Leadership 300: Enhancing Leadership Skills

Transcription

1 Leadership 300: Enhancing Leadership Skills Pre-course Materials In preparation for attending the upcoming session, you are asked to complete the following pre-course reading. Your time spent completing this pre-course work will enable you to gain more from the activities and workshops you ll participate in. Read the following materials which will be covered in the session: Strategic Planning Process Advancing a Strategic Plan and Goals Finding and Developing Leaders Meeting Management A hard copy of the attached materials will be provided for you in the course, so you need not print them if you choose instead to review them electronically. If you have any questions about the course, please contact the program coordinator. CE Credit Version 2 Feb 16, 2012 Pre Course Materials Leadership 300: Enhancing Leadership Skills 1

2 Steps for Strategic Planning/Goal Setting Check if you re covering all of these best practices for conducting strategic planning and setting goals. Before Planning Meeting Plan to hold a strategic planning/goal setting meeting in a casual, bright facility. If your planning meeting involves others, consider holding the meeting off site. Set up in rounds or a U shape table (not boardroom style). This promotes long-term thinking and a more democratic way of reaching consensus. Consider booking a professional outside facilitator/consultant. If you use a facilitator, brief him or her fully on how you or the group operates and provide copies of any previous plans. An objective leader helps everyone think through the strategic/goal setting process. Have all participants complete a SWOT questionnaire (strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats). Consider also having this questionnaire completed by other stakeholders. If applicable, provide a summary of these questionnaires to others 7 days before the event with the names withheld. This will start people thinking strategically prior to attending. During Planning Meeting Consider mega issues first i.e. economy, technology, demographics, regulations, social (focus on the future). This promotes big picture thinking. Ask questions that drill down to objectives, such as: What are the issues? How will they affect the group, clients/customers, members or stakeholders? What could the group do to prepare for these future mega issues? Review any previous strategic plan/goals (from the perspective of effort not completion) in order to define success. Discuss SWOT results as a springboard for setting objectives. Look for common themes and differences. Identify a limited number of priorities that you or the group will focus on to prepare for the future. Four to six goals are manageable. Prioritize those goals to determine where the resources will go. Describe the desired outcomes for each goal in order to define future success. Delegate each goal if others are involved. If you don t give it to someone, no one is responsible for it. Review your mission statement and determine if it needs revising. Leadership 300: Enhancing Leadership Skills 2

3 Steps for Strategic Planning (cont d) After Planning Meeting Circulate a draft and if necessary get official approval to make the strategic plan/goals formal. Give clear mandates/guidelines to anyone or any group assigned one of the goals to prevent misunderstandings. Allow time for the individuals or groups to create suggestions to accomplish the goal for approval. This gives them ownership and supports democracy. Do budget adjustments based on the work that needs to be carried out. Remember that major goals need to be funded. Create or have an operational plan created that will detail the actions required and people responsible to accomplish the goals. Make it real and practical so that everyone can succeed. Publish the plan to all participants and stakeholders. Create agendas that monitor the plan/goals so that is front and centre whenever you discuss or make decisions. Agree on completion dates and what will constitute success to keep your efforts on track. Strategic planning/goal setting is a process, not an event. Leadership 300: Enhancing Leadership Skills 3

4 Advancing a Strategic Plan & Goals Strategic Planning vs. Operational Planning Strategic plans are intended to be long term: they identify what is hoped to be accomplished in the next three to five years. Many individuals and organizations are in the habit of judging how well they do in a 12-month period by setting 12-month goals. Although that is important, that is not strategic planning - that is management by objectives or operational planning. Most of the things that are worth accomplishing would be declared impossible before they were started. Because strategic planning is long term (3 to 5 years) it is important to establish what the individual or organization hopes to accomplish in year one, year two, year three, year four and year five. Where long-term planning is concerned, effort is most important. The question that leaders need to ask is: What kind of time, resources and effort are going into each of the major strategic goals? Most of the worthwhile things that have maximum benefit for an individual or an organization take years to accomplish. Some organizational leaders may not even be leaders when their major goals are accomplished; however, they will know that they were part of achieving a very important objective that was worthwhile and benefited the organization. Leadership 300: Enhancing Leadership Skills 4

