The path for top management teams to achieve high-performing council organisations

This article examines what management practices top management teams should pursue to achieve high-performing council organisations. It reports on the findings of a study into the practices of top management teams at three high-performing and three low-performing Melbourne councils. The study makes two important findings. First, there is no one path for top management teams to achieve a high-performance council. Second, the capacity of top management teams to work effectively with the elected members is the only factor that distinguishes high-performing from low-performing councils. The only features all high-performing and all low-performing councils do well in are financial monitoring and nurturing teamwork within business/operating units. But these are insufficient by themselves to provide success, and may simply be regarded as the basics of management practice.