of 

Design and Construction and 3 from AOC jurisdictions. We facilitated the 
Appendix I

Employee and Supervisor Focus Groups—

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Page 106 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

session. The project manager’s focus group followed the same set of 

general guidelines as described above. All project manager participants 

responding to the survey said they felt comfortable speaking freely in the 

session.

The focus group results discussed in this report are summary descriptions 

reflecting the range of views and perceptions held by employees, 

supervisors, or project managers. A rough gauge of the significance of 

these views can be discerned in the extent to which certain opinions or 

perceptions are repeatedly expressed or endorsed by many participants 

from multiple groups. Although the randomly selected participants are, in 

part, representative of employees in those AOC components where they 

work,1

 the descriptive nature of the responses and the relatively small 

sample sizes do not permit the development of reliable, quantitative 

estimates that are generalizable to these AOC components. 

1

We do not know and cannot assess differences that might exist between the views of those 

invited participants who chose not to attend the session and those who did.
Appendix I

Employee and Supervisor Focus Groups—

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Page 107 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Questions Used in Employee Focus Groups 

Employee Introductions: Please give your first name and how long you’ve worked at 

AOC. 

GAO is interested in finding out what is working well at AOC and where there might be 

areas for improvement. We’re going to cover three basic areas today: 

1) what it is like to work at AOC 

2) whether you have the resources you need on the job, and 

3) your perspectives on worker safety issues at AOC. 

1) GAO is interested in getting employee’s perspectives of what it is like to work at 

AOC.

a. Working well: In your experience, what is working well at AOC? Why do you 

think these things are working well? 

b. Needs fixing: What do you think needs to be fixed at AOC? What would you 

suggest be done to fix these things? 

c. Communication: Do you get the information you need from your supervisor to 

do your job? Do employees and supervisors share job-related information 

freely? Do you feel comfortable giving input or ideas to management? 

d. Fairness and treatment of others: Do you believe the distribution of workload 

among employees is fair? If disputes and conflicts occur in the workplace, are 

they resolved fairly? 

2) We would now like to talk about the resources people need to perform their jobs 

well. 

a. Equipment, etc.: Do you have the equipment, materials, and supplies you need 

to do your job? If you do not have these resources, do you know why? If you 

could tell AOC management about resources that you need to do your job 

better, what would they be? 

b. Job-related training: Does AOC provide you with the training that you need to 

perform your job well? Are there training needs that aren’t being met at AOC? 

For example, do you think your co-workers or supervisors need additional 

training? What areas would you recommend? 

c. Supervision: Do employees receive the help they need to do their jobs from 

supervisors? If there are conflicts on the job, do supervisors to step in and 

resolve them? 
Appendix I

Employee and Supervisor Focus Groups—

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Page 108 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

d. Teamwork: Do employees work well together within a work team? Do 

different work teams (e.g., paint shop and furniture shop) work well together? 

Do you have any suggestions on how to improve teamwork at AOC? 

3) We would now like to talk about worker safety. In the past few years, there has been 

a lot of attention focused on worker safety. 

a. Have you received safety training in the last 12 months? Has the safety 

training you received been helpful in preventing injuries? 

b. Do you feel protected from health and safety hazards on the job? 

c. If you or a coworker were to experience an illness or injury on the job, what 

would you do? Are you comfortable in reporting illnesses and injuries? 

d. If you were to see an unsafe condition or hazard on the job, what would you 

do? Are you comfortable in reporting unsafe conditions or hazards? 

e. When a safety-related incident occurs on the job, do you think AOC takes the 

incident seriously (i.e., does its best to deal with the situation)? [Ask for 

participants for examples.]

CLOSING: 

Are there other issues not covered today that you would like AOC management to know 

about? 
Appendix I

Employee and Supervisor Focus Groups—

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Page 109 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Questions Used in Supervisor Focus Groups

Employee Introductions: Please give your first name and how long you’ve worked at 

AOC. 

GAO is interested in finding out what is working well at the AOC and where there might 

be areas for improvement. We’re going to cover three basic areas today: 

1) what it is like to work at AOC, 

2) whether you have the resources you need on the job, and 

3) your perspectives on worker safety issues at AOC. 