5 Monitoring Your Success There are three ways to judge or monitor the effectiveness of a strategic plan: 1. What has been the progress to date? 2. What has been our effort in each of the goals? 3. Have we met our time frames and completion dates? Where Individuals and Organizations Fail The two most common failures of leaders with respect to implementing strategic plans/goals are: 1. Not budgeting for the goals that they have established 2. Not developing an operational plan that can be implemented Leadership 300: Enhancing Leadership Skills 5

6 Finding and Developing Leaders Leader Categories There are two broad categories of leaders: 1. Positional Leaders 2. Volunteer Leaders Positional Leaders Some people are leaders by reason of their positions. They lead others, such as employees or those under contract. These would include Brokers of Record, Managers, Sales Representatives, and Finance Officers. These leaders are expected to ensure the people they lead have the necessary skills to do their jobs well. They need to provide a safe and productive working environment so that others can succeed in their positions. Volunteer Leaders Other people are leaders who act in leadership roles by volunteering on committees or project teams or by taking on informal leadership roles within their organizations or their profession. This may include participating in committees at their organizations, such as event planning committees or leadership committees. It may also include assuming leadership roles at non-profit or charitable organizations in the community. Volunteer leaders need the same skills as positional leaders although they may lack some of the authority provided to positional leaders by their organizations. Developing Leaders An attribute of all effective leaders is the continual identifying, nurturing and motivating of others who will assume future leadership roles. Leaders don't create followers, they create more leaders. Tom Peters Leadership 300: Enhancing Leadership Skills 6

7 Meeting Management Effective meeting planning skills are a necessity for association leaders. That s because meetings provide invaluable face-to-face venues for volunteer leadership, members and staffers to discuss current issues, make strategic decisions, build professional skills and forge business and personal relationships. But becoming a good meeting manager doesn t happen overnight. There is no substitute for training, education and experience for developing a strong set of skills. In general those skills revolve around planning the meeting, facilitating the discussion, keeping the session on track and providing follow-up reporting as needed. Planning Agenda Construction The content for the agenda is the responsibility of the chair of the meeting with significant input from others. The agenda is typically drafted by the staff and finalized through coordination with the chair. The chair should be aware of all aspects of the agenda, who will be presenting reports, any special guests or presenters and the issues that will be decided at the meeting. Planning a meeting means that all aspects of the meeting are well in place prior to the meeting. Agenda Distribution The agenda is distributed to the attendees in advance of the meeting to permit the attendees to prepare for the meeting. Only in an emergency may the agenda be distributed at the beginning of the meeting. Agenda Amendment It should be reasonably difficult for an attendee to add an item to the agenda, especially if it is of large importance. The organization should have a principle of no surprises that is stated in the meeting rules 1. Minutes Minutes should be distributed to the attendees soon after the conclusion of the meeting. 1 Meeting rules means those rules the group establishes to plan, direct and control their own meetings. Many of the items mentioned above could generate rules that apply to the subject matter. For example, the meeting rules could contain the rules to permit late agenda items, or perhaps timelines when the minutes are to be distributed, who signs the minutes, etc. The meeting rules should be between half a page and two pages. A similar concept should be applied to committees (committee meeting rules). Leadership 300: Enhancing Leadership Skills 7

8 Facilitating the Meeting Facilitating a meeting, and keeping the discussion under control while in progress, is the responsibility of the meeting chair. The chair should be an enlightened leader who gives direction for the attendees, who may from time to time question the process. This can be a balancing act, but if the attendees and the chair act in good faith and for the betterment of the organization, it can be readily accomplished. Leadership 300: Enhancing Leadership Skills 8

