I had the pleasure of attending and participating in two conferences this month: the North Carolina City and County Managers Association Winter Conference in Winston-Salem and the Illinois City and County Managers Association Winter Conference in Normal, IL. Both were highly productive and connecting with so many incredible professionals was great. There were more than 700 people in attendance this year, and the Illinois conference sold out! They were both truly impressive experiences. Several themes stood out, and I’d like to share my insights to help your organization prepare for what’s next.
AI Is on the Rise
It’s easy to feel a little apprehensive about this one. Maybe AI evokes memories of HAL 9000’s glowing red light promising “everything is going extremely well” in Space Odyssey. While it’s easy to have some trepidation, AI is not going away. There’s a wide variety of applications, but it’s important to remember that AI is just a tool. It isn’t perfect, and it works best when it has a human on the other side to revise and edit the final product. Don’t worry. It’s not replacing anyone’s job. But it can save you time and serve as a good source of inspiration. It’s worth exploring.
Prioritize Self Care
We live in a society that prioritizes progress and the “go go go” mentality. It’s so easy to get caught up in ticking off the to-do list, but here’s the reality. It isn’t sustainable if you aren’t taking care of yourself. You may struggle to find a good time in the schedule for vacation time, exercise, meditation, and walks. You may even feel guilty for prioritizing yourself over everything else. It’s understandable, but I challenge you to push through that feeling and care for yourself anyway. If it helps, schedule it just like you would a meeting. It is worth the stress relief, strengthening, and peace of mind. No work task is worth hurting yourself or ignoring your needs.
Do you suspect you might be addicted to that “on-the-go” feeling? Check out this article: https://fherehab.com/learning/addicted-to-stress
Role Clarity Is Key
Which specific tasks fall under your purview? You have enough on your plate without adding back-and-forth communication and confusion over conflicting responsibilities. It’s time to add some clarity to the situation with focused education, training, and accountability. Defining roles and responsibilities will relieve pressure on your local government managers, their staff, and elected officials. AMS is ready to help you with this!
Mentoring and Coaching
Stepping into a new role comes with lots of questions, and the experience can go very differently depending on the level of support. If you’ve ever started a job with minimal training or support, you know what it feels like to flounder a little and feel underprepared. It’s unnecessarily stressful and difficult for everyone. Take that same situation and add intentional mentoring and coaching, and so many challenges are solved. Improvement and success come faster, and the person stepping into the role has a greater sense of confidence and support from a trusted colleague. Need help organizing a more intentional mentoring and coaching program? AMS can help you with this!
Retention, Retention, Retention!
The workforce is dwindling, and recruitment is getting harder. It is time to focus inward by investing in your team. What can you do to open channels of feedback from every existing stakeholder? What changes could you make to improve the workday experience for your teams? Is there training that would help your staff grow into new leadership roles and realize their full potential? Prioritizing opportunities for growth shows teams that you value them and that you see them as being wholly deserving and dedicated to your organization. Grow your network from the inside out, and if you do need to recruit, AMS can help!
Class and Compensation Studies Anyone?
Multiple cities and villages are trying to remain competitive in the marketplace. With the cost of inflation over the past few years and the lack of job seekers, this is a must. Taking a good hard look at your classification and compensation plans will help you realign salaries and pay grades with the current climate. When you support your teams with competitive pay that demonstrates their value and worth, they will want to stay and dedicate their skills and time to your organization. This analysis is entirely worth it, and AMS can support you!
What’s Your Plan?
Strategic Planning is critical, but how you implement the plan makes all the difference. It’s great that you dedicated the time and energy to crafting the plan, but what steps are you following to implement it? Are all the stakeholders on the same level of understanding around the plan? Who is holding you accountable for doing the work? Organizing a structure for all these details and delegating the right roles in the right place make all the difference. If this sounds a little daunting, you don’t need to do it alone! AMS is here for you!
There’s a lot to digest here, so take some time to consider the points that suit your unique needs. When you’ve had some time to analyze your position, let’s get in touch! Together, we can prioritize the steps that make the most sense for you and craft a plan with actionable steps and clear goals. It’s challenging work, but it’s also so important to your organization, and AMS is here to support you every step of the way!
