Constituencies that must be satisfied by a Main Street manager in DC

Constituencies that must be satisfied by a Main Street manager in DC
Originally uploaded by rllayman

In writings about organizational behavior, one of the subjects discussed is "boundary spanning," when a person connects different constituencies but also has to satisfy multiple constituencies.

When you have multiple constituencies with multiple and sometimes opposing goals and objectives, different time frames, and different perspectives on what is important, and when, you have a classic boundary spanning problem (and an almost impossible job).

A Main Street manager has to keep the Board happy to keep his/her job, the City happy because it is the major provider of funds for the program, Merchants, because after all the program is about commercial district improvement, Residents, because they are your prime "materiel" as well as the prime customer group for the commercial district, and other stakeholders such as local institutions such as universities, for partnership building, technical expertise, funding, and other resources.

If your Board and the City aren't on the same page, there is a major disconnect.