What is a policy manual ?

BTMAD 01

There are several types of boards: Governing board – sits at the top of organization and has ultimate authority and accountability Advisory board – gives advice but does have accountability Working board – does all the work itself, often for small or startup organizations Line board – has authority but is not the top of organization, may be overruled by Exec Director Profit and non-profit board – obviously we are a non-profit. Because we do not use profit as a measure, it is a necessary function of the board to represent the interests of both the consumer and the public who chartered the organization. If we are to be a governing board, then it is necessary to have a policy manual. You cannot hold people accountable if there is no standard or procedure or priorities. Therefore, we need for written policies. These policies should reflect the needs and interests of those we serve. The board must perform this function. Intelligent, caring board members often exhibit procedures that are deeply flawed: Time on trivial matters Short-term bias (that matches there term in office) Reactive stance to current situations (rather than proactive planning) Reviewing the past rather than providing for the future (e.g. after the fact budget questions) Leaky accountability – letting others or the Exec Director and staff take over Diffuse authority – lack of clarity on boundaries of authority creates gaps and overlaps Boards try to fix these problems with these prescriptions: More / less involvement – over managing or failing to manage Board as watch dog, sniffing everything Board as cheerleader - “support” activities and “rubber stamping” Board as manager – going beyond governing to over managing Board as planner – engaging in the details of implementation Board as communicator – more “human relations” activities The methods above are reactions to problems. They are sensible but still miss the mark. All look backward and correct insufficiencies but do not look forward and prevent new problems. That is the goal of a policy manual – to wisely design a future and not just patch past problems. The task is to go beyond just helping the organization and instead to focus on owning the organization, being accountable for the future and for results - to go beyond simple voluntarism to ownership on behalf of those we serve. A policy manual provides a structure to capture the thoughts, values, and activities of the governing board. Vision is the highest priority. This leads to addressing fundamental values, forcing an external focus (rather than only internal matters), separating larger from smaller issues, emphasizing outcome-driven goals, concentrating on forward thinking and proactive strategies, balancing over/ under control (either too weak to accomplish anything or too strong and wind up managing everything), and using board time effectively.