"COSTAR":

COmmission/STAff Relations

A 1-Day Management Course, offered as In-House training

and as an Open course in Monterey

What's "Costar" all about?

Most organizations with important missions -- both in the private and the public-sectors -- have a professional Staff that reports to a "Commission", a "Board", and a "Council" . . . i.e.  some kind of body that makes the big policy decisions.  There are almost as many different Boards and Commissions as there are organizations, and their functions vary a great deal.  The concerns of the Regional Water Commission are NOT the same as those of the local Hospice Program Board; the Board of Directors of a national environmental group does not deal with the same issues as City Council.  And a manufacturing company's Board of Directors does not worry about the same things as the local Mental Health Board.  

This workshop is not about what's different, but what they have in common.

 What they have in common is this:

 The ORGANIZATION has a mission . . . not just the Commission . . . or just the Staff . . . but the Organization.  

The organization's effectiveness depends on how well the whole organization -- AS AN ENTITY -- functions . . .

In a great many organizations the Commission / Staff RELATIONSHIP is such that it hinders the organization's ability to fulfill its mission.  

In these situations usually both the Staff AND the Commission are somewhat frustrated by the way the relationship is working . . or NOT working.

But, Commission / Staff relations are complex and sensitive business.  In fact, crude over-simplification is one of the frequent problems.  

Who can benefit from the COSTAR Training?

The course is designed to help both Commission and Staffers to contribute to the creation of a better Commission / Staff relationship.  Ideally, the BOTH participate in the training.  (One reason: We -- as disinterested outsiders -- can point out things and raise issues that might be too sensitive for insiders to raise.)  

 The people who benefit the most:

  On the Staff side:  

Chief Executives

other Senior Managers

Staffers aspiring to leadership

  On the Commission side:  

elected Decision-Makers

appointed Commissioners

people CREATING new organizations

What are the Benefits?

The Commission -&- Staff structure for organizational decision-making actually makes sense.  Never mind that it's working relatively poorly in so many organizations; the potential is there!  If you will make it your business to take the Commission / Staff relation as seriously as it needs to be taken, and if you will address the problems in that relationship with sensitivity and courage, you'll ALL benefit!

You'll find this a Win-Win game if there ever was one; there need be NO losers.  

The benefits:

the organization becomes more effective and more productive,

the decision-makers contribute in the area where they have the most to contribute; the VALUES area,

the professionals get appreciated for what they are: professionals, and their work gets used -- NOT wasted.  

What's in COSTAR?

Topics include:

the strategic role of a MISSION: 

1. Getting the mission right,

2. Communicating the mission effectively, &

3. Organizing around the mission,

two-way communication and two-way accountability

the role of Professional Ethics,

the unwritten -- -but valid -- ground rules governing the interface between Political Decision-makers and hired Professionals.  

 Click here for the COSTAR Open-House course schedule

 For information on scheduling In-House COSTAR courses

   Fee Schedule

Who We Are

Our Clients

Our Courses

CP Handbook

Registration & Scheduling

E-Mailing List

Home Page

IPMP PO Box 1937; Monterey, CA 93942  Tel: (831) 373-4292  Fax: (831) 373-0760
Please send Hans & Annemarie Bleiker your questions or comments to: ipmp@aol.com.
Visit us at www.consentbuilding.com or www.ipmp-bleiker.com.