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Posts for Leadership and Management

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Incorporating SMARTIE Outcomes and KPIs Into Your Performance Measurement Plans

September 11, 2024  by  Alicia Bones
Category:  Leadership and Management

Local governments across Washington State have developed or have been interested in developing performance measurement systems to help with program evaluation and promote greater accountability to the public. 

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Building Trust: Effective Tools for Local Government

August 12, 2024  by  Linda Gallagher
Category:  Leadership and Management ,  Inclusive Communities ,  Public Participation

Building trust with community members can be accomplished in many ways, and Washington local governments have implemented innovative strategies to increase transparency, build relationships with diverse communities, and demonstrate responsiveness to community needs. 

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Care and Feeding of Your Library Collection Policy

November 7, 2022  by  Steve Gross ,  Tamara R. Meredith
Category:  Guest Author ,  Leadership and Management

All libraries, whether they are independent districts or part of a city or town, should have both a sound collection management policy and an understanding of how to implement that policy in a way that furthers the library’s mission while reducing legal risks.

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Tapping the Power of Emerging Leaders for Climate Resilience

April 19, 2022  by  Kif Scheuer ,  Mackenzie Bolger
Category:  Guest Author ,  Leadership and Management ,  Climate and Sustainability

CivicSpark is a service program that pairs talented young adult Fellows with local governments, state agencies, Tribes, and nonprofits to tackle climate-related projects, research, and programs. It is expanding to Washington State and accepting applications for the 2022-23 year. 

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Risk Management During Pandemic and Widespread Illness

April 9, 2020  by  Roger Neal
Category:  Guest Author ,  Leadership and Management ,  COVID-19 ,  Emergency Management

This blog post looks at how agencies can apply risk management strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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The Hidden Power of the Government Form Letter

July 5, 2019  by  Dana Howard Botka
Category:  Guest Author ,  Leadership and Management

Your routine letters and forms may be creating more internal costs and constituent frustration than you realize. This post shows how reducing the jargon, simplifying the message, and talking to the reader can, instead, win over citizens.

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The Importance of Documentation in Risk Management

June 10, 2019  by  Roger Neal
Category:  Guest Author ,  Leadership and Management

This blog explores the importance of documentation as it relates to risk management. 

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How to Talk to the Public When the Heat is On

April 11, 2019  by  Tracy Burrows
Category:  Leadership and Management

Don't wait until a crisis hits your agency to develop a plan for managing communication with the public. This blog post provides an overview of how to plan ahead—before crisis puts you in the spotlight. 

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Improving Performance Management in Government Through Visual Data

October 3, 2018  by  Leah LaCivita
Category:  Leadership and Management

This blog post looks at some of the Lean-related visual tools King County uses to support its efforts at continuous improvement.

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3 Steps to a More Meaningful Mission Statement

June 12, 2018  by  Tracy Burrows
Category:  Leadership and Management

In this post, MRSC's Executive Director Tracy Burrows looks at the role of an organization's mission statement and an easy, 3-step process to creating mission statements that will engage employees long after the process is over.

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ADR? What’s That?

February 15, 2018  by  Linda Gallagher
Category:  Leadership and Management

Alternative Dispute Resolution offers methods that are considered “alternatives” to litigation, the traditional — and often expensive — form of dispute resolution. In this post Legal Consultant Linda Gallagher discusses two ADR methods: arbitration and mediation.

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Ten Traits of an Effective Councilmember

January 2, 2018  by  Jon Mutchler
Category:  Guest Author ,  Leadership and Management ,  Legislative Body ,  City and Town Officials

In this guest-authored blog post, Ferndale Mayor Jon Mulcher reflects on the traits he has witnessed in his career as a public servant that define truly effective councilmembers.

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Sustaining the Change Agent

August 14, 2017  by  Michael Jacobson
Category:  Guest Author ,  Leadership and Management

In this post, Government Performance Advisor Michael Jacobson argues that change agents working within local government must also make time for reflection, self-care, and building community connections for personal, not just work-related, reasons. 

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Easy Problem Solving Using the 4-step Method

June 7, 2017  by  Jennifer Haury
Category:  Guest Author ,  Leadership and Management ,  Administration and Management

Is your worksite suffering from 'change fatigue' and your staff, leery of any new improvements? Guest author Jennifer Haury offers a 4-step problem solving method to help you avoid making new changes that ultimately fail to address old, underlying issues. 

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Don’t Do That! Part One

January 25, 2017  by  Lynn Nordby
Category:  Leadership and Management

There's plenty of space devoted to what makes a good leader but the habits and characteristics of poor leaders are equally compelling.  This post, 1 of a 2-part series, summarizes what various observers identify as the habits and practices most leaders should take care to avoid.  

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Spokane County Uses Lean to Improve Emergency Response Efforts

December 12, 2016  by  John Dickson
Category:  Guest Author ,  Leadership and Management

The fourth article, from the series on how Spokane County has been using Lean principles to improve government performance at all levels, focuses on improvements to the county’s addressing process through the development of a new, regional addressing standard.

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Local Leadership: When the Professional and the Personal Collide

October 17, 2016  by  Lynn Nordby
Category:  Leadership and Management

Government leaders who live and work in their community can enjoy a host of benefits, such as enhanced relationships with constituents, but what happens when the line between the public persona and the private one blurs? Using his own experiences as a city administrator, Lynn Norby discusses the lessons he learned in trying to balance the personal with the professional.

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Who "Owns" Public Data?

October 4, 2016  by  Michael Jacobson
Category:  Guest Author ,  Leadership and Management

Who owns public data? Is is reasonable for public entities to manage the availability of their data? And what is the relationship between data and open government? In this Advisor column, Michael Jacobson shares his thoughts.

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Spokane County Uses Lean to Improve Its Job Application Process

September 13, 2016  by  John Dickson
Category:  Guest Author ,  Leadership and Management

Spokane County COO John Dickson shares another story about how the county is using lean principles to improve its services - this time, an account from Linda McGlocklin about how the HR department switched to NEOGOV software for its job application process.

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When to Kaizen: Events Versus Workshop

August 2, 2016  by  Steven Thomson
Category:  Guest Author ,  Leadership and Management

Consultant Steven Thomson makes a case for doing the lean workshop rather than the one-day kaizen event, which can leave staff frustrated and unfulfilled.

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