The sky is falling! Ann Daniels Director of Credentialing American Public Works Association Kansas City, Missouri hicken Little repeatedly warned his friends, “The sky is falling. The sky is falling!” When it didn’t happen after all their preparations and fretting, the friends determined he couldn’t be believed. And, once they found the nut that had fallen on his head, they all relaxed, picked up their busy lives and moved on to better things. I’m guessing it wasn’t long before they were all back to normal and the experience was a faint memory. I can almost hear the head rooster in the barnyard giving everyone a scolding for being so gullible for having stopped all they were doing to be consumed by fear that everything was going to change dramatically and things would never be the same. This story mirrors, in some ways, the experience our agencies are living through. Budget cuts, early retirements, furloughs, reductions in force, all have pushed public works to the very edge. Our departments are operating with fewer employees and resources that must produce more work product with less money. As we begin to see signs that the economy is starting to climb its way out of the hole, we can only anticipate beginning the process of rebuilding our departments. Longtime public works folks realize this is a cycle. Maybe the country doesn’t go through such a dramatic slump every three to five years, but we can look back historically and realize we’ve been here before. And, truth be told, we’ll be there again.
in Tough Economic Times” and Jim Proce, Kirk Holmes and Neil Grigg provided suggestions for leaders to consider while working with their employees to weather the economic storm. The October call, “Managing Up,” presented by John Ostrowksi, Vitaly Troyan and Patty Hilderbrand, offered positive methods for employees to consider when working with a boss who may have come into leadership because of the current situation and may not be the best prepared to lead. The four remaining calls are scheduled for January, February, April and May and the topics will include “Supervision Techniques to Solve Common Problems,” “The Secrets of My Success,” “Mentoring or Coaching” and “How I Got My Job” presented by Top Ten Leaders. The calls are free and can be a great discussion starter for staff meetings or small groups. Not only that, but if you miss a call or would like to listen to past calls, you have the opportunity to download them free in MP3 format at www.apwa.net/About/Mentoring/. The committee will be releasing a new series of leadership articles, written or sponsored by members of the committee, titled “Back to the Basics.” The premise is that sometimes we wake up and realize we can’t continue to function as we have before. We have to reevaluate the basic functions that our profession provides and determine how we can implement them in light of the changes in our environment. Look for the article each month.
The members of the Leadership and Management Committee continue to seek out programs, training and ideas to share with public works professionals both to help work through the tough times and to plan ahead so the next time may not be so difficult.
Members of this committee are also heavily involved in Phase II of the Body of Knowledge development. This involves researching training programs, college courses, publications, education sessions, certifications, and any other method of delivering training in the specific areas needed by public works employees. This is a major undertaking by all the Technical Committees, chapters, delegates and APWA staff. The desired outcome is to provide a list of what is available so that APWA can lead public works professionals to quality programs already in existence, but more importantly to develop training where gaps exist. The results of this project will be presented to the APWA Board of Directors in June 2010.
One program that continues to provide a forum for sharing ideas and possible solutions to these problems is the Online Mentoring Calls. The first two of these free audio calls for this year have been well received and the topics have been timely. The September call discussed “Positive Management
Another challenge for the group has been to review the “APWA Standards for Professional Conduct” to consider whether it still adequately addresses the ethical issues necessary for our Association to recommend for our members. The group determined the document is still valid but has added
The key to surviving these difficult times is preparation and leadership. Rather than waiting until the next downturn, we need to be certain our policies, practices, procedures, and rainy day funds are in place now by being proactive in tough times to be better prepared to be reactive when these same times come again—and they will.
6 APWA Reporter
December 2009