Widespread adoption of the total place approach presents a new challenge for public service managers. Success will now come to those who people who can work across organisational silos and engage with peers from different professions. To make a successful transition means understanding where they are now and the Chartered Management Institute is offering help.

Research by the Institute revealed that more than half of the UK workforce think the dominant management style within their organisation is negative, highlighting their managers have authoritarian, bureaucratic and secretive management traits. If this is the reality across the public sector it will do little to support the total place approach.

In a move to help managers see where they are, the Institute has launched an online facility that will help managers to better understand their management strengths and identify which celebrity manager they are most like. See Compare the Manager www.comparethemanager.com

The facility, which gives practical advice and guidance, is made up of 12 quick-fire questions that reveal the style of management. From this assessment it is possible to decide what has to change to respond to the new situation rapidly developing across public services.