Work of the Board of Hackney Homes - Coursework Example

Introduction Board committees are convened to oversee specific functions. The success of such committees is often factored on how well the committee meetings are run. Such committees help in coordinating activities, evaluating information, clarifying objectives, generating new ideas and solving problems and each meeting should ensure that this is achieved (Mullins 2005, p6 ). This paper will present a reflection of the board meetings that I attended and was part of. The board of Hackney Homes which is an organization that looks after the welfare of tenants and lease holders. The reflection will focus on the work of the board, its approach to key issues, opportunities and challenges for boards in the voluntary sector. The committee was comprised of volunteers who made up the management board. The purpose of the board was to address problems to do with leasehold services, weak telephone services and response to complaints, limited tenant profiling, anti-social policies, procedure and practices at Hackney Homes Ltd. To address these problems the board embarked to improve communication and participation, improve the systems, address anti social behaviour, improve the value for money through better finance systems and get and maintain a more accurate resident profile. The reflection paper will cover the work of the board, its approach to key issues, the forming, storming norming and performance of the board. Work of the board The board was constituted of 14 members and there were different people chairing the committee meetings on rotational basis. While recognizing that Hackney Homes has continued to provide good services the board had the responsibility of ensuring service delivery is improved, especially in areas where satisfaction was low. These included weak response to complaints, limited resident profiling and the lack of meeting some of its targets. This is in line with NCVO (2010, p.8) on good governance and board management to protect the reputation of the organization. Other areas that the board had interest in improving are the IT system, progress in policy and service issues and long term vision to guide its work. This section of the paper focuses on my view on the forming, storming, norming and performing of the board. Forming The forming stage occurs when team members are introduced to each other (Pierce 2002, 23). It is the first step in team formation, team members maybe meeting each other for the first time. This stage is vital in ensuring strong leadership and good governance and management board. NCVO (2010, p.9) state that board members need to understand their role to ensure good governance. This may include both legal (mandate) and values that ensure reputation of the organization they are serving. The first meeting of the board was on the 21st February 2013.This particular meeting was chaired by miss P. Due to the fact that this was the first committee meeting, it experienced some challenges which included lack of any previous meeting minutes and agenda for the meeting. According to me this can only be attributed to the fact that the board was on its forming stage. It is important to note that I personally felt the chair did a good job under these conditions. But I also want to point out that I felt that the chair was not able to handle the issue of anti-social behaviour exhaustively. As a result it spilt over to the next meeting as an issue. Resource Centre (2007, p.2) mention the importance of having a clear agenda before a meeting the lack of it in this meeting might explain this failure. Storming The storming stage is when the team is making a transition to what it is expected to be (Pierce 2002, 23). The team moves from what it is at the moment to what it should be. This stage is often characterised by conflict as members try to reconcile differing interests to common team interest. A sign of good governance and management of boards as mentioned by NCVO (2010, p. 16) is for members to be able to work effectively as individuals and as a team. The next meeting was on the 8th March I felt this particular meeting was tense, due to two main reasons. First, is that the chair was shown disrespect by some members despite being the chair of the meeting. The second is the fact that the issue of antisocial behaviour was not dealt with properly in the previous meeting. This to me gave a clear sign of what stage the board was, that of storming. The board members were at a stage of trying to harmonise and come to terms with the board’s common and general goals. Despite chairing a committee at a point I personally consider as being very challenging, the chair of this particular meeting did a very good job in trying to contain the situation. The chair was also handling a meeting that many members were missing and this in a way affected the discussion of the day. I must say that the chair was able to do well amongst multiple challenges. The chair however according to me had difficulties handling some members. A case in point is who seemed to dominate the meeting. Though a bit shy kept raising his hand up but was not being given a fair chance to contribute. One of the best practices in meetings is for members to raise their hand and then the chair gives them authority to speak (Resource Centre 2007,p.3). Norming The norming stage is when the team reaches a consensus of what it should be (Pierce 2002, 23). The conflicts that may have arisen during the storming stage have been resolved and team members are reading from the same script. I realised the different chairs were able to steer meetings more effectively as time progressed. The board had good chairs and it performed its role well since everyone present in the board meeting was active, participating and contributed to the task at hand. Only one or two members were unable to contribute in the board meeting. I observed that the chair of the meeting on 15th March was very good in chairing despite the difficulties he faced. This is particularly so because Sola as the chair ensured that everyone was engaged and was given an opportunity to present their points to the rest of the team. Engaging everyone is important to have effective meetings (Resource Centre 2007, p.3). It was contrary to the previous meeting on 8th March. The guidelines of effectively chairing meetings by Black (2008, p.4) require that the chair should have an understanding of the issues and topics to be discussed and keenly listen to the discussions and should be able to prevent the discussion from wandering, this happened. The chair however achieved the task of encouraging all members to take equal responsibility for the meeting proceeding smoothly. During the meeting the chair ensured that discussions were restricted to the agenda. This is an important lesson since it makes it possible for meetings to achieve their purpose of convening. If discussions are allowed to wander, meetings tend to go beyond time and not much is accomplished Performing The performing stage is when the team has settled its relationships and expectations (Pierce 2002, 23). This allows for progressive work to be accomplished. The meetings on 8th and 15th March chaired by Sola and Velma respectively clearly give an indication of a team in the perfoming stage. The chairs hard learnt from the failure of the previous chairs and were able to steer the meetings more efficiently. Ensure that meeting discussions remain confined to the agenda as well as according every member time to air the views. The committee members also facilitated the success of the meeting by ensuring that they effectively played their roles. Approach to key issues The effectiveness of our board was judged according to the Good Governance Code for the Voluntary and Community Sector (NCVO, 2010). We understood the first principle since we understood our roles shown by the fact that most members were active in discussing the issues and they had a good understanding of their legal duties and the stewardship of the assets. It was an effective board since it provided good governance and leadership by ensuring delivery of organisational purpose by monitoring progress and long term planning. The board in its proceedings upheld the reputation and values of the organization NCVO (2010, p.12) notes the importance of this in good governance and management of board. The committee also laid down proper procedures and policies to facilitate its work. The meetings were chaired by a chair, the minutes were taken and the agenda was prepared before every meeting. The board was able to work effectively as a team as well as through its individual members. By allowing discussions sometimes to wander out of topic and become emotional, the board at times was not able to keep the discussions relevant and valid. Despite this the board was also able to review and amend the plan as appropriate by making changes to the meeting depending on the situation at hand. This is important in good governance and board management since members need to respond to particular circumstances of the organization which NCVO (2010) talk about (NCVO 2010, p. 5). The board was also able to effectively deal with the absence of some of its members during meetings. It was also able to evaluate results and assessed outcomes of the organisation. We came up with the key recommendations on points 9 and 10(the promising prospects for improvement and barriers for improvement). The board had a range of appropriate policies and procedures, knowledge and attitudes and behaviours that enabled individuals and board to work effectively. To provide strong leadership good governance and board management NCVO (2010, p. 16) necessitates the board to lay down procedures and policies for operation as the board did. An example of such policy is getting and maintaining a more accurate resident profile. The action was to gather profile information from existing tenants and then review profile information from them. This was done for 1 month and then reviewed after a year. The review was done by housing officers and administration team. The success rate measure was 90% of existing tenants on profