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Questions
we consider about your team's mandate:
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Is the mandate current
and relevant to today's realities?
- Is the mandate substantial, ambitious, and compelling?
- Is it realistic and achievable?
- Is it widely known, understood and supported, or is it ignored?
- Is it prominently evident in the way meetings are planned and run?
- Is it in need of review and update?
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Questions
we consider about the allocation of decision making powers:
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What decisions can
be made and at what level?
- Are decision making powers clearly documented, or passed on by word
of mouth?
- Are committees given decision making power or are they advisory?
Do they know it?
- Do individuals and committees routinely exceed their decision making
powers?
- Do senior executives hold on to power and try to force every decision
that counts?
- How much conflict is caused by decision making powers not being
clearly articulated?
BACK
Questions
we consider about the size and composition of a decision making team:
- Is the team too large to engage members in decision making in a
meaningful way?
- Is it too small to achieve diversity and succession planning?
- Is the team sufficiently representative of constituents in the larger
community?
- Do your governing documents require regional representation? Should
they?
- Is it time to re-evaluate your team's size and composition?
BACK
Questions we consider
about team member & leader selection processes:
- Are the Chair and each team member selected on merit?
- Is enough done to attract the right people to the decision making
team?
- Do you balance the need for fresh faces with the need for continuity
on the team?
- How significant are personal popularity or "politics"
in the selection process?
- If members are elected: Are your nomination and election processes
appropriate?
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Questions we
consider about team orientation & on-going education:
- Do you conduct a meaningful orientation program?
- Do you provide refresher programs and regular updates on current
issues?
- Do you clarify roles, accountability, and "rules of engagement"?
- Do you discuss the obligation to place collective interests ahead
of narrow interests?
- Do you discuss the minority's obligation to respect collective decisions?
- Do you discuss conflict of interest guidelines?
- Do you discuss the risks of leaks of confidential information?
- Do you assign mentors to new members?
- Is your team sophisticated and empowered, or is it just "pooling
its ignorance"?
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Questions
we consider about the effectiveness of the team leader (Chair):
- Does the Chair force decisions or facilitate decision making?
- Is the Chair dominant and having trouble letting go of control?
- Is the Chair passive, allowing the "tyranny of the minority"
and "free-for-all" meetings?
- Does the Chair maintain "a bird's eye view" and advise
members of broader perspectives?
- Is the Chair a good role model for everyone to follow?
- Does the Chair train successors? Does he or she know when to step
down?
- Does the Chair serve as a mentor and coach for newer team members?
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Questions
we consider about the effectiveness of team members:
- Does the individual work as a "loose canon" or a member
of a team?
- Does the member pull his or her own weight and contribute to the
team's success?
- Does the member make the effort to learn about issues and fully
prepare for meetings?
- Does the member have the courage to ask tough and unpopular questions?
- Is the member prepared to listen and learn from other perspectives?
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Questions we consider
about the team's relationship with support staff:
- Does the team give staff the authority and tools to implement its
decisions?
- Does the team tend to "micromanage" the staff?
- Do professional staff members give dispassionate advice, or do they
dominate?
- Is it safe for staff to give professional advice without fear of
consequences?
- Does the team have a formal evaluation process for the chief staff
officer?
- Is the team's relationship with staff built solely on trust, or
also on due diligence?
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Questions we
consider about the team's relationship with subordinate committees:
- Are committees established casually or do they have clear mandates
and schedules?
- Are committees held accountable? Do they assume powers not given?
- Do some committees wield more power than the governing body?
- Do committees continue to exist in perpetuity, without an end in
sight?
- Should some committees be replaced by short-mandate focus groups?
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Questions we consider
about the team's relationships with the larger community:
- Are the community and stakeholders given early warnings about significant
decisions?
- Are the community and stakeholders consulted when their input would
be useful?
- Are community consultation initiatives undertaken for appeasement
only?
- Are there efforts to hear from "the silent majority"?
- Are you over-consulting the community?
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Questions we consider
about feedback and dispute resolution processes:
- How often do team members receive feedback?
- How often do you celebrate successes?
- How decisively do you intervene to deal with counter-productive
behaviours?
- Do you have disciplinary procedures in place?
- Do you have mechanisms to prevent, detect and resolve disputes?
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Questions we consider
about a team's ethics, culture & "rules of engagement":
- Do you have conflict of interest guidelines? Are they understood
and followed?
- Do you have confidentiality guidelines? Are they understood and
followed?
- Do you have a code of ethics and a set of values that are endorsed
by the team?
- Are collective decisions made by "majority" or by "consensus"?
- Do members get confused between "Robert" and "Carver"?
- Do you have a true democracy? Or is it "monarchy" or "anarchy"?
- If there is a formal voting structure: Are votes allocated fairly
and equitably?
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