Organizational Development

Organizational development is the foundation and the framework of an organization, including processes that enable a nonprofit to align on why they are together.  In our organizational development work, we meet organizations that are just getting started as well as those who need to get back to the basics in order to clarify their direction and motivate their key people.

Components, Processes and Timing

Leadership Development   The quality of leadership in an organization is critical to its success.  We work with the board chair and/or executive director to make sure they have the skills and the approach that best serves their organization. 

Relationship between Board Chair and Executive Director   In individual and confidential meetings with the executive director and board chair, we determine the quality of the relationship and determine together whether their relationship is an effective working relationship.  If not, we work with each of them to determine what they need from the other and to set up a process to allow each to provide what’s wanted and needed.

Mission   The mission of an organization is a statement of its reason for being – a short document that answers the questions, Why are we here? What service do we offer?  To whom?  To establish or review a mission, we meet with key staff and board members to insure that everyone is aligned and can generate a sense of enthusiasm for the mission. 

Vision   As its name suggests, a vision is a statement of what the organization sees in its future.  What difference do we want to make?  How broad will our impact be?  How far do we want to reach?  What is our dream?  While a mission states intent, a vision paints a picture of what will happen as the mission is manifested.  

Guiding Principles   These principles are a series of statements and descriptions that establish the values and culture of an organization.  What do we believe in?  What are our values? How do we want our clients to feel about us?  In what ways do we want to behave with one another?   

By-Laws   Boards of nonprofits must have a set of by-laws, which set the policies for the way the board works.  Our aim is to work with the board to make sure that all members are satisfied with the current by-laws and are committed to complying with them.  By-laws contain such topics as term limits, nominating procedures, responsibilities of the board, and committee structure. 

Review of Task and Goal Management   This component investigates how work is identified and how it happens.  It is a check to insure that the organization has clear priorities and a way of monitoring progress against them.  

Deliverables

Depending on the scope of the engagement, we can help our client with: 

• Implementation of a leadership development plan
• Coaching of the executive director and/or board chair
• Mission statement 
• Vision statement 
• Guiding principles 
• By-laws 
• Plan for managing work to stick to priorities