Welcome to the fourth chapter of the sport governance course, where you will explore the balance of roles and responsibilities between governance activities and the day to day operations of an organization.

In this chapter we will explore:

• Roles & Responsibilites
• Board vs Operations
• Recommendations
• And finish with a quiz

Overview

The Board's job is to govern the organization, not manage it. While the Board needs to ensure that effective management is exercised, it must take great care to not become immersed in both management and day-to-day operations. The Board should set high level strategy and vision and then ensure they are followed. There may be situations when a national Board needs to do more than govern. In these cases, it is important that the Board can differentiate between its governing and management/administration roles and ensure that sufficient time is devoted to governing.

Lack of role clarity between volunteer and staff leaders is a recipe for conflict, confusion and a waste of valuable resources. A mixing of roles will ultimately detract from the Board's important leadership function, while confusing those charged with management and operational responsibilities.

How is this done?

• The Board ensures that the organization has capable management and develops and nurtures a productive working relationship with the CEO/Senior staff.
• A clear division of roles and responsibilities between the Board and the CEO/Senior staff is set out in writing
• Directors stay focused on strategic governance, not on management and operational delivery
• Directors avoid all real, potential and perceived conflicts of interests
• The Board ensures that all Committees and sub-groups are relevant to the organization's strategic priorities and functioning with clear terms of reference and accountabilities.

What is the difference between Board and Operations?

Things to consider:

• Build a partnership with the CEO/Senior staff 
  A thoughtfully designed partnership between the Board and the CEO/Senior staff will nurture strong leadership throughout the organization. As with all partnerships, the parties must know and respect the strengths and weaknesses of each partner. All parties must clearly understand their roles, responsibilities and reporting relationships. A poor relationship can lead to ineffectual performance by all human resources in the organization.
• Clarify who does what
  This is not a simple or a finite task. Most Directors have held other volunteer positions before moving into a Director position of a national organization. As volunteers, they may be used to playing roles that are no longer appropriate in a governance Board. Part of orientation is ensuring clarity on the roles and responsibilities of Directors of a national not-for-profit corporation.
• Establish a norm of clarifying roles
  As soon as there is a conflict over who should or should not have done something, address it. If it is not addressed, the conflict can grow and relationships may deteriorate. Symptoms of lack of role clarity include overlap or duplication and gaps. Discussion with those involved should include: What happened/didn't happen? Why? What should happen in the future? A simple discussion, with no blame involved, can prevent similar situations and set norms for clarifying situations on a regular basis.
• Clarify the role of special interests of Directors 
  Boards are comprised of individuals with different backgrounds and passions, e.g., coaches or officials, provincial ties, high performance. Unclear loyalties can be at the core of many issues and conflicts, with quality decision making being compromised by personal interests. An elected Director must always act in the best interests of the organization. Although this is not always a straightforward area, Directors must avoid special interests and parochial attitudes.
• Clarify when Directors are task volunteers
  In many organizations, volunteers may hold several positions and play different roles. This is an issue if Directors hold roles dealing with operational issues. It is essential to separate the governance responsibilities of Directors from other task functions for which they may be responsible. A clear distinction between the strategic function and the operational delivery needs to be maintained. The Board should not deal with operational issues.
• Establish a Performance Appraisal system for the CEO/Senior staff
  The Board's primary role is to monitor and evaluate management, operations and organizational results, based on the strategic plan. Because the CEO/Senior staff is accountable for achieving the results determined by the Board, it is important to design and implement an appraisal system that measures performance against agreed-upon goals, as well as providing the CEO/Senior staff regular and helpful feedback.
• Build a trusting and supportive climate
  Taking the time to build a mutually supportive, cooperative and trusting climate is well worth the investment. A good example of a trusting climate is when Directors feel comfortable approving policies based on the considered opinion and advice of management. Without a climate of trust and support, all decisions and actions are suspect. More time is spent on process and how things are done and by whom, than on getting things done. If the climate is toxic, it must be treated.
• Delegate decision making
  Delegating authority to the appropriate group or individual is an important tool for more effective use of human resources. When a person or committee have responsibilities for making decisions that affect them, motivation and commitment are much better. The Board should ensure that checks and balances are in place to manage decision making.

Recommendations:

• Assess your organization's Governance; this may involve external assistance/expertise
• Identify opportunities to improve Governance
• Establish priorities, determine ownership: If the priority is at the Board level - the Board owns it.
  • If it is at the Operational level - the CEO owns it.
  • If it is a shared responsibility, the CEO and the Board work together, but ownership is with the Board.
• Determine if you have the capability/resources to address the priorities?
  • If yes, clarify, develop approaches, implement
  • If not, seek appropriate Governance expertise/assistance

Summary

In this chapter we learned:

• How to ensure there is a clear definition of roles between governance and operations.
• What the difference is between Board and operational roles.
• Recommendations for determining roles and responsibilities such as: Build a partnership with the CEO/Senior staff , Clarify who does what, Establish a norm of clarifying roles, Clarify the role of special interests of Board members, Clarify when Directors are task volunteers, Establish a Performance Appraisal system for the CEO/Senior staff, Build a trusting and supportive climate and Delegate decision-making.
• Moving forward means we need to Assess, Indentify, Establish and Determine roles and responsibilities.

Quiz

Now that you have completed this chapter, go to the quiz and test your knowledge.