The Center for Management Strategies helps local government managers identify and implement leading practices that can address organizational efficiency and effectiveness. The Center delivers the latest research and validated techniques through quality educational programming and expert technical assistance that help local governments deliver high-quality products and services that are valued by their stakeholders.    

Our leading practice work

The Center for Management Strategies offers leading practice education, training, and technical assistance in the areas of:

• High-Performance Organization Strategies
• Priority-Based Budgeting
• Civic Engagement
• Data-Driven Communities
• Collaborative Service Delivery
• Process Improvement.

The Center will soon be delivering products and services in the leading practice area of collaborative service delivery, capitalizing on partnerships with organizations and service providers that are leaders in this area.  

Our partnerships

Collaboration is the core concept behind the Center for Management Strategies. From our enhanced research work with the Alliance For Innovation and Arizona State University, to our collaboration with leading practice service providers, the Center's partners can deliver the education and technical assistance you need to implement innovative strategies and produce the performance results you seek.

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ICMA has identified the High Performance Organization Model as a leading organizational development practice for local governments, and is proud to partner with the Commonwealth Centers for High-Performance Organizations to deliver education and technical assistance on implementing these effective and proven methods in your organization. You can improve performance and make your organization the gold standard with the Commonwealth Centers for High-Performance Organizations (CCHPO).

Our Work

Through this leading practice relationship, ICMA and the Commonwealth Centers for High Performance Organizations offer a full range of management services focusing on enhancing organizational performance and improving the work experiences of employees and the communities that they serve.

Our client is the total organization—not just the management team, as the growth of an organization and its staff are inextricably linked.  We concentrate on the interactions among organizational units, staff, customers, partners, and other stakeholders and focus on the improvement of organizational processes and systems that can impede performance.

These foundational principles distinguish the CCHPO approach to organizational performance improvement:

• Leadership can be exercised by every individual at every level of the organization
• The “right” systems, processes, and structures can contribute to organizational performance, rather than impede it
• Stewardship and engagement of all can lead to higher performance of the individual, the work team, and the organization
• There is a need to address both the “vision” and “values” of an organization in order to reach higher performance
• All organizations must make time to do the work of leadership.

CCHPO’s holistic approach brings a strong foundation of expertise to complex systems, organizational culture, and performance improvement. It incorporates the latest research and practical field approaches into a comprehensive diagnostic change model. This approach enables clients to successfully integrate theory and practical experience through our partnership's strategic services and access to innovative tools and methods. 

To learn more about ICMA's partner, the Commonwealth Centers for Higher Performance Organizations, visit its website at www.highperformanceorg.com, or contact tmcgalliard@icma.org. 

CCHPO bases much of its organizational development work on its “High Performance Organizations Diagnostic Change Model©” and “Building High Performance Organizations©” seminar materials that focus on building leadership, engagement, vision, and work culture. In addition, CCHPO offers a variety of complementary services to assist in the implementation of high performance strategies or in improving the work of your organization in more specialized areas:

Strategic Thinking:

• Strategic Vision and Higher Performance
• Strategic Stakeholder Value Analysis
• Balanced Scorecard Development and Implementation
• Needs/Gap Assessment
• Leadership Philosophy
• Facilitative Leadership                                           
• Human Resource Systems through the Networked Talent Model.

 Human Processes:

• Team Building
• Group Facilitatiom
• Conflict Management and Resolution
• Communication, Interpersonal Skills, and Personal Growth
• Feedback and Coaching Skills
• Meetings and Meeting Management
• Change Management
• Strategic Leadership Development
• Organizational Structure
• Group Problem Solving
• Time Management
• Team Skills           
• Succession Planning.

CCHPO also offers education and training in work and support processes including project management, process redesign, and other process improvement tools.  It also features a variety of instrumented assessment tools that can be utilized to diagnose opportunities to improve performance at the individual, group, and organizational levels of your organization.