Today’s Morning Buzz is brought to you by Shane Silsby, CEO of Silsby Strategic Advisors based in Newport Beach, CA, and author of “Managing For Meteors: Preparing Local Government Leaders Before the Impact.” Connect with Shane on LinkedIn.
- What I’m watching: “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants” (Although not necessarily a Giants fan, I am enjoying the executive-level decisions and sometimes wish that local governments could operate that quickly.)
- Who my pets are: Two bulldogs, Winnie and Mabel
- What I’m working on: Supporting emerging local government leaders on a variety of complex initiatives, but most passionate about helping develop their leadership skills and to build strategies around increasing their agencies’ share of federal funding.
Stepping into a leadership role for the first time is both exhilarating and daunting. Whether transitioning from an individual contributor to a supervisor or moving from the private sector to a government position, the shift requires a new mindset and a focus on different skill sets. My categorization of changes like this is a metaphoric “meteor.” To ensure you and your team thrive, I recommend concentrating on three essential areas in your initial six months: Feedback, Organizational Structure, and Budgeting. Here’s a quick guide to help navigate these areas effectively and to manage this meteor.
Feedback as a Tool for Improving Culture
Feedback is a crucial tool for fostering a positive workplace culture. It’s not just about setting a baseline or addressing complaints. Instead, feedback is about creating a continuous loop of communication and improvement ideas. Implementing anonymous feedback channels, such as employee engagement surveys, helps to gather honest opinions and identify recurring themes. If you are generally interested in someone’s advice or insight, they may be more open to changing their position or perception, at least for that conversation. In addition to validating them as important, you may also be able to include them as investors in initiatives to enhance the organization’s future success.
Establish regular one-on-one meetings with your team members. These sessions should be used to discuss progress, address concerns, and offer constructive feedback. Regular interactions build trust and maintain open communication, which can prevent the perception that meetings are only held when issues arise. Then, acting on the insights you receive demonstrates that you value their perspectives. Share updates on what changes will be made based on the feedback and explain why certain issues might not be addressed immediately. This transparency will encourage more open dialogue and enhance team morale.
In my experience, creating a feedback culture, implementing employee engagement initiatives, and aligning them with industry best practices led to a successful multi-phase transition plan in a large government agency. Doing this with intention and showing evidence of directly linked survey responses with proposed leadership initiatives brings multiple benefits. Trust is built throughout your organization by demonstrating that the survey responses will potentially prompt responsive applicable actions, which also increases future survey response rates. While every issue may not be addressed, it should start shifting the culture and heightening the investment of each employee in their respective role.
Understanding and Shaping the Organizational Structure
A clear and efficient organizational structure is essential for meeting goals and enhancing performance. Start by assessing current roles, responsibilities, and workflow processes to identify any redundancies, gaps, or inefficiencies. Government agencies often operate within a hierarchical framework, which is beneficial for continuity but can become over-resourced in areas if focus on the pyramid structure is not maintained. Aim for an optimal span of control — typically five to seven subordinates per supervisor — and limit supervisory layers to avoid bureaucratic bottlenecks. A more compact structure allows for better communication and accountability to align the organization with leadership goals.
Ensure that reporting lines are clear and logical. Confusing or random structures can lead to miscommunication, inefficiencies, and reduced morale if career paths cannot be defined. If changes are necessary, align the structure with your agency’s strategic goals while being mindful of employee feedback. For example, if workload balancing is a priority, consider forming cross-functional teams to enhance collaboration. Clearly define roles to avoid redundancy and ensure accountability. Promote a structure that encourages teamwork over competition or siloing.
Utilizing Strategic Budget Processes
It is crucial for new leaders to understand effective budgeting strategies for resource management and goal achievement. Start by familiarizing yourself with the current budget, reviewing past expenditures, understanding fixed and variable costs, and assessing how well the budget aligns with agency goals and community expectations.
Based on your developed budget knowledge, set financial goals that are realistic but push for maximizing the productivity of resources. Factor in expected revenues, necessary investments, and potential cost-saving measures. Prioritize expenditures that align with your strategic objectives and create longer term value, such as investing in training over upgrading office furniture.
All government agencies should have a Capital Improvement Program in place as part of budget planning. To maximize the effectiveness of capital improvement programs, consider fiscal constraints and resource balancing. Ensure that project proposals match the available resources and workforce capacity. Once the annual budget is in place, use financial reports to track spending and identify variances to ensure that work groups stay within their assigned budget allocations. Be prepared to adjust expenditures as needed and communicate these changes transparently to maintain trust and alignment.
Setting Goals for the Future
With a focus on feedback, organizational structure, and budgeting, you can set actionable goals and metrics that drive future success. These are heavily relied upon in the private sector, especially in larger corporations heavily focused on metrics. However, not every government agency has published goals and operational metrics that allow the public to see the agency’s priorities and the associated performance levels. Some agencies are so busy with daily activities or dealing with emergencies that they don’t take the time to establish these performance strategies.
Almost every agency has a mission, vision, and values statement, and these aspirational guidelines are important. However, without stronger alignment of employees and resources, leaders are far less likely to successfully deliver major initiatives or projects with predictability. Work groups will continue to grow and expand and work in all different areas, many of which may be virtuous. However, there is only so much time in the day, and employees may expend time and energy on what they deem meritorious if they are not focused on established goals with adequate performance metrics.
The important thing to know when setting goals is to pursue both the priorities of the implementing agency and the policies of the elected officials and the city or county manager. The resulting goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based or “SMART.” Then develop actionable objectives and key performance indicators to meet each established SMART goal and improve accountability.
In conclusion, transitioning into a leadership role requires mastering new skills and adapting to new responsibilities. By focusing on effective feedback mechanisms, optimizing organizational structures, and managing your budget strategically, you’ll be better equipped to set and achieve meaningful goals. Embrace these challenges as opportunities for growth, and continuously seek to learn, change, and improve. Your commitment to these areas will set the stage for leading your team to success.
For more in-depth perspectives on these and other local government strategies, check out “Managing for Meteors” and access free content, like a Roadmap to Readiness outline, by visiting managingformeteors.com.