Make sure you follow along with this planning and leadership series all week as we will also be highlighting:

• Tuesday post: 15 Leadership Traits All Great Planning Managers Possess
• Keys to being an effective planning director
• Expert Advice: Overcoming planning challenges

Community planning in Austin

Let's face it: improving staff capacity to lead effective planning efforts can be hard. What used to be effective in inspiring and developing your staff, even just five years ago, may no longer work. Or, the lack of time in your daily schedule may play a role in making it hard for you as a manager to focus your efforts on finding programs that can build your staff's confidence and organizational capacity.

The heart of effective planning efforts are capacity-building programs, both at the team and individual levels. If you are unsure of what is effective in inspiring your staff or if you just don't have the time to research, consider employing one of these five types of programs in your organization to enhance the leadership capacity of your staff.

1. Staff development programs. If you have staff members that need to develop and refine the skills that are needed in the workplace, consider staff development programs. Staff development strategies may include monthly "brown-bag lunches" that might feature speakers, be focused on a given topic, or provide an occasion for informal social contact to strengthen bonds; periodic field tours to review and critique the results of the team's efforts; informal discussions with visiting professionals or academics; and training in new technologies, techniques and practices.

2. Educational opportunities. You may have staff members who are new to the profession, career changers, or who just need to brush up on their budgeting, project management, and personnel management skills, if this is the case for any member of your staff, recommend the plenty of educational opportunities available to them. Conferences and programs sponsored by the APA, ICMA, the Association of Enviornmental Professionals, Planners Network, and a host of university extension programs provide reasonably priced opportunities, but they require planning managers to push for and maintain funding for conference and program attendance.

3. Fellowship programs. This type of opportunity offers young planners the chance to develop leadership skills outside the office.

4. Shared management arrangements. This type of program provides employees with opportunities to work collaboratively, in managing operations, whether formally or informally.

5. Training programs for decision makers. Recommend this program to individuals you feel like should focus on effective leadership ethical standards, and appropriate distinctions between staff and elected or appointed officias, and offering joint opportunities for learning and discussion with staff.

Planning managers who have made these five programs the focus of their capacity-building program should see significant growth in the confidence and organizational capacity of their staff.

This post is an excerpt from Local Planning: Contemporary Principles and Practices.

Want to uncover more tips and best practices on leading and managing teams? Download the free ebook: Leading and Managing Others in Local Government. It includes different levels of leading and managing others, including: empowering others, performance and capability, recognition and motivating others, difficult conversations, and what matters most to your staff.