1) GAO is interested in getting your perspectives of what it is like to work at AOC. 

a. Working well: In your experience, what is working well at AOC? Why do you 

think these things are working well? 

b. Needs fixing: What do you think needs to be fixed at AOC? What would you 

suggest be done to fix these things? 

c. Communication: Do you get the information you need from your supervisor to 

do your job? Do employees and supervisors share job-related information 

freely? Do you feel comfortable giving input or ideas to management? 

d. Teamwork: Do employees work well together within a work team? Do 

different work teams (e.g., paint shop and furniture shop) work well together? 

e. Coordination: Do you have any suggestions on how to improve project 

coordination at AOC? Do you have the authority to make decisions or changes 

needed to get the job done? For example, if a project has conflicting 

schedules, are you able to rearrange shop resources? 

f. Fairness and treatment of others: How easy or difficult is it to ensure work is 

distributed fairly among employees? Are you successful in resolving conflicts 

in the workplace with employees? What resources do you use to resolve 

conflicts (e.g., do you refer employees to other offices if a conflict cannot be 

resolved)? Do you feel you have the support you need to resolve conflicts? 
Appendix I

Employee and Supervisor Focus Groups—

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Page 110 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

2) We would now like to talk about the resources people need to perform their jobs 

well. 

a. Equipment, etc.: Do you have the equipment, materials, and supplies your 

shop and your team needs to do your job? If you do not have these resources, 

do you know why? If you could tell AOC management about resources that 

you need to do your job better, what would they be? 

b. Job-related training: Does AOC provide you with the training that you need to 

perform your job well? Are there training needs that aren’t being met at AOC? 

What areas of training would you recommend for employees or yourself? For 

example, as a supervisor, how many of you have received training on how to 

supervise and manage employees? 

3) We would now like to talk about worker safety. In the past few years, there has been 

a lot of attention focused on worker safety. 

a. Has your shop or team received safety training in the last 12 months? Is the 

training appropriate for your shop or team? 

b. Who provides the safety training? Do the trainers have the knowledge to 

provide adequate training to your team? Has the safety training you’ve 

received been helpful in preventing injuries? 

c. As a supervisor, do you believe you are fully informed about the important 

safety issues for your team? 

d. Is the emphasis on safety too much, too little, or just right? 

Instead: Do you feel that your workload allows you to balance safety 

concerns?

e. Are you comfortable in reporting illnesses and injuries?

f. Do you think your team takes reporting safety issues seriously? 

g. When a safety-related incident occurs on the job, do you think AOC takes the 

incident seriously (i.e., does their best to deal with the situation)? [Ask for 

participants for examples.]

CLOSING: 

Are there other issues not covered today that you would like AOC management to know 

about? 
Appendix I

Employee and Supervisor Focus Groups—

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Page 111 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Questions Used in Project Manager Focus Group 

Employee Introductions: Please give your first name and how long you’ve worked at 

AOC. 

GAO is interested in finding out what is working well at AOC in project management and 

where there might be areas for improvement. We’re going to cover three basic areas 

today:

1) the project management process at AOC, 

2) the project management environment, and 

3) resources and tools you utilize in performing your duties at AOC. 

1) The Project Management Process at AOC 

GAO is interested in getting your perspectives on project management at AOC. First, 

we want to hear what is on your mind about what is working well and what is not. 

And then we want to ask you specifically about some recent changes and current 

plans that are relevant to project management at AOC. 

a. Working well: In your view, what project management processes are working 

well at AOC? Why do you think these things are working well? 

b. Needs improvement: Where do you think project management processes need 

to be changed or fixed? What would you suggest be done to improve these 

processes? 

Now we would like to get your perspectives on some specific project management 

improvement initiatives at AOC. 

c. Planning: By a show of hands, are you aware of the forthcoming planning 

initiatives, including the building condition assessments and the master plan 

for the Capitol Hill complex? 

How do you think the planning will affect your future workload, if at all? How 

will it affect your priorities, if at all? 

d. Best practices: By a show of hands, are you aware of what are being termed 

the “Best Practices” initiatives to improve project management at AOC? 

More specifically, are you aware of the following: 

1. “Cradle-to-grave” management? 

2. PIC reporting requirements? 

3. The “1391” process? 

4. Any other aspects of best practices? 
Appendix I

Employee and Supervisor Focus Groups—

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Page 112 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

i. Do these “practices” affect your workload? If so, how (i.e., 

easier, more busy work)? 

ii. What works well about these components? What doesn’t work 

so well? Why? 

iii. How, if at all, would you improve these processes? 

2) Project Management Environment 

We are also interested in learning more about various organizational processes as 

they pertain to project management at AOC. 

a. Priorities: (AOC-wide) As an agency, how well does AOC prioritize projects 

overall? And do you understand how those priorities are set? 

Are priorities clearly communicated to project managers? 

(Individual Project Manager) How do you set priorities for your own 

workload? 

