April 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 28

Who, What, Where & how Around the Parks

LE A D ER S H I P E X C H A N G E

Secrets of Farmers and
Vikings (Cont.)
It's all about cross-training and
prioritizing direct-service

by Randolph P. Ferris

have enjoyed the forum published in the September and October 2010 " Kiosk " section of
Parks & Recreation. Comparing
parks and recreation agencies
to Vikings and farmers brings a new light
to our situations.
Both articles, and those that followed in
subsequent months, have overlooked one of
the main reasons both farmer- and Vikingstyle management structures were and are
successful: Everyone pitches in. All members of the organization are direct-service
providers, and all are cross-trained to replace other members of their team should
they not be available. If one Viking falls in
battle, no extensive search for a replacement is necessary. Another Viking does
the job. Farmers have long epitomized the
" jack of all trades, master of none " stereotype, where all members of the team can
do whatever is needed at any given time.
Parks and recreation agencies have
expanded their support and specialist
classifications for a variety of reasons over
the years; some by mandate by their governmental structure to increase oversight
and administrative compliance, others for
other reasons. This has resulted in large
headquarters staff levels and new departments that oversee functions such as revenue collection and tracking patron usage.
While these endeavors certainly have
value and merit, they are not direct-service providers. Taxpayers hear that more
money is needed to fix park facilities and
build more playgrounds. They accept the
cost of the playground, but are mostly unaware of the landscape architect and the
purchasing contract specialist and the

26 Parks & Recreation

Apr i l 2 0 1 1

additional requirements the contractor must employ to
receive the project contract to construct the playground on land
the agency already owns. Some additional education of our patrons can help to explain why these things cost more when
governments do them, but taxpayers still
may refuse to pay the higher prices.
If cuts are to be made, then retention
priorities need to focus on direct-service
providers. Viking-type scenarios worked
because of cross-training and all hands
doing all things. Farmers who succeed do
so by pushing resources into outcomes,
not lateral functions. Yes, some tracking
and documenting is needed, but not by
exclusive specialists. Our own country's
U.S. Army Special Forces, the Green Berets, use a similar hierarchy when mobilizing. Team function responsibilities are
assigned to specific members, but each
member must cross-train in two other
team functions, so that if needed, all services are delivered even if team members are lost or incapacitated.
" Silo " effects of sections within a department performing similar functions, or
employing staff as specialists who represent the function of another section of a
department, are also large consumers of
resources. These are often either overlooked as " the way things have always
been, " or defended by middle management, which is reluctant to give up the
luxury of that exclusive asset in lieu of returning to the dependence on the original section performing their function for
them. Common examples are human

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resources specialists
assigned to larger sections
of departments, even though a separate
human resources section exists to perform these tasks. Other functions often
duplicated are marketing/communications, safety/security, and information
technology.
My point boils down to one simple
phrase: When cutting department resources becomes unavoidable, the priorities
must go to keeping the direct-service providers who do the job that the department
was created to perform in the first place.

R andolph P. Ferris, CPRP, is
principal of the parks consulting firm
APIFOG Management & Consulting in
Colfax, North Carolina. He is a former
state park superintendent and recreation
manager in Texas.

April 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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