Acting Chairman Copps has his work cut out for him in addressing the sad mess at FCC these days. An anonymous post to my blog, SpectrumTalk, from an FCC staffer reported on Copps first meeting with the FCC staff,
“When Chairman Copps gave his speech today to the entire FCC staff, before he had said even a word, he was met by thunderous applause. Like Obama with Bush right behind him declared that the country he was receiving was in disarray, Copps made clear that the FCC is in disarray and that things will be changing.”
Copps’ address to the FCC staff is posted on the FCC website and is a great plan for short term action. As he has written to Comm. McDowell, he is limiting his actions during his interim period to allow the new chairman flexibility in making major changes. He has stated that he is removing the unusual barriers between the staff and the other commissioners that were the hallmark of the ancienne regime. He stated,
“Second is how Commissioners and Bureaus communicate between and among themselves. In order for all of us to do our jobs well, make reasonable policy decisions, oversee the regulated industries under our purview, and represent American consumers, we must improve these lines of communication as well. To promote more opennesss, starting this coming week, we will have a weekly Chairman’s Office Briefing with Bureau and Office chiefs, or their designees, and we will include a representative from each Commissioner’s office. Opening up these meetings will, I am convinced, significantly improve the quality of our decision-making. It will also expedite the business of the Commission. I also want to ensure that my Commissioner colleagues have unfettered access to the Bureaus, with the presumption being that requests for information will be honored, and that there will be positive outreach from the Bureaus and Offices to them, with the presumption being that important information shouldn’t have to be asked for—it should be provided. I realize this is not a bureau-created problem but, beginning now, requests from Commissioners’ offices—not just the Chairman’s Office—should be answered directly and as quickly as possibly, just as if the Chairman’s Office is asking for it and without the need for running those requests through the Chairman’s office first—the only exception I can currently think of being the very narrow one that such requests not be unusually time-consuming or necessitate an excessive juggling of Bureau or Office resources. In those cases, we will attempt to craft a workable solution.”
I agree completely with this, but it focuses on staff responses to questions from the “8th Floor”. I hope that the new leadership can also address the need for responsible 2 way communications between the staff and the 8th Floor. Under the ancienne regime the staff was discouraged from taking any initiative. Virtually any action needed Chairman’s Office approval – even the “hiring” of interns! There is a need to reestablish normal delegations of authority to senior staff managers so work can proceed without bottlenecks on the 8th Floor for routine matters which don’t establish policy precedents. There is also a need to encourage responsible feedback from the staff to Commission leadership.
Thus if the staff sees a problem and wants to propose a solution they should be encouraged to do so. If staff members are concerned about a pending decision or an existing policy, there should be a responsible way to express that concern and propose alternatives. In industry this is called empowering employees. The extreme frustration of FCC employees when they are powerless to make any internal comment on something that troubles them both hurts morale and leads to leaks of information. A better 2 way internal dialogue could help in both areas.