With respect to your current workload, are you being asked to do too much? 

Too little? Please describe. 

b. Communication and team work: 

Here is a list of major stakeholders who contribute to or are interested in a 

projects completion. With respect to your relationship with each of the 

groups, (a) What is working well and (b) What needs fixing? 

- Clients (both internal and external) 

- Superintendents 

- Office of the CFO/Budget Office 

- Procurement Office 

- Safety Office 

- Assistant Architect’s Office (in general) 

- Architecture Division 

- Engineering Division 

- Construction Management Division 

- Cost Estimators 

- Contractors 

- Consultants 

In your view, which groups are able to communicate/coordinate most 

effectively with you and each other in order to get a job completed? Least 

effectively? Why? 

Do you get the information you need, when you need it? If not, what 

information do you need and why is it not getting through? 
Appendix I

Employee and Supervisor Focus Groups—

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Page 113 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Do you have any suggestions on how to improve overall 

communication/coordination on project management? 

c. Decision making authority: As a project manager, it is implied that you have a 

certain degree of authority to keep a project moving. Do you feel that you 

have the right level of authority to ensure a project is completed on time, 

within scope, and under budget? If not, why? 

What would you like to see changed? 

d. Accountability: How are you held accountable for managing a project? Do you 

know how others who play key roles are held accountable? 

e. Supervision: Do you receive the help you need to do your job from 

supervisors? If there are conflicts on the job, do supervisors step in and 

resolve them? 

Do supervisors routinely review your work products and offer meaningful 

feedback on your performance? 

3) Resources and Tools 

We would now like to talk about the resources and support you need to successfully 

manage projects. 

a. Resources: Do you have the equipment, materials, and tools you need to do 

your job? If not, what is needed? Do you know why a needed resource is not 

provided? 

Prompts: 

- Do you need a project management system to help manage the 

progress of a project? 

- Project Information Center system 

- Project Managers Manual 

- Design documents 

- Estimates

- Budget information 

- Project Meetings including, team meetings, quarterly project 

meetings, and midyear budget review meetings 

Are the right people asked to attend the meetings? Are there meetings you’d 

like to have but don’t? 

b. Job-related training: Are there any areas of project management where being 

provided some training would help you do your job better? 
Appendix I

Employee and Supervisor Focus Groups—

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Page 114 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Has there been any project-management-related training that you wanted to 

take but were unable to do so? If so, please describe. 

c. Needs: If you could tell management about resources that you need to do your 

job better, what would they be? 

4) Summary of Issues 

a. Biggest issues: Considering our discussions today, what are the biggest issues 

project managers face? 

b. Consensus: From that list, is there one single issue that seems to be the most 

pressing facing all project managers? 
Appendix I

Employee and Supervisor Focus Groups—

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Page 115 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Focus Group Exit Survey Questions 

We have prepared a simple two-question exit survey for you to complete here before you 

leave. This survey is confidential. When completed, please place the survey in the box 

before you leave. 

PAPER EXIT SURVEY:

1) Did you feel free to speak openly about the issues discussed here today? 

Yes

No (If no, please explain why.) 

2) Are there other issues that you would like to GAO to know about? Please fill in here. 
Page 116 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Appendix II

Comments from the Office of the Architect of 

the Capitol ApendxiI
Appendix II

Comments from the Office of the Architect of 

the Capitol

Page 117 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix II

Comments from the Office of the Architect of 

the Capitol

Page 118 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix II

Comments from the Office of the Architect of 

the Capitol

Page 119 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix II

Comments from the Office of the Architect of 

the Capitol

Page 120 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix II

Comments from the Office of the Architect of 

the Capitol

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Appendix II

Comments from the Office of the Architect of 

the Capitol

Page 122 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix II

Comments from the Office of the Architect of 

the Capitol

Page 123 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol
Page 124 GAO-03-231 Architect of the Capitol

Appendix III

GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgements ApendxiI

For further information about this statement, please contact J. Christopher 

Mihm at (202) 512-6806. Individuals making key contributions to this 

statement included Thomas Beall, Justin Booth, Carole Cimitile, Kevin J. 

Conway, Elizabeth Curda, Deborah Davis, Terrell Dorn, Elena Epps, 

V. Bruce Goddard, David Merrill, Christina Quattrociocchi, Benjamin Smith 

Jr., Lori Rectanus, John Reilly, William Roach, Regina Santucci, Gary 

Stofko, Kris Trueblood, Sarah Veale, Michael Volpe, and Daniel Wexler. 

(450071)
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