Building and managing relationships has become a crucial skill in local government today. Whereas, in the past, there might have been one or two ‘key' relationships on which to concentrate, senior managers now have to build effective working relationships with a multitude of people. For example, balancing the wants of members, staff, the public and partners can be a fraught exercise. And, in addition to the dictates' of central government, the demands can appear an impossible challenge – eg, in areas of work such as community safety or Local Area Agreements. In a time of reflection recently, it is interesting to consider how we are all prepared for these endless, competing demands. At school, university and in the workplace, how much emphasis in development programmes is placed on people – staff and members – being trained to build effective relationships and practice behaviours conducive to ‘collaborative working'? Very little, in my experience, and this is something many district councils are seeking to correct. Two-tier governance demands effective partnership skills and behaviours, otherwise the public will not receive the services they want and deserve. For my own council, Stratford on Avon DC, our pursuit of better public services became more of a reality when we introduced a competency framework based on behaviours, and then invested in the required skills development for staff and members. This does not mean we all behave as robots, or sing a company song, but it does mean we are prepared to challenge each other if behaviours do not meet expectations. The notion seems reasonable that everyone has to work at relationships to keep them on track and productive. However, if we are really honest, how much time and effort do we actually invest in building better relationships? Do we compromise on our own, strongly-held beliefs to ensure better, long-term results? Learning to do this makes the job of chief executive challenging, but also very rewarding. For the sake of local government's reputation and the public's needs, we must make it our culture to tackle behaviours – including our own as chief executives/senior managers – which do not lead to better outcomes for the communities we serve! n Paul Lankester is chief executive at Stratford on Avon DC
