Things we know: what works and what doesn't. A look at managing legislative staff.

• Author: Weberg, Brian

Editor's note: The National Conference of State Legislatures has studied legislative staff organization and management for more than 25 years. Dozens of legislatures have asked NCSL to work with them to reorganize staff, improve management practices, design personnel and pay plans, and identify ways to improve staff effectiveness.

NCSL has produced volumes of information on staff structure, size, compensation, personnel policies and the issues that affect their work and workplace. It has staged hundreds of workshops and seminars on staff leadership and management. In addition, legislative staff serving on NCSL's Executive Committee conducted several projects aimed at understanding and improving legislative staff performance.

This article distills the lessons learned about staff management and managerial effectiveness from those years of experience. It summarizes what we think are the essential ingredients or predictors for successful staff organizations. You will not find much management mumbo jumbo here. Just a list of basic ideas about what works. After 25 years, these are the things we know.

Some things we cannot control. State legislatures are complicated workplaces. There are bosses everywhere: leaders, committee chairs, caucus chairs, rank-and-file members. Legislative staff have to respond to all of them with deference and skill. Of course there are staff bosses, too. Legislative agency directors, House and Senate chiefs of staff, chief clerks and secretaries of the chambers--they all weigh in on the performance and roles of legislative staff employees. Too bad that some of them receive little training on how to be an effective boss. Too bad that so many of the legislators have so little time to attend to their staff management role.

And then there are the politics. Every workplace has them, but a state legislature has politics in spades. It is, after all, a political institution. Everyone wants to play. The stakes are real and usually serious. Legislative staff, and especially those of the nonpartisan ilk, must guard against getting caught in the middle. They need to have intimate knowledge of what's going on in the political game, but they also must avoid the appearance of being prominent players.

Add to all of that the somewhat unusual conditions of employment in most state legislatures. Salary increases, promotions and advancement don't always follow a predictable path due to lack of consistent staff compensation plans or concerns about public reaction to legislative pay. It's a difficult reality for many to labor under. And the hours are often long and the work unpredictable, especially during those chaotic, but intoxicating, final weeks and days of the session. The stress is tough on families, relationships and personal health.

Multiple bosses, constant political intrigue and the unpredictable pressure cooker of session work--these are the realities of legislative life for many employees. They are facts of the legislative workplace-- proverbial rocks and hard places that move only when pushed very hard and with constant effort. They can affect staff performance in significant ways, but they also are mostly immune to management fixes. Good legislative staff managers pay homage to these workplace pressures, but they also recognize their intransigent nature and focus management strategies on other goals.

MANAGERS SHOULD MANAGE

Managers in almost every type of public or private setting work their way up from a nonsupervisory "line" position. They demonstrate exceptional technical skill or special expertise until they arrive at a point in the organizational hierarchy where "management" becomes the next, and probably only, path for career advancement and promotion. Unfortunately, they often arrive unprepared to make an effective transition to the new role.

New legislative staff managers sometimes do a poor job for two key reasons. First, they often want to continue performing their...