9 Responsibilities of the Chair Some of the responsibilities of the chair in a meeting include: 1. To maintain order and decorum (i.e. courtesy and respect) regarding the remarks of attendees and their actions. Any remark or action which might cause friction or disorder must immediately be dealt with by the chair. Firm, but polite intervention is in order 2. To protect the rights of each attendee to speak, make motions, advocate a position, and to vote 3. To run an efficient meeting and to prevent the meeting from being bogged down. 4. To ensure that debate is relevant to the motion or subject 5. To remain neutral, impartial and fair 6. To know the rules of order and to ensure they are followed 7. To call the meeting to order at the time set for the meeting 8. To announce each agenda item and to state the motion clearly and unambiguously 9. To recognize attendees to speak all remarks are to be made through the chair and must be impersonal. If possible, debate should alternate between those advocating the motion and those against the motion 10. To take the vote and to announce the action to be taken, if any 11. To rule on any point of order or point of personal privilege 12. To state the motion frequently or summarize, if the debate is to be long 13. To be pleasant, patient and helpful the chair is the servant of the meeting 14. To only vote, if you have a vote, if it will make a difference 15. To facilitate participation of all attendees Leadership 300: Enhancing Leadership Skills 9

10 GOVERNANCE Association Governance Models Governance is all about how you make decisions and who makes them. Governance is defined by the structure of an association, the roles that people play and the policies in place that drive decision making. Not all associations structure their governance in the same way. The governance structure (or model) used by a not-for-profit association is decided upon by the board of directors. They base their decision on a number of questions: What decisions does the board of directors want to make vs. delegate? How much operational involvement (hands on) does the board of directors want? What is the preferred reporting relationship between the board of directors and staff? Where will your association be in five years? What are your goals? How will you achieve them? Each association needs to discuss and decide on a governance model that best meets their needs. The model selected and the board s ability to adhere to it has a great impact on their effectiveness. 1. Administrative Model A board of directors with this governance is actively involved in most decisions, including taking responsibility for some of the operations of the organization. Board members may help in practical ways such as organizing events and drafting documents. Staff is present for minor administrative tasks. is member focused provides opportunities for members to learn from one another usually has a fairly small staff, ranging from one to three full-time professional staff Executive Officer: maintains a general familiarity in legal, regulatory, and business issues impacting the association has a basic competency in office management skills, including , word processing and spreadsheets, bookkeeping, and basic technology skills knows where to find information that is important to members in conducting their daily business activities Elected leadership: very involved in the administration of the association the authority for nearly all decision-making is vested in the officers and the board of directors Leadership 300: Enhancing Leadership Skills 10

11 2. Strategic Governance Model A board of directors with this governance operates with respect for and total reliance on the strategic plan and goals. There is a clear mission, vision and values that are always kept in mind when making decisions. It is very common for committees or task forces to be formed to perform the work required to keep the real estate association moving forward according to the strategic plan. focuses on providing information, such as best business practices and trends to its members staff size typically ranges from three to 12, with some individuals responsible for specific programs staff possesses expertise in managing and communicating legal, regulatory, and business issues impacting the association and effectively managing association business Executive Officer: responsible for all administration and management, with an added focus on community and real estate industry issues creates staff job descriptions, hires and manages staff, sets staff salaries within the budget and determines staff structure Elected leadership: determines the association's strategic vision and sets parameters for staff empowerment decision-making authority is vested in the board of directors with authority for most operational decisions delegated to staff. 3. Policy Governance Model A board of directors with this governance works under the assumption that a policy authorizes or limits nearly every action of the board and staff. There are clear goals that the real estate association strives to achieve and there is also a clear separation of duties between volunteers and staff. focuses on implementing programs, products, and services that provide enhanced value for members beyond their day-to-day businesses staff usually includes a senior management team of department heads who report to the executive officer and are responsible for administration and management Executive Officer and the senior management team: position the organization based on envisioned real estate industry trends hire staff members who possess expertise and provide leadership in political, legal, regulatory, and business issues impacting the association Elected leadership: determines the association s strategic vision, but staff members develop goals and plans to implement the vision decision-making authority for all operational procedures is vested in the association executive. policies are in place to authorize the EO to take action quickly when an emergency arises, without having to seek approval from elected leaders. Leadership 300: Enhancing Leadership Skills 11