Do your elected officials have a series of governance principles that help them work as a group? Mike Conduff, author of Public Management magazine’s January-February 2012 Council Relations column, reminds readers how important it is to start governing officials off on an equal footing each time there are new additions to the group.

Three key areas that the principles should address: the elected officials' responsibility to govern, the staff’s responsibility to support, and the elected officials and staff relationship.

Conduff notes that “developing principles is not particularly onerous, and the value of the process of developing them for your elected officials cannot be overstated.”