• Green Tape in Organizations: Creating Good Rules That People Follow

    This entry was contributed by Leisha DeHart-Davis on February 4, 2015 at 11:35 am and is filed under Organizational and Personal Leadership, Tools and Practices.

    Organizations – public, private and nonprofit – need effective rules to function. Whether policy, procedure, regulation, or guidance, rules accomplish a staggering array of functions that:

    • Distribute scarce resources, whether salaries, promotions or budgets;
    • Delegate authority, through empowering lower-level employees to make decisions on behalf of the organization;
    • Create accountability, such as processes for hiring and promotion.

    Rules also coordinate activity, communicate expectations, motivate people, and ensure fair treatment. And this is the short list.

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  • Annual Retreats, Part 2: How to plan a successful retreat

    This entry was contributed by Lydian Altman, Margaret Henderson on February 4, 2015 at 11:28 am and is filed under Board Development, Board Governance, Tools and Practices.

    Producing a long list of issues to learn about or discuss at a retreat is easy. Crafting an agenda that will generate effective discussion, decision-making, and follow-through, however, is a more complex task.

    Be thoughtful when developing the plan   As the retreat planning committee progresses through its work, consider the following topics:

    • What are our objectives for our time together?   Would others agree or hold differing opinions?
    • How should the time be structured in order to meet those objectives?
    • In order for group members to be fully informed for future decision-making, how much and what kinds of information should be presented? How should the information be presented, and by whom?
    • Is this a one-time event or part of a series of meetings designed to help the group continue this line of work or improve its functioning over time?

    More often than not there are multiple purposes being served by holding a retreat. Careful thought and planning is needed in order to prioritize the purposes of the retreat and to design a sequence and timing for the activities. It is important to be purposeful and realistic about allocating the group’s time. An experienced facilitator can be helpful with this task.

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  • Don’t Rush Off: Making a Good Impression on Job Applicants

    This entry was contributed by Leisha DeHart-Davis on February 4, 2015 at 11:27 am and is filed under Organizational and Personal Leadership, Tools and Practices.

    As a daughter of the south, I was raised with a revolving door of guests in my parents’ home. From the moment a visitor walked through our den door, my mom or dad would focus every ounce of attention on making that person feel comfortable and welcome. The air conditioning was turned on (which made me love visitors). My mom made sweet tea and my dad made cream cheese dip served with Ruffles.

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  • Annual Retreats, Part 1: Why hold a board retreat?

    This entry was contributed by Lydian Altman, Margaret Henderson on February 4, 2015 at 11:18 am and is filed under Board Development, Board Governance.

    By Lydian Altman and Margaret Henderson

    It is the responsibility of elected and appointed leaders to set a vision and direction for their communities. This function involves convening the stakeholders who can influence the future and modeling strategic leadership so they can all align their work with the shared vision.

    Why hold a retreat? Often this strategic work begins with a one to two day retreat, which can serve multiple purposes. Here are some examples:

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  • Making “Big Rock” Decisions

    This entry was contributed by Margaret Henderson on February 4, 2015 at 11:10 am and is filed under Organizational and Personal Leadership, Tools and Practices.

    Stephen Covey trained the modern world to manage time by using the metaphor of filling a jar with rocks of varied sizes. The bigger rocks symbolized more time-consuming tasks. He demonstrated that by putting the biggest rocks in the jar first, followed by the smaller rocks, he was able to eventually put a greater number of rocks in the jar. In other words, he used his time strategically to achieve a greater number of tasks.   For a YouTube video of Stephen Covey demonstrating this time-management strategy, click here.

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