Effective analysis is a crucial process when it comes to issues related to security. Intelligence is also closely tied to the aspect of analysis. The intelligence community will continue to rely heavily on a number of intelligence parameters that can aid their work.
Both the past and modern policymakers are keen on analysis owing to its utility nature and usefulness. This brief essay discusses a number of methods that can be used to improve analysis.
First, the entire process requires high quality employees. In other words, effectiveness of the analysis process is governed by the quality of input. This implies that only intelligent or highly professional analysts should be incorporated in future analysis in order to improve the process.
The flow and stock of workers deployed to carry out analyses should be comprised of individuals who are competent and passionate enough on their roles (Lahneman 2006). For example, reward for excellence is highly recommended for specialized workers and career personnel who demonstrate effectiveness and hard work.
This motivates the available stock of analysts and eventually improves productivity. Moreover, specialization should be encouraged among members of staff. Narrowing the scope of operations during the analysis process enhances quality delivery.
Regular leadership training and capacity building of employees should also be part and parcel of the analysis improvement process. As a matter of fact, a lot of emphasis on the quality of delivery is required.
The CIA and other related government intelligence agencies should make sure that the skills of personnel can be made more dynamic and vibrant.
Second, the intelligence community should not be isolated at all. It is essential for the community to be well stocked with talented individuals from other disciplines such as business and the academia world.
Better still, both the mid-career and lateral entry levels into the intelligence community should be encouraged in order to minimize the nature of isolation that has existed for a long time. Even short-term projects can benefit a lot from talented minds attracted from other fields.
The balance between consumers and intelligence producers should be improved forthwith. The current relationship between the two groups is not stable. Needless to say, policymakers and intelligence professionals should clearly comprehend and appreciate the needs of each other (Lahneman 2006).
The latter can be attained by ensuring that career intelligence officers are rotated on a regular basis. This implies that the same officers should never dominate the policymaking departments for a very long time. Rotation assists in eliminating static professional growth.
An option should also be created for officers who decide to be assigned temporary tasks. Moreover, the personnel who work at the analysis departments require adequate sabbaticals. Continuous work process without taking leaves might lead to poor performance.
Finally, political interference on the functions of the intelligence community should be avoided as much as possible. The dysfunctional nature of most intelligence communities is mainly attributed to skewed political interests. Future analysis can only be made better if the team of professionals is left to work independently.
This calls for an urgent need to safeguard the working tenure and professional input of the intelligence community. Politicizing the analysis process has led to serious decline in the quality of intelligence analysis.
Politics tend to distort judgment or interfere with the quality of information processed at any given time. Therefore, reasonable safeguards should be offered to analysts.
Reference List
Lahneman, William. 2006. “The Future of Intelligence Analysis Volume I Final Report.” Project commissioned by the Assistant Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Education and Training, Annapolis,Maryland, March 10.