By Lois Ann Garlitz, Chieftain, American Clan Gregor Society, 2016
Any organization composed of volunteers counts heavily on cooperative governance among the officers and members. Whether you are applying for a paid or volunteer position within any business or other group, one of the first things most persons ask about is what will be my responsibilities; what is my job description?
American Clan Gregor Society thoughtfully crafted policies and procedures for each elected and appointed position, as well as for standing committees, as they were identified in the Bylaws. Input was recruited from the person holding each position by means of a bulleted list of what their understanding was of their responsibilities. That is a total of twenty seven policies and procedure documents.
Each document repeated any reference to that position from the Bylaws, and included the full text for that reference. A description of the procedures/ duties of that office were listed as well as what support from the society or other society offices might be expected. That “Find” tool in word processing software is a gem idea. Any person in a specific position need only look at his/her own P&P without referring to the 17 page Bylaws to understand his job description, or any other officer’s. A schedule to review one-third of these P&P was identified for each year on a rotating basis. Each officer would be able to maintain their own 3 ring notebook with 1-31 numbered divider pages. Behind Tab # 1 was the Title page, a preface statement, a Table of Contents, as well as a list of current officers/council members. Tabs # 2-28 were used for each position. Numbers 29-31 could be used for addenda or other reference material as time goes on. When all these P&P were approved by our Council, these documents were signed by our chieftain, scanned into pdf files, and distributed on flash drives, instead of engaging a print shop. Each officer could do that for themselves if they wished. A 3 ring notebook would allow for easy insertion of changes to a particular document and handed over to a new person who assumes that role.
This kind of detail may not suit other organizations. It was our effort to preserve our organizational memory in one location, to be an adjunct to our newsletters and yearbooks where annual reports are recorded.
If you are Delegate or Alternate of a COSCA Organizational Member, you can access the complete article with many more details, including the complete list (and links) of all clan and family societies privacy policies: https://www.cosca.scot/policy-manual
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