Page 5 - Board Roles and Responsibilities Assessment

o Change does produce attrition. The potential departure of valued members during the transition means loss of Chapter history critical to the Chapter’s present and future.
Conclusions
With the hiring of its first Executive Director, ARCS-Oregon Chapter deepens its commitment to becoming a best-practice based organization that is well-positioned to expand visibility and attract new members and funders from across Oregon.
This commitment requires a shift in thinking among its volunteer leaders and members. Since its inception, the board has conducted all the work of the organization. Its strong task and operations orientation has led to substantial organizational success. However, with the hiring of its first Executive Director, this ‘task mind set’ now needs to shift to become more strategically oriented. For example, viewing ‘tasks’ from a ‘roles and responsibilities’ perspective is a major change in thinking that will take time. The results of the survey and interviews should be viewed with this background in mind. The results have laid the foundation for significant Chapter organizational development in the future.
The survey results indicate a clear need for board and member education on non-profit governance best practices and strategic planning and thinking. Given the organization’s history of “task orientation,” it is understandable that this need exists. Ongoing Board and Committee education will be critical to the Chapter as it transitions to a more strategic orientation and hybrid model of governance.
This transition will take time and will require continued engagement with the board, committees, and paid staff. Conversations focused on these results will provide both needed clarity and guidance for thoughtful transition planning. This knowledge will strengthen the Chapter’s leadership and the organization.
As the Chapter moves forward through this transition, it needs to heighten its awareness of the potential barriers to avoid them. Developing and maintaining a culture of transparency and trust, modeled by Chapter leadership, both volunteer and paid, is a responsibility that belongs to all members. This openness will surface issues and allow them to be addressed immediately and compassionately.
Recommendations
Based on these conclusions, it is recommended that:
1. An initial in-person retreat be held for the board and its committees. The agenda would include:
• Leadership message expressing excitement about and support of future changes
• Introduction to ‘change management’
• Overview of non-profit governance and administration ‘best practices’
• Initial clarification of board/staff roles and agreement to accept those roles/responsibilities
o Duetotherespondents’lackofsharedknowledgeaboutgovernancebestpractices it is questionable whether a robust conversation focused on role/responsibility clarification can occur at the retreat. It is therefore recommended that this
5