Paul Zucker, FAICP of Zucker Systems, Inc. just sent out an excellent “Management Doctor” message (excerpt below):

Dear Management Doctor,

I attended your 2-day seminar for Planning Directors a couple of years ago and found it to be quite informative.  Some of the staff I now directly or indirectly supervise are not planners but are trained building inspectors or maintenance staff.  I imagine that many Community Development Directors find themselves now having supervisory responsibilities over … engineers, inspectors, operations/maintenance, information technologies or administrative support to name a few.

Their respective skill-sets can be widely varying and can pose interesting supervisory challenges, particularly if the Director is not an expert in “their field.”  I believe there would be a significant amount of interest in future sessions on specifically supervising or directing non-planner municipal staffs.

- “Non-Planner Challenged”

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About Zucker Systems, Inc.

“Zucker Systems takes its lead from the Japanese word ‘kaizen‘ (’a constant search for a better way’). We continually search for a more effective and efficient way to do things. These better ways produce greater service to our clients, as well as helping to create better communities. … We see ourselves as agents of change.

“To our knowledge, Zucker Systems is the only consulting firm in the United States that specializes in the analysis of planning, building and community development functions and related departments. Organization, management and process consultation is primarily completed for city and county government and non-profit clients.”

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Dear Non-Planner Challenged,

The key to managing people is starting with the recognition that we are all different and can be motivated by different things.  Here are a few thoughts to help you get started.

Personality

Different types of personality often need to be managed in different ways.  Thus, I would start by trying to figure out the personality of each person being managed. … This is easy to illustrate with two types that I use.  One is called the “thinker” the other “socialize.”

  • When I work with the “thinker” I want to have my facts together and transact communication at that level.
  • For the “socialize” I start by talking about the latest movies over a cup of coffee.

Engineers

A friend of mine did his college thesis on the differences between planners and engineers.  You can read about this in my book, What Your Planning Professors Forgot To Tell You….  Planners tend to be people oriented and Engineers object oriented. … They likely do need to be managed differently but a good manager can figure that out.  We planners need the engineer’s hard skills.  The engineers need the planner’s soft skills.

Building Staff

I think managing building staff is particularly important since most Community Development Departments include the building permit function.  Most of these departments are managed by the planner, rather than a Certified Building Official.   I think the management issues stem from:

  • The planner often treats the building staff as second class citizens and fail to see how to integrate the planning and building function.   Start by doing some ride-alongs with building inspectors and sit and observe a plan checker for an hour or two.
  • Recognize that you are not a Certified Building Official and thus need to respect and follow the technical decisions.
  • Get very clear on the mission. Get the inspectors to see themselves as problem solvers and trainers of the private sector builders, not regulators or policemen.

By the way, in my studies I have found that a high percentage of building people are “socializer” personality types.

(T)he manager’s job is producing outstanding results with common ordinary people, just like you and me….  And yes, they may not be planners.

- The Management Doctor

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