This week, I've had the pleasure of attending the International City/County Management Association's Reimagining Government Conference in Burlington, Vermont, a city I really enjoy on multiple levels. The conference is part of a regional series the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) has created where it encourages members to travel within a reasonable area, but they are open to all members. I've met folks from Maine who traveled through Canada to get here, and a member from Alaska – so far and wide.
Every year, I create work plans for employees who report to me. These work plans are based upon allocated 2,080 hours a year. After removing some variables (sick time, holidays, vacation, etc.), you end up with about 1,792 regular hours to allocate. Part of the breakdown I include is professional development at 40 hours. I do this for myself as well. It is important that we continue to learn and that we practice our craft in the real world and not only in scenarios.
Conferences are part of that professional development, and I try to attend one a year. For many years, that was the American Planning Association conference, and now, I am looking forward to ones promoted to city management. So what have I done this time?
The conference started Wednesday with a session on Women in Governance and how we can promote the encouragement of women in leadership roles. Dover has five women on the senior management team, and I am grateful that we have been able to attract them to those positions. After that, I learned about new recruitment programs and what obstacles communities are finding. Similar to Dover, many communities are finding it hard to attract police, public works, and land use professionals. From there, I attended a session on adding elements of equity to performance reviews and a final session on public safety efficiencies.
Thursday started with the Mayor of Burlington talking about his city and its struggles and opportunities. From there, I enjoyed meeting with and learning from other assistant/deputy city managers. After that, I attended a session on informing senior management decisions with strategic planning, followed by a session on podcasting to encourage public engagement. We were one of two attendees who have a podcast – check out our
Dover Download Podcast if you haven't already.
Rounding out Thursday was a session on economic incubator spaces. The idea was how the community can support small/micro businesses and help them grow roots in the community and move into brick-and-mortar spaces. The examples were from Illinois and were really quite impressive. Today, Friday, is a wrap-up. I'm off to a session on the power of public-private partnerships, sessions on the ICMA national conference (a preview, as it were, of the Austin conference), and a session on what governance might look like in 2030.
All good stuff and all worth the effort to get out of the office to experience. I am looking forward to bringing back new ideas and evolving the way we do business in Dover. As always, I hope to get feedback on what we're doing, so please let me know if you have ideas on professional development.
