Journal of Community Practice

Journal of Community Practice ISSN: 1070-5422 (Print) 1543-3706 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wcom20 Managing Out Michael J. Austin PhD To cite this article: Michael J. Austin PhD (2002) Managing Out, Journal of Community Practice, 10:4, 33-48, DOI: 10.1300/J125v10n04_03 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J125v10n04_03 Published online: 22 Sep 2008. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 163 View related articles Citing articles: 7 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=wcom20 Download by: [University of California, Berkeley] Date: 25 April 2016, At: 12:10 Managing Out: The Community Practice Dimensions of Effective Agency Management Michael J. Austin, PhD ABSTRACT. With the advent of welfare reform and managed care, the nature of managerial practice has increasingly shifted from a primary focus on internal operations to a more external, community focus which involves actively monitoring and managing the boundary between the external environment and internal organizational arrangements. This article explores the boundary spanning aspects of community practice, the related theories of inter-organizational relations, and the process of “managing out” by those in top management and middle management positions in human service organizations. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: <[email protected]> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2002 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.] KEYWORDS. Management, community practice, management practice, boundary spanning, inter-organizational relations, human service Downloaded by [University of California, Berkeley] at 12:10 25 April 2016 organizations INTRODUCTION The implementation of welfare reform, based on the 1996 federal legislation, has provided those holding middle management and top management positions in public social service agencies with new chal- Michael J. Austin is Professor of Management and Planning, School of Social Wel- fare, University of California at Berkeley. Journal of Community Practice, Vol. 10(4) 2002 http://www.haworthpressinc.com/store/product.asp?sku=J125 2002 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 33 34 JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PRACTICE lenges. One of these challenges involves the need to expand and refine the community practice skills needed to guide organizational change and reposition public social service agencies in local communities. This analysis builds upon some of the early findings emerging from welfare reform implementation. For example, Carnochan and Austin (2002) found in their study of county social service directors who were imple- menting welfare reform that the new challenges facing managers in- cluded: (1) restructuring the agency’s mission to capture the shift from determining eligibility to fostering self-sufficiency, (2) substantial organizational restructuring, (3) engaging in partnerships and collaborations with a wide range of partners, including other county departments, community-based organizations, and for-profit businesses, (4) renewed pressure to integrate services as part of inter-agency collaborations and inter-disciplinary teams, and (5) increased demand for data-based planning and evaluation at all levels of the organization. While strengthen- ing an agency’s mission, engaging in organizational restructuring, and data-based planning and evaluation are part of the traditional skill sets of most senior managers, the building of community partnerships and fostering inter-disciplinary practice require community practice skills. This analysis will focus on community-based inter-agency partnerships and intra-agency collaboration as a way of addressing the community practice skills needed for effective networking inside and outside the agency. MANAGEMENT PRACTICE AS WE KNOW IT Downloaded by [University of California, Berkeley] at 12:10 25 April 2016 The literature on managerial skills in the human services reflects a primary focus on overseeing the work of others (Austin, 1981; Kettner, 2002; Lewis et al., 2001; Lohman & Lohman, 2002; Netting,1993; Rapp & Poertner, 1991). This focus includes an emphasis on supervis- ing staff, managing financial and information resources, assessing cli- ent needs and evaluating services, service and program planning, and resource acquisition to maintain the agency’s viability. This emphasis has its origins in the management sciences where lessons from the for-profit arena have been adapted and modified for the non-profit sec- tor (Au, 1994;). For the purposes of this analysis, these traditional management functions are defined as managing down (Keys & Bell, 1982). In contrast, managing up involves middle management and top management influencing the thinking and behaviors of those at higher levels of authority (Austin, 1988). This paper explores a third domain of man- Michael J. Austin 35 agerial practice; namely, managing out which is defined here as the re- lationship-building process whereby: (a) top managers continuously network internally with their senior management group and externally with agency board members or county commissioners as well as with other community leaders and agency executives, and (b) middle managers actively network with other middle managers inside their own agency as well as outside with colleagues in other agencies. The challenges of reaching out and networking are similar for both agency directors and middle managers. The increased pressure to integrate services, facilitate organizational change, foster interdisciplinary practice, and identify best practices is forcing middle and top managers to refine or add the community practice skills of “managing out” to their expertise in managing down and managing up. The community practice skills related to “managing out” include the group work skills of work- ing on an inter-agency task force, the community work skills of building coalitions inside and outside the agency, and the community involve- ment and development skills needed to address social service issues. When referring to community practice skills, Weil’s (1996) definition provides the context for the practice of managing out. She refers to community building as the foundation of community practice that includes the activities, practices, and policies that support and foster positive connections among individuals, groups, organizations, neighborhoods, and geographic and functional communities. Managing out involves all of these connections but uses the service delivery agency as the auspice for reaching out to people inside and outside the agency. From one perspective of managing out, the agency can be viewed as a community unto itself with its own history, power structure, leadership capacities, communi- Downloaded by [University of California, Berkeley] at 12:10 25 April 2016 cation patterns, and future directions. From another perspective, the agency can be seen as simply one element in a network of agencies and neighborhood/community organizations. The need for knowledge and skills in the area of managing out emerged dramatically in the early 1980s when social agencies con- fronted the first major round of budget cuts, resource scarcity, and organizational restructuring (Austin, 1984). The early 1980s were a wake-up call signaling the end of the era of continuous growth in human service expenditures and the beginning of an era of planning for the strategic use of scarce resources. Agency executives began to realize that new leadership capacities were needed to more actively reach out and network with other agencies, funding sources, and governing bodies outside their agencies. Using coalitions to lobby at the local, state, and national levels and expand relationships with Board members and community influentials 36 JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PRACTICE became a top priority for agency directors. Some of the outreach lessons of the 1980s are repeated in the 1990s as public social service agency directors and staff reached out and networked in the rapidly changing environment of welfare reform and managed care. When it comes to incorporating community practice into management practice, the “managing out” process can be viewed in terms of Quinn’s (1988) leadership domain of boundary spanning. This domain involves the skills of political negotiation and utilizing power relationships to carry out the roles of broker and innovator. Brokering includes the resource acquisition skills of developing and maintaining interper- sonal relationships, monitoring the community environment, promot- ing collaborative relations with other organizations in the community, and effectively using power and influence. The innovator role involves envisioning and facilitating change by managers seeking out new op- portunities, encouraging and utilizing new ideas, and displaying a high level of tolerance for ambiguity and capacity to take risks. The early signs of the need for middle managers to “manage out” can be found in the research of Havassy (1990) who noted that successful supervisors are able to accept and deal with differences by: (1) dealing with underlying connectedness (searching for common ground required of someone in “the middle”) as a way to tolerate ambiguity, (2) spanning boundaries between various systems (departments inside and outside the agency) by maintaining loyalty

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