Currently, 35 state agencies and boards are involved in hundreds of plain language projects at any given time. They range from efforts to simplify form letters and forms, to web pages, brochures and instructions. The goal is to make it easier for citizens and businesses to do business with the state. But Governor Gregoire's Plain Talk initiative is also about making government more efficient and less expensive.
The initiative has great public support because, well, who can argue with such an effort? It just makes sense to reduce the citizen hassle of applying for a license or deciphering the instructions on a legal document. It's also the right thing to do.
To drive this point home, we are looking for measurable results like cost and time savings that confirm our observation that plain language works.
Resources
- Performance Measurement: Guidelines, Myths and Examples by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD
- Performance measures development worksheet