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among the mayor, council, and manager good process has the potential to be a signifi- • To exchange feedback, observations, and cant learning experience for the local man- feelings regarding the manager's perfor- ager. The goal is to enhance the manager's mance during the past year capacity to manage the organization and ac- • To establish the upcoming year's goals and complish positive results in the community. direction for the locality, for management, and for the individual The Council's Perspective • To develop and commit to action plans for City or town councilmembers have differing accomplishing goals and improving perfor- perspectives and concerns regarding the de- mance sirability of and the most effective process for conducting performance evaluations. These The performance evaluation'should be seen may include: as a team effort by the mayor, the council, and the manager. • Preference for one-on-one versus group evaluation, which provides an opportunity to push personal agendas, avoid group Observations and Realities norms or achievement of consensus, cir- Local government managers have always cumvent the open meeting law,or level struggled with the issue of performance eval- with the manager outside the group. One uation. In the service-oriented municipal envi- primary reason for preferring a one-on-one ronment of the 1980s, gaining insights into is that some individuals may distrust their the differing perspectives and barriers affect- fellow councilmembers. ing performance evaluations is important. • Dislike for evaluating others due to lack of experience in conducting performance eval- The Manager's Perspective uations, uncertainty of outcome, or nega- Local government managers show little agree- tive experience with past processes because ment on the issue of performance evaluations. of unclear standards and processes for con- Some myths concerning performance evalua- ducting the evaluation and "personal at- tions are reflected in the following comments: tacks." • Time-consuming delays on evaluations due • "I am evaluated every day I come to work. to the difficulty of getting responses, com- If they do not like my performance, they pleting forms, and attending meetings. may fire me." • Uncomfortable feelings that the manager • "The council is going to change soon, so evaluation actually reflects the council's why bother doing the evaluation now?" performance—an evaluation of the policy • "My nerves are raw from bad experiences team (mayor, council, manager,and top at the last several council meetings, so why management staff)—which may be threat- do I want to relive those bad experiences ening to some councilmembers. again?" • Questionable accuracy of the available • "One councilmember is pushing for evalua- data—mucb of the feedback on the manag- tion. I wonder if he is out to fire me. er's performance comes from the negative Maybe I should not proceed." "20 percent" who are against everything • "Never get a council together when you do the local government does—those individ- not know what is going to happen, because uals who call the city, write letters to the other managers have done that and ended editor, and complain at council meetings. up getting fired as a result of the process." • Concern that a positive relationship with • "Do individual councilmembers have their the manager may result in council's focus- own hidden agendas, and will my evalua- ing only on the manager's positive accom- tion become a politicized process for ex- plishments. pressing personal agendas?" • Belief that evaluations are simply a forum for political rhetoric—insincere comments These comments reflect many managers' and political posturing. personal concerns regarding the performance • Professional domination—the manager will evaluation process. Every manager has either emphasize his or her accomplishments, heard about or experienced firsthand bad per- leaving councilmembers with minimal formance evaluation processes. In one city, a opportunity for dialogue. councilmember collected negative comments Examples of some myths from the council about a city manager in a "black book." perspective concerning performance evalua- When he reached page 20, he called for the tions include: evaluation process. The result? The manager was fired. • "No big deal. We are simple people in a In spite of horror stories such as these, a simple business, and the evaluation process PM February 1988 3