Monthly virtual conference calls are a fantastic way to keep in touch while accommodating your busy schedules. The purpose of these monthly calls is to have an opportunity to share thoughts and ideas that affect us all. Pick a day and time for conference calls and try to keep it regular (e.g. the first Friday of each month at 3 p.m.). Try to keep it to one hour to respect everyone’s very busy schedules. The calls should be facilitated by a select member or members. Consider scheduling an occasional 10-15-minute call to discuss emergent issues.
Sample Topics:
City or County Manager/City Attorney or County Counsel relationships – what do you do when you are not getting the service yo u think you need and/or getting more service than you need?
Orienting new councilmembers (would be a good one for October, to help them get ready for just after the election).
How city/county managers track and manage all the things they have on their plates and the many issues they must manage (What techniques do they use/systems do they employ?).
Community engagement – be careful what you wish for – how to manage beyond the cranks: engaging people who don’t have the time to be involved, but want to be informed, and might be able to give you their opinion, but won’t come to meetings.
How are city/county managers directly connecting with the community and organization – what techniques are they using to make those direct connections (and not having everything filtered through staff)?
Budget cuts: perception vs. reality. How do we deal with severe cutbacks in city/county departments? How to deal with the perception of having been reduced when it really hasn’t happened vs. the reality of severe cutbacks in other departments.
Defining success in the new reality of local government. How do we define success today? We used to target projects and initiatives – what other things we can use to measure success that is not development related?
How to make service sharing with other agencies work well.
How to deal with an elected official who makes inappropriate remarks to staff.
How to get your junior staff in front of your elected officials making presentations without scaring them off.
Creating norms of behavior for your governing body.
Managing the world of social media: why, how and when to get involved.
Energy projects/savings including street light purchase.
Organizational/productivity studies/consultants vs. in-house experts.
Best practices in hiring the right employees: contract or no contract?
Working out partnerships with your neighboring jurisdictions when your elected officials don’t like the idea.
How to coach councilmembers who can’t work with the mayor.
Your own performance evaluation (tips you’ve learned or want to hear about).