Recently, I had the privilege to join my Small Urban GTHA Mayor colleagues and our CAO’s to listen to an acclaimed keynote speaker on post-pandemic municipal transformation. Dr. JP Gedeon is considered one of North America’s leading transformation, culture, and workforce mobilization experts and he led us through some thought-provoking discussions. He moved quickly through a lot of topics and pushed a lot of buttons. I took notes.
Here are a few ideas he shared that stood out.
1. The pandemic didn’t cause any new problems. It just exposed existing issues and lit them on fire!
2. I can order anything I want online and have it at my door in less than 24 hours but I can’t get a replacement blue bin until when?
3. Are we questioning our whys? Customer Service hours are customarily 830AM-430PM. Why are we not open until 8 or 9PM? Why? It’s an Amazon Prime world now more than ever and municipalities should consider the consequences of not adapting.
4. The old municipal working model is broken. We have lots of romantic ideas around the old model and how we operated prior to March 2020. The problem is, the entire world has changed. We are different now. There is a new normal that we are all trying to understand and figure out and if we just pine for what was, we will miss the opportunities before us. It’s time to look ahead.
5. Stress and burnout impact our ability to make decisions and throughout the pandemic, no one has been resting or been able to take vacation. We are all tired. And tired people can’t make the best decisions for themselves or their teams. We need to reprioritize our rest.
6. The redeployment of workforces throughout the pandemic have destabilized our municipalities. Most emergencies last 2-3 weeks. NOT 2 YEARS! We need to understand that some of us need time to recalibrate.
7. This term of council really needs a do-over. Due to a loss of role because of the state of emergency, some on local councils have become highly competitive with each other and staff and are fighting for a need to be relevant. Municipal staff have found members of council inserting themselves into the day-to-day administration. Some on council now believe they are “universal experts” on everything from HR matters to how the grass should be cut. Staff are experts. Councils are not.
As I reflect on some of these points, I have to admit, Dr. Gedeon is bang on the mark. This pandemic has shaken us all up like a snow globe yet the snow hasn’t settled. Everything is still in the midst of upheaval. We need to be patient. We need to have copious amounts of grace. And we need to focus on the future in a post-Covid world because we will NEVER be the same.
+Onward
