Defining your board operating structure is a board responsibility, so here are some suggested board exercises:

1. Start by reviewing general responsibilities or expectations of the people, committees and positions in your agency. Make this a research or brainstorming exercise.What do you think the responsibilities should be?
2. Work towards the development of specific job descriptions for all positions, both paid and unpaid, within your agency. (Note that the job descriptions and systems for supervision will of necessity reflect the type of board your organization has.)
3. Develop a chart which depicts the hierarchy, supervisory structure or system of relationships which exist in your organization.Your organizational chart can be rough and simple to start, but as your agency develops you may want to review your job descriptions and therefore your reporting structure. The important thing is to start with something on paper! Ask each board member to jot down how they see the agency working, then collect all the responses and begin synthesizing.

There are some general responsibilities common to all boards. These elements have been summarized and are included in Appendix A2.1 at the end of Section Two.

Getting tangled in bureaucracy? Check out Appendix A2.2 at the end of Section Two, for clear, no-nonsense guidelines for establishing useful committees that really work.

If you need help figuring out who is responsible for what and how to approach defining roles and responsibilities, consult the following excellent resources:

• Board Basics United Way/TVO, 1995. Manual, workbooks and video series.
• The Board: A Winning Team, Herb Perry, 1990.All of Herb Perry’s books are concise and useful, but this one is worth having on your shelves as a reference.
• Roles and Responsibilities of Organization Directors, Factsheet #87-002 (OMAFRA/ 88)
• Effective Committees, Factsheet #94-015 (OMAFRA/ 94.) These and other fact sheets are on line at www.gov.on.ca:80/OMAFRA/english/rural/facts/factshts.htm
• Job Descriptions for Officers of the Board, a detailed outline developed by The Canadian Centre for Philanthropy with the Muttart Foundation, and available on-line at www.ccp.ca/information/documents/gd6.htm
• Information for Non-profits, a project of Evergreen State Society, Seattle, WA. This website has an extensive collection of board descriptions, and duties and functions for all board positions at www.nonprofit-info.org/npofaq/outline.html
• CLO’s Volunteer Management Web site has sample job descriptions for literacy at www.nald.ca/volman.htm