Bridging the gap in leadership: a tool for managing transitions in agency management.

In recent years, several studies have predicted imminent mass retirement of public park and recreation directors. Those retirements have started, and newly appointed directors are beginning to fill the vacancies.

Each of these newly appointed leaders can expect personal and organization transition issues. It can be difficult during this transition to grasp all of the tasks, responsibilities and subsequent actions without a plan. But while the transition will likely be difficult, there's a way that it can be implemented while considering all the concerns of the board, staff and organization issues that require attention during the early days on the job. That way is called the bridge planning management process, which helps new leaders to ease their transitions by determining the primary issues that require resolution.

What Happened to the Honeymoon?

Once a person has been appointed as director of an organization, she's confronted with many decisions. While much of the ensuing stress stems from the challenges or newness of the experience, other stress is caused such factors as the immediate expectations the board has of individual and agency performance. There might be concern with the management style that will work best in a new environment. There will be work left unfinished by the previous leadership that needs to be identified and addressed. There will be impending expectations among staff and the community. Analyzing systems, policies, partnership relationships, contracted groups and similar organizational management issues will need to be done, along with understanding the daily requirements of organizational management. And, of course, there are those unexpected and many times undesired surprises that are bound to pop up. Even if a person has been promoted from within the organization, the reality of the expectations as director can't be understood until that person becomes the director.

When organizations change operations or management, the desire is to complete the change as seamlessly as possible so as to not interrupt organizational efficiency. Regardless of how positive these motives are intended to be, change often is disruptive to the staff, board and community. However, it's difficult to accomplish this goal because there are any number of complications that get in the way. Bridge planning helps directors navigate through the process of change in the organization and reduce the frustrations that center on all of the operational challenges that accompany such a change.

Where do the Frustrations Exist?

When visiting with recently hired directors, we found several stresses that affected their effectiveness in their new position.

Fully and clearly understanding the expectations of the board that conducted the hiring: This can be complicated by the fact that many times boards aren't sure of their expectations for the new director. For many board members, this may be their first opportunity to manage a professional staff person. Other times, they think they know what they desire in change, but don't fully understand what that change looks or feels like. For instance, if a board hires the director to make changes, the director needs to understand the degree of change the board desires before initiating change. Too much of a certain form of change may frighten the board. The result may be a reason for the director to lose the job.

Establishing a sound public relations agenda for the staff and director: Promoting a positive image about the change accompanying a new director is critical. As one director we interviewed put it, there's only one chance to set the tone of how the agency will pose public relations activity and organizational conduct in the future. Make the precedent a sound one that fully considers how you plan to step the program off. These considerations and strategies may need to be created and implemented before your first day on the job.

Developing an understanding and relationship with your staff: Many times staff will approach you with desires and initiatives they wouldn't have posed to the previous director. Anticipate that these pent-up expressions--which often stem from a lack of trust with the old director--exist, and be prepared to work with them. In other cases, staff won't meet your expectations regarding performance and work ethic. The time to lead others takes place early when everyone is observing the behavior of the director. How you manage this challenge will be closely scrutinized.

The central idea behind the bridge planning management process is to consider these and other issues that accompany a new management experience before the process of change takes place. The process is especially useful to directors who want to have a positive impact before their first day on the job. However, it's also useful for directors who recently experienced a major turnover in their board. Bridge planning allows them to quickly engage the new board and staff with the impending or urgent issues of the agency, staff and community.

How Does the Process Benefit Me?

Bridge planning helps to accomplish four objectives:

* Identifying the issues that require attention the moment the new position is accepted. With this strategy, problem solving can take place the first day on the job.

* Allowing input about issues that need attention by the board and staff of the new agency.

* Providing an opportunity for the leader to demonstrate directed intent to solve problems in a highly proactive manner.

* Allowing board members and staff to participate in organization problem-solving by providing issues that they think require resolution and the subsequent ranking of the objectives, thereby helping to build a sense of community in the agency. Once the issues have been identified and the organization understands where the priorities lie, unified organizational problem-solving can begin on the first day of the job.

