Career Management

Information for Planning Your Career
With the City of Sarasota

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Training & Development Catalog

Forms & Guidelines

Professional Skills Workbook

Professional Skills Table of Contents Leadership Communication Management Personal Effectiveness Professional Knowledge Customer Focus Team Approach Top Ten Skill Sets

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Models

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Key Attribute:

Management

Working effectively with others in the City to accomplish organizational goals. Identify and resolve problems with individuals and teams with the most effective, service oriented methods; skillfully allocating, directing and administering all resources.

Management is achieved through the following critical skills:

Decision Making
Delegation/Follow up
Planning, Organizing and Implementing
Problem Analysis
Quality/Process Focus
Staffing and Selection

Decision Making

Make sound, timely and fact-based decisions that contribute to the City’s success.

Practices/Behaviors:

• Develops sound rationale for decisions in line with the City’s objectives
• Weighs alternatives and consequences based on facts
• Makes firm recommendations in the appropriate time frame
• Takes accountability for decisions
• Takes risks appropriate to the situation and level of responsibility
• Monitors results of decisions and adjusts when necessary
• Involves and informs the appropriate people
• Implements appropriate checks and balances to manage risks

Delegation/Follow-up

Appropriately assign responsibilities to others in a clear manner; remove obstacles; provide needed resources; coordinate work efforts; monitor progress.

Practices/Behaviors:

• Assigns decision-making authority and accountability to the appropriate person(s)
• Considers workload and skill sets when delegating
• Provides clear expectations
• Seeks participation and involvement
• Provides time, assistance, funding and direction as necessary
• Effectively tracks projects and assignments
• Sets up feedback mechanisms.

Planning, Organizing and Implementing

Develop comprehensive, realistic plans to achieve carefully established objectives; ensure that objectives are relevant and are supportive of growth, quality and/or improvement unit cost reduction; integrate planning across work units; respond appropriately to new information; use your time efficiently; handle multiple demands and competing priorities; manage meetings to make the most of every minute. Study trends and benchmarks to allocate human, material, financial and technological resources wisely.

Practices/Behaviors:

• Develops appropriate, comprehensive and realistic plans
• Includes customers in planning activitiesInitiates planning activities across work units
• Allocates one’s own time effectively
• Manages multiple demands and competing priorities
• Utilizes effective meeting planning, using agendas with a stated purpose and anticipated activities
• Gathers feedback to evaluate and adjust plans

Problem Analysis

Identify key drivers, restrainers and measures. Gather relevant information systematically. Consider a broad range of issues involving customer, employee and stakeholders and understand the relationships among such issues. Ask others for input. Analyze logically. Solve problems creatively and quickly.

Practices/Behaviors:

• Evaluates processes, relationships and results in examining problems
• When appropriate, involves others to help investigate problems creatively and quickly
• Considers problems within a broad organizational context
• Uses a fact-based, quantitative and systematic approach
• Evaluates the facts and draws valid conclusions
• Seeks root causes
• Uses quality tools to analyze and depict data.

Quality/Process Focus

Define standards, targets and measures for products, processes and services. Focus on setting “stretch” objectives that lead to fundamental improvement in processes and procedures. Use the tools and techniques of process improvement to meet and exceed objectives; maintain an external focus at all times and do not lose touch with the customer.

Practices/Behaviors:

• Continually strives to improve the organization
• Defines standards for quality of products, services and processes which meet both customer and City’s needs
• Measures results using qualitative and quantitative criteria
• Builds quality into products and services at each step to avoid rework
• Uses process improvement methods and tools in everyday operations
• Leverages others’ successes to improve processes, results and relationships more rapidly

Staffing and Selection

Plan your staffing needs in support of your organization plans. Form the right size teams and organizational structures to get the job done in a highly efficient and effective manner and in accordance with the budget. Recruit and hire highly competent and customer oriented people. Do not allow any type of prejudice to interfere with recruiting, maintaining and involving the best talent available. Build a strong team with complementary strengths. Understand the staffing dynamics of your organization, build a long range work force plan and manage with vision so that sudden changes in work force size are not necessary.

Practices/Behaviors:

• Ensures organizational structure and job structure support the City’s objectives
• Defines the qualifications and skill sets for each position
• Ensures appropriate people are prepared and trained to conduct interviews
• Selects individuals whose skill sets match the position requirements
• Hires and promotes using fact-based (qualitative and quantitative) criteria
• Recruits with sensitivity toward diversifying the workforce
• Considers every job opening an opportunity for diversity
• Explains the hiring process and follows through with applicants

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