Professional Practice Statements

It's common that the professions and industries represented by associations operate in ever-changing environments. Associations are continually challenged to meet new needs of their members caused by these changes, and sometimes to meet the needs of a changing membership. The temptation is for associations to adjust old and develop new products, services, activities and programs as changes occur. The result can be a hodge-podge of unrelated, existing and new, updated and outdated "member benefits," with no unifying focus.

In order for associations to remain focused, yet flexible to meet changing needs or changing membership, they must know their purpose, define their mission and establish planning systems that achieve stability while allowing for flexibility.

Association governance exists to identify and achieve the organizational mission, goals and strategic outcomes. Associations are most successful when they are driven by strategic plans that clearly define expected end-results (outcomes), using a governance structure that is sufficiently plan-focused, flexible, and depoliticized to produce those results.

The governance principles expressed in this professional practice statement have universal application, allowing for flexibility in the way they are implemented to adjust for each association's organizational culture.

Policy Statement

The Association Forum believes that all association activity should flow from and be directed by strategic and annual operating plans. Every association should formally establish a planning system which includes, at minimum, specific timeframes for planning and plan updates, methods for prioritizing strategies, allocating resources, and operationalizing strategic decisions, and a process for plan performance oversight and regularly scheduled adjustment.

The Association Forum believes that the association board be the body accountable for all governance, including the development and oversight of strategic and operating plans. Strategic planning in particular should be a board function. Delegating that function impedes the level of commitment and understanding required for board effectiveness. While the board may delegate some elements of governance and planning to other organizational bodies, responsibility and accountability for plan content and outcomes rests with the board.

Planning and decision making by all governing bodies should be knowledge-based and governance appointments should be both skills based and talent based. Both plan decisions and governance appointments should be immune to undue influence by the parochial preferences of organizational bodies or individual interests. Existing or potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed so other participants can take potential biases into consideration.

The Forum also believes that association governance is a partnership between all volunteer members and the association staff. Volunteer leaders assume accountability for organizational direction, strategic planning decisions, operating plan priorities and resource allocation. From those the staff addresses program development, implementation and ongoing management. There may also be situations where the governing bodies or the staff should seek assistance from outside resources to facilitate meeting their governance obligations.

Four Functions of Strategic Governance

Effective strategic governance is comprised of four primary functions:

scanning
planning
oversight
adjustment

Scanning examines and evaluates the environment in which the profession or industry the association represents operates, to identify issues the organization should address to remain responsive and relevant to its members. Scan results direct the development of the association's strategic plan, within the context of its organizational mission

Indeed, it is through the scanning process that the association's existence is fundamentally defined. There are typically some needs otherwise unmet within the association's profession or industry, and thus the association forms to meet those needs. It is critical that the board remain abreast of the profession or industry to determine whether the association's mission, goals and strategies remain relevant, or whether it needs to adjust to meet new needs.

Planning should take two forms – strategic and operational.

Using the results from the ongoing scanning process, effective strategic governance requires the board to define how it is going to address those issues identified in order to respond to its members needs. The strategic plan results from this process.

Strategic plans should define:

organizational mission, goals and objectives
strategies for addressing goals and objectives
strategic outcomes to be produced along with timing implications
a system for determining strategic plan priorities [relative importance, most time critical, most deserving of resource allocation (member time, staff time, direct dollars)].
a system for monitoring progress and making adjustments

Operational planning should, within established strategic priorities, select the programs, services and initiatives that will occur in the coming fiscal year, which must wait and what level of resources will be allocated (member time, staff, direct dollars). The yearly operating budget typically most evidently documents this annual plan.

Strategic planning is primarily the responsibility and role of the board with input from association management. Operational planning can be divided into high-level planning by the board and detailed planning by management and staff, or it can be delegated by the board to association management. In either case, the board is responsible for oversight of operational planning as discussed in the next section.

Oversight also takes place at both the strategic and the operational level.

Strategic oversight includes periodic re-scanning to identify changes in the professional or industry environment and regularly scheduled Board assessment of progress toward achieving strategic plan goals, strategies and desired outcomes.

Operational oversight includes regularly scheduled Board monitoring for program/initiative and financial outcomes and operational safeguards. Board oversight should focus on:

•how well individual programs and initiatives are achieving defined outcomes •committee performance outcomes for plan components assigned to them •chief staff executive's performance outcomes for plan components assigned to staff •decision making to resolve problems •action to take advantage of newly identified, unplanned opportunities •reprioritization resulting from Board oversight actions •adequacy of procedures and controls used to safeguard the association's tangible and intangible assets.

While oversight can be the function towards which boards most easily gravitate, it is equally important that they spend time on scanning and planning. Without input, understanding and ownership of the overall strategic initiatives and operational plans to achieve them, it is virtually impossible to effectively oversee their progress.

Adjustment should take advantage of successes/new opportunities and adjusting what is not working or not working as well as anticipated.

During the year, strategic plan adjustment should involve only the strategies and related operational programs or activities. Adjustment of the mission and goals should be done infrequently, generally not changing over several years. Ongoing scanning of the environment in which the profession or industry of the association operates is critical to determining how often the mission and goals of the strategic plan should be adjusted. Strategic plan adjustment is primarily the responsibility and role of the Board with input from association management.

