Effective board/ Commission/Council governance

Effective board/commission/council governance

Effective governance is essential to a thriving community; yet, even the most dedicated public servants can stumble upon structural hurdles.

From navigating conflicting values to bridging the gap between staff and elected officials, we help you overcome the obstacles of public leadership to build an effective governing body. Three barriers to governance effectiveness are fundamental to governing bodies.

What we do

First, boards, commissions, and councils that are willing to tackle significant issues will have to confront conflicting political values.

These values include representation, efficiency, social equity, and individual rights. Choices among values are not choices between right and wrong, and councils searching for “correct” answers to policy issues are bound to become frustrated.

Secondly, councilors must confront the difficult values work they are responsible for in the absence of hierarchy—the mayor is not the boss. Most people have never had a job where there was no one in charge.

The final obstacle is the difference in perspective between council and staff—differences that are often difficult to understand because while council and staff use the same words, they speak a different language.

We help and guide boards, commissions, councils, and their staff using tools designed to enable a willing council to address challenging issues by building its capacity. An important piece of that capacity is an effective partnership with staff. The tools we use to build good governance include orienting new elected officials, retreats and goal setting, regular one-on-one meetings with staff leadership, appropriate access to department heads, and documented business practices.

Our process

We focus on building the governance capacity necessary to navigate conflicting values and complex decision-making. By establishing clear business practices and bridging the communication gap between elected officials and professional staff, we help you create a productive partnership that functions effectively even in the absence of a traditional hierarchy.