Reading back over this thread, since it has become active again has made me think a little more on this subject. One of the things I have to say and (maybe some will disagree with me) is this. There are a lot of people out there who do not really care about who is coming in after them.
Let me clarify this that I think that most everyone who is reading this or who has posted in this thread is NOT one of those people. We actually CARE about what will happen in the future because we actually CARE about our organization. I guess I am one of those OCD people who give 110% of myself when I decide to jump into something. Being able to help the person coming after me is just a given and a no brainer.
I hate to say it but there are many out there who will chair an event or whatever and are only concerned with the "here and now" and are not willing to keep good records for the person to follow in their footsteps. Does this sound callous? Yes a bit. But I know that when I think back to how many times I have asked people to write up a report for the files not just once but 2-3 times and I still got nothing - What other reason is there?
I am a new PTC board memeber working on the 501(c)(3) and finding it extrememly hard to follow through with history.
I have called all coordinators requesting a written summary of how they coordinate events. I am working with the board to develop better procedure books and files. Also working on timelines for Board memebers. We got into a sticky situation with the start of school and events not coordinated until the last minute
The Old memebers have so much knowledge of procedures and such in their own minds. Peoeple tend to forget we need to tell the story write it :eek:
THis is a wonderful source to gather information.
Record-keeping is an unexplainable challenge in our PTO, too. Why committee chairs don't see the value in getting--and then passing along--good files is a mystery to me. But every year we have a least one major committee who has to start from scratch. Some of it is the "I wanna do it my way" mentality which is also counterproductive to the success and efficiency of the group.
We try to head off poor record-keeping by distributing new committee folders every year. We include several inserts such as the calendar, officer phone numbers, their volunteer list, the budget, financial transaction forms, tips & hints, and a couple of relevant articles. At minimum, this folder gives every committee a place to keep their stuff for the year.
We're taking it one step further this year. Next week we're having a Committee Chair Kickoff meeting (really an orientation, but the board is afraid that term will offend experienced volunteers). Our plan is to review good committee organizational tips, discuss general plans for the year and get to know one another. We'll also hand out and explain a form we're creating for year-end reporting. Maybe, just maybe, saying some of this face to face will impress on these volunteers the value of good record-keeping and training.
I have been on the board at two different schools (secretary, treasurer and now president) and not once have I had one single piece of paper telling me what we have done in the past. Well, that's not entirely the case as I did have a file full of receipts and the checkbook register when I was treasurer. Our parent group has stumbled along blindly learning as we go and you can bet I am working very hard this year to make up a manual for my successor. I'm actually making two, one to keep for myself. It's not that I expect the next president to follow it word for word but it sure would have been nice to have the foggiest notion about what goes on in the school without having to guess.
We have it in the by-laws that you must keep a procedure book. We have a few chairs and 1 officer that don't like to share information. When they are done with their term as chair or officer they removed some of the papers that show the how-to's of some events.
For every event, big or small, I make the chairs give me copies of their step-by-step procedures for running that event. Talk about being a control freak!
As president, I've decided at the end of last school year to collect the books and go over each one. If any papers were missing I made a copy and re-inserted it into the books.
This year every chair has a complete books. This took a lot of time but was well worth it!
I'm dealing with the same procedures issue that you all are and after reading all your thoughts, I'm beginning to think if I'm successful in putting a procedures manual together I'm going to have to revise the bi-laws to make it manditory to have all new board members and committeed chairs receive an orientation (which I've found out that our district board includes in their bi-laws) that includes all this info so new members don't disregard them and can hopefully benefit from them or even require in the bi-laws all serving board members and committee chairs to turn over their notes, etc. and meet with incoming persons once during a given period to pass along knowledge. We could require a "Passing the Torch" meeting at the end of every year. I don't know. I hear what you all are saying and I want to find a way to establish a system that will allow for both the positive lessons of the past but still allow for new folks to revise, improove and personalize their own contribution. Any thoughts?