Operational plan adjustment can occur throughout the year. Operational plan adjustment can stem from strategic plan adjustments by the Board, operational oversight by the Board or from association management. In all cases, any adjustments to the operational plan must be consistent with the strategies of the strategic plan.

The types of adjustments that might be made are:

adjusting strategies
adjusting operational programs or activities
discontinuing or sunsetting non-performing programs or activities
adjusting expected outcomes
reprioritizing and reallocating resources
revising operational safeguards

Desirable Characteristics for Strategic Governance

The following desirable characteristics for strategic governance are described below.

Focused
Results-Oriented
Skills-Based
Knowledge-Based
Empowered
Accountable
Structurally Effective
Operationally Efficient
A Partnership with Staff

Focused

Governing bodies work primarily at the strategic level. As a whole, the board and its activities should be focused upon:

Vision, mission and goal development (scanning, possibly adjustment)
Public policy and advocacy positions (scanning, possibly adjustment)
Strategic plan development and approval (planning)
Organizational oversight - monitoring outcomes (oversight and adjustment)

However, in order to effect the strategic goals, and to remain accountable for operational success of the association, effective board governance needs to incorporate operational aspects of the four primary functions as well. Typically, this is achieved through use of committees, task forces, work groups, project teams, etc.

These more operationally focused groups should have their responsibilities and duties outlined in bylaws, rules, "scopes of responsibility" or similar documents, defining the group's charge from the governing body within the overall strategic context of the organization. Such outlines should include aspects of environmental scanning, plan implementation specifics, oversight metrics, and procedures to recommend adjustment.

With the input of these subgroups, using focused reporting mechanisms, the governing body can more efficiently accomplish its strategic charge of scanning, planning, oversight and adjustment.

Results-Oriented

Governance exists to identify and achieve the organizational vision, mission, goals and strategic outcomes. Success of the board in fulfilling this objective is measured on accomplishment of their stated goals from the initial and ongoing scanning process.

Skills-Based

Governance participants at all levels need to have or acquire specific skills to fulfill their governance responsibilities. Some skills will be important regardless of the governance position held. Other governance positions will require skills unique to the position.

Governance identifies the skills needed to produce results in each governance position and makes those skills part of election/appointment criteria. Members should be directed to or provided with opportunities for leadership training to prepare them for the governance positions they want to hold.

Knowledge-Based

Organizational success takes precedence over individual interests, personal agendas and parochial preference.

Greater reliance is placed on quantitative and qualitative research involving various stakeholder groups and less upon opinion and anecdotal experience of just the governing board members. Additional participant roles, beyond official governance bodies, facilitate knowledge-based decision making. Methods for obtaining knowledge from additional participants may include temporarily convened groups with special expertise, such as:

Open forums, town halls and ask/tell the leader panel discussions
Electronic referenda, opinion polls and surveys
Surveys of practices and experiences of similarly-focused associations
Idea generating think-tank groups
Reactor panels
Focus groups
Quick-results, informal work groups
New product or service roll-out testers

Empowered

Governing bodies are empowered to produce results. They are given:

Clearly defined outcomes to achieve
Timeframes and progress milestones
Resources - financial and staff support at levels that enable their work
Authority to act within established scope of assigned work, timeframes and resource parameters

Bringing in non-member participants is considered when that would enhance the availability of knowledge, expertise, buy-in, influence or support.

Accountable

Governance bodies are held accountable for the work assigned to them. They are expected to produce results and are held accountable for doing so. Failure to do so should result in remedial action which may be to reconstitute the governing body or sunsetting it in favor of another approach to the work.

Elected and appointed governance participants are held accountable for fulfilling their assigned role within the governing bodies on which they serve. Failure to do so results in remedial action which may include removal and/or ineligibility for re-election or reappointment.

Structurally Effective

The governing structure is kept to the minimum number of governing bodies necessary to produce strategic plan results. Additional member participation can come from roles beyond official governance positions.

A governing body exists only when it has some specific assignment to complete or quantifiable outcome to achieve.
Standing committees perform functions that require ongoing (every-year or all-year-long) member expertise. When unable to complete assigned work or their underlying need no longer exists, they are reconfigured or sunsetted in favor of another approach. Associations will need to refer to their bylaws and/or parliamentary procedure to determine proper standing committee modification procedures.
Project teams, task forces, special committees and other ad hoc work groups are deployed for one-time, intermittent or short-term member effort. They are sunsetted when their assigned work is complete.

Operationally Efficient

Governing bodies are flexible, employing a minimum of procedural rules. They employ the most expedient, cost-effective methods for getting their work done. Work methods may vary depending on the group's preferred work style and the nature of their work.

Governing bodies regularly self-assess. When their work is not producing adequate results within assigned timeframes, resources, etc., changes are made to get things on course.

The governing body's leader or chair handles individual performance problems expeditiously to keep them from impairing group achievement.

A Partnership with Staff

An association's staff is comprised of skilled, association management professionals and as such are treated as partners in governance. Their work is closely integrated with those of governing bodies. Sound strategic governance relies upon their expertise and consistency of position within all four primary functions. At a minimum the association chief executive if not the senior management team should be incorporated into all aspects of scanning, planning, oversight and adjustment activities. In short, staff can be relied upon to: