Many municipalities assume that by delegating service delivery operations and management, they no longer need the technical expertise required for delivering that water or waste service, but experience suggests that more skilled municipal coordinators lead to more effective partnerships. Indeed, the more technical understanding a municipal manager/coordinator has, the better the partnership relations, and the more able the manager is to relay key problems and issues effectively to council decision-makers. Evidence also suggests that one of the primary skills to be acquired by technical staff is knowing when to leave well alone - to avoid micro-managing, drop their old-guard role of engineering design, and allow the private operator to do its job.