Co-Managing the Group
from LEAVEN, Vol. 34 No.
1, February - March 1998, pp. 9-10
by Rachael VerNooy
Media, Pennsylvania, USA
How do you and your co-Leader(s)
split Leader jobs? Do you think of Leader responsibilities in terms
of "jobs"? What communication systems do you and your co-Leader(s) have
in place? Is your communication planned or does it just happen?
In our Group, Leaders use
two distinct styles of co-managing: consensus and divided responsibility.
Each has worked well for us, depending on the circumstances.
When I was first accredited,
I had two co-Leaders. We fell into a pattern of getting together monthly
for Leaders Meetings. These meetings were our primary tool for managing
by consensus. At the meetings we:
- decided who would lead
upcoming Series Meetings (each Leader planned and presented her own);
- filled out the monthly
meeting report, discussing any concerns we had about the last meeting;
- decided who we might ask
to fill a Group job opening and which Leader would contact that mother;
- discussed who might be
a candidate for leadership and which Leader would approach her about
it;
- decided what to cover
at Planning Meetings, whom to invite and how to split the list of
mothers to ask them to attend;
- planned fundraisers, publicity,
extra meetings and Chapter Meetings;
- discussed other concerns
or questions.
When we decided to take on
a project that was beyond our basic Leader responsibilities, we worked
as a team, each Leader doing her part. For example, for a special meeting
one Leader would arrange for a time and place, one would make up and
distribute announcements, one would lead the meeting discussion.
These Leaders Meetings worked
well for us because they were an efficient way to manage the Group.
At that time, we all had lots of energy to devote to the Group and we
enjoyed meeting with each other frequently.
Now our Group situation is
different so we co-manage differently. We have four Leaders who have
less time and energy to devote to basic Leader responsibilities. We
all want more time for our families, additional LLL work or other volunteer
activities. We devised a new plan: divided responsibility.
We held one big Leaders Meeting
a few months ago. I drew up a list of Leader jobs and we split them
up. At first the list looked long and scary, but we soon realized that
many of the jobs require minimal effort.
Leader One:
act as Listed Leader (receive
and share LLLI mailings)
maintain mailing list
supervise Group Treasury
supervise meeting refreshments
arrive early to set up Series Meetings
lead Planning Meetings
Leader Two:
copy and distribute meeting
notices
buy office supplies in bulk and distribute
develop and implement ideas to keep older toddlers busy and quiet
during meetings
stay after Series Meetings to check on clean up
arrange for Planning Meetings, inform attendees
Leader Three:
bring sign-in book to meeting
and make sure everyone signs in
make follow-up calls to new mothers
fill out monthly meeting reports
supervise new mother packets and nametags
supervise sales items (books and slings)
Leader Four:
reserve meeting room for
regular and special meetings
place orders to LLLI
supervise Group Library
supervise publicity
plan fundraisers
Where "supervise" is listed,
a Group member usually is responsible for the job; the Leader acts as
a resource and support.
Using this list, each of
us can relax and focus on our assigned jobs. For example, since I'm
not "Leader Four," I don't need to think about publicity.
Some Leaders are interested
in optional Leader activities including planning Chapter Meetings, applying
for grants, etc. We agreed that any Leader can do these things; she
keeps the other Leaders informed and may ask them for ideas or advice.
At this same Leaders Meeting,
we set up a schedule of who would lead Series Meetings for the next
six months and who would make opening remarks and ending announcements.
The system of divided responsibilities
is working well so far. We're all committed Leaders who do our assigned
jobs effectively. This makes it easy to stop worrying about jobs that
are assigned to someone else. There have been no major disagreements
about how the Group functions and we allow minor disagreements to be
decided by the Leader with responsibility for that area.
Our Group has had success
with both the consensus and divided responsibility styles of co-managing.
There may be other successful co-managing styles but they all have a
common thread: they all include communication. Our Group has used Leaders
Meetings - regular or occasional - to communicate. Other ways to keep
in contact include phone conversations, email, postcards and getting
together for Leader playgroups or other social activities.
Co-Leader communication is
essential. If your Group could be managed more effectively, use these
ideas as a springboard for discussion. Get all the Leaders together
to discuss Group management. A smoothly running Group is an asset to
LLL and the mothers we serve.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:31:53 UTC 2007.
