Consolidations, Collaborations and Mergers

There are many discussions going on about consolidations, collaborations and mergers. School districts, towns and villages and and non profits are all looking at these issues. As I've pointed out before, these are difficult discussions. There are lots of agendas from different audiences who sometimes know very little about the organizations, finances or operational issues. Then you have the protectors of the status quo. Those who blindly state that it can't and shouldn't be done, usually because of some personal interest.

All of this requires minimally two things and I've written about some of it before. First, leadership. There have to be leaders who really are leaders and who are willing to talk to their own organizations, their constituents and their potential partners. Collaborative communication is the second item that has to take place. As the saying goes, "it takes two to tango" and this tango requires partners who are willing to talk openly and honestly, sometimes privately and sometimes in public. There also need to be shared values aimed at some greater good. All of these things are difficult and hard to come by in a competitive environment.

Recently I've seen talks begin to take place in a number of local school districts. It always seems to begin with discussions about too many superintendents and quickly deteriorates into discussions about the critical importance of local sports teams and athletic fields. The reality is that in most cases, real dollars aren't saved by reducing a superintendent's position. That usually comes out early and some people use that as an excuse to put the discussion to bed. The athletics piece is also potentially a red herring that has more to do with team/community loyalty. This is where leadership and communication really need to kick in. If savings are not really there (reducing an administrator), where. How do we get to real savings or perhaps more importantly, better services. It's a huge discussion that has to take place with information and above all else, honesty and trust.

Shared services are possible. BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services in NY) figured it out a long time ago. Things like payroll, accounting, purchasing, transportation, Information Technology and staff training really built the BOCES model. Like everything else there was an over reach and problems with accountability and transparency, but the basic model and concept worked and does work. The state of NY has recently finalized a report on government efficiencies and no surprise, back office functions are pretty clearly identified.

All of this falls apart though when the people in charge of their particular back office don't want to play or keep saying it won't work. From what I've seen and experienced, a break down occurs quickly when people want to defend their particular infrastructure, be it software, hardware or equipment and processes of some type. Real and strong leaders need to get involved in those discussions early and let people know that those arguments and discussions aren't helpful. It's hard but necessary and it separates real leaders from the rest.