Many times this form of planning is called a six-month plan. During this time, on top of everything else, two questions need to be answered. First, how do you create a climate that makes the plate of issues manageable, solves organization problems and addresses issues early? Second, how quickly and efficiently can these issues be solved so that a second plan can be created for the future direction of the agency? This question needs answering to communicate to the board and staff that the focus is on the first six months to solve the immediate problems, and what can take place after those problems are solved. Many times organizations have difficulty moving forward with future planning because they're bogged down by so many unsolved problems.

Stages in the Planning Process

When these types of changes occur, the issues that come with the change need to be absorbed, understood, prioritized and solved in a short time so that longer-term initiatives can go forward. Bridge planning is an 11-stage process designed to help identify, assess and prioritize past and current issues, create a plan to address and solve the issues quickly and efficiently, and move toward future initiatives in a proactive manner.

STAGE ONE

Set the groundwork for implementing the process. This stage requires the director to gain agreement from the board to initiate the process. It will be important to prepare all of the communicative documents of the bridge plan so that your thoughts can be communicated effectively with the board and other participants in the process. If possible, gain an agreement so that all who participate (board and staff) have the same level of equity in the rating process. This will be important to garner staff unity so that their issues will be heard. Be cautioned that board members may be threatened by this equity. Sell the concept that the process is good for the health of the agency.

STAGE TWO

Determine the people you wish to have participate in the process with the approval of the board. It will be important to communicate with the participants the critical nature of their full participation. Review the reasons for the process and the sequences they can expect to take place.

STAGE THREE

Initiate the bridge plan process with the bridge planning team. There many ways this can be done. One of the most effective is to conduct a brainstorm workshop session with all participants. The idea is to flush out all issues causing stress in the organization among the staff and board.

STAGE FOUR

Assemble the contributions. Break them into categories (policy, programs, facilities, community relations, etc.). Place all of the responses into a rating matrix. Write the contributions as initiatives, and gain agreement with the participants that they're correctly interpreted. The rating matrix will comprise all comments. Weight the ratings. (Example: 5, critical to be completed; 4, highly important to be completed; 3, important to be completed; 2, marginally important to be completed; and 1, not important to be completed.)

STAGE FIVE

All participants are to rate the items listed in the matrix. Ratings must be completed in a prescribed amount of time so that they can be tabulated, sorted and reported back to the plan participants to keep the process moving.

STAGE SIX

Collect and prioritize the issues that surfaced, and redistribute them to the plan participants. Conduct a meeting to discuss the ratings and determine if any need to be adjusted by the team. If there's disagreement among the team members, these issues need to be negotiated to ensure the issues get solved.

STAGE SEVEN

Create timelines for solving the issues. Use the objective approach to problem solving. Objectives need to be measurable, have a beginning and end, and follow a sequence.

STAGE EIGHT

Gain full approval of the initiatives and timelines from the board and staff. Begin the problem solving by distributing the responsibilities equitably among staff.

STAGE NINE

Monitor and report progress of the objectives. This becomes a great time to monitor the organization (staff and board) for its work culture and dependability, and the ability of staff to accomplish assigned work in a desired time frame.

STAGE TEN

Evaluate the results of the bridge planning. Identify any incomplete steps and take action to solve them. Determine the next process to be implemented to drive the organization into the future.

STAGE ELEVEN

Celebrate success!

Bridging Troubled Waters

Bridge planning can be used under many circumstances of equally challenging change processes. An example is the change that takes place when a newly constructed venue is unveiled ill the community. Managers who are for the first time opening a new facility often have a difficult time effectively identifying and prioritizing the issues that need to be addressed in relation to this event. It will be important to effectively bridge the issues that might occur before, during and after the construction of the facility.

Many will recall the era when the start of a new job was considered a honeymoon; the implication was that, because the employee was new, she was impervious to perils of the job. It was considered a luxurious time used for adjustment. No longer is this the case. Employers have the desire that the new director will be productive immediately. Bridge planning can help you meet that desire.

Terry, Schwartz is the director of the Facility Management Studio for Counsilman/Hunsaker & Associates in St. Louis, Mo. Before joining the firm, he was a professor of recreation, parks and tourism at the University of North Carolina Greensboro and Western Illinois University. Schwartz has also been director of the Glen Ellyn Park District and the South Barrington Park District, and served as president of the Illinois Park and Recreation Association. Anne Nixon is the recreation superintendent for Des Peres, Ill.