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What’s the difference between leadership and management? Just like the debate over whether leadership is an art or a science, this question lingers in the minds of many who can’t draw a distinction. Having addressed leadership behaviors in last year’s PWX presentation on Learning Leadership, the APWA Leadership and Management Committee now aims to define what management is and how one does it. Just like leadership, management skills can be learned and practiced to improve. APWA’s management framework defines those behaviors into five functions. This session will dive into what those are and how to implement them into your own experience. The five functions are planning, organizing, scheduling/delegating, controlling/improvising, and staffing.
Read MoreDuring this interactive session, you will learn how to be ready for the future and more resilient by exploring emerging trends and technologies, innovative concepts and approaches, and solutions that provide improvements to the provision of public works services. Futurist Sheila Shockey guides participants in a structured jam about: Internet of Things (IoT); smart cities, smart assets; artificial intelligence (AI) based asset management; cybersecurity; 5G; autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles and gas taxes; 3D printing/construction; sharing economy; impacts of climate change, extreme weather, long-term droughts; preparing the workplace for Gen Z and Alpha; circular economy; drone technologies; changing demographics; income inequality; public health; disruptive technologies; aging infrastructure, and more. Learn hands-on techniques to take home and facilitate tough conversations. Share ideas with colleagues—the future’s so bright, you have to wear shades. Jam!
Read MorePresented by the APWA Government Affairs Committee (GAC) to ‘jam’ about what is happening in your chapters and communities.
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Read MoreLevels of Service (LOS) is a component of asset management planning that is significant and has a great deal of impact. Municipalities' core purpose is to provide public services to the…
Read MoreFatalities continue to rise on our streets and in our rights-of-way. Vision Zero is a comprehensive policy that does not accept injuries or deaths as inevitable. The policy should be…
Read MoreHave you ever experienced purchasing less than superior salt for your salt barns? Salt containing debris, contaminates or other trace aggregates can damage equipment. Were you aware of the damage this can cause to your manufacturing and application systems? The City of Dublin would like to share a lesson learned and a tool that has saved our salt brine manufacturing and application systems!
Read MoreThis session introduces public works and state DOT employees to an educational opportunity that values their on-the-job training and awards college credits for much of it. College credit towards an associate degree in this online program is awarded for working knowledge such as for CDL, FEMA training and traffic control. Students receive management skills they need to be promoted, as well as general education required for the degree. The program develops fundamental leadership skills and teaches participants how to build and maintain a productive team.
Read MoreUsing liquids in your winter maintenance operations has several benefits. Agencies have found that their total use of materials, particularly salt, has been significantly reduced. In addition, using liquids provides significant cost savings, and experience has shown that use of liquids provides better safety and improved levels of service than more traditional approaches. The speaker will examine the new ways in which liquids are being used in winter operations today. These methods include blending liquids, where small amounts of enhancing liquids are added to a base salt brine. The speaker will also discuss the use of liquid only routes, where agencies have had great success using liquids not only before the storm but also all through the storm. Finally, the speaker will discuss how liquids can be used with solids to handle difficult accumulations of snow and ice.
Read MoreAcross North America, public works budgets are strained to the maximum while essential infrastructure ages in place. Traditional sewer investigations are generally expensive, obtrusive, and often do not pinpoint the inflow/infiltration (I&I) sources. To address this issue, a new tool and technology have emerged in this past decade that is helping managers reduce the cost of sewer line rehabilitation by applying a simple rule: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Micromonitoring is an innovative tool and technology that helps agencies and engineers to perform focused field investigations and, in the end, reduce sewer investigation and rehabilitation program costs. Micromonitoring provides a giant step forward in the evolution of a sewer utility I&I reduction program by focusing sewer rehabilitations/repairs only on sewers that are contributing to wet weather peak flows. Micromonitors are used in small diameter sewers where low flows are common and traditional flow monitoring is ineffective.
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