Thursday, April 22, 2010

Governance, Processes, Committees and Transparency



Meetings, meetings and more meetings..... who would think that meetings can cause such diverse reactions...so many to keep people to keep happy, too many conflicts of interest and different points of view... how do you balance the equation... from the kids soccer / cricket committees to national boards all these delicate balances need to be considered...however you then put personal opinions, passion and stress in the equation you have a recipe for disaster... or a souffle that has exploded....

When things go astray it is important to fall back on the process or governance of the committee and often people do not fully understand these processes or they are not in place for members to follow.... clear boundaries, structures, documentation, job descriptions and polices need to be maintained so that everyone is clear about the process, so that when things go wrong or questions are asked there is a clear trail and process to follow... and for the membership to be fully informed..... so that transparency is obvious...

Good governance has 8 major characteristics. It is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law.

I have to say from when the children were playing junior soccer to my current involvement with committees not much has changed....we all do it because we love the cause, we have passion, its voluntary and we work very very hard to improve conditions....and get knocked from time to time... but at the end of the day healthy debate makes us think, changes processes to make them better and life goes on....and hopefully we still like each other at the end of the day..... we never grow with out communication.....so here's to good governace.....and many more meetings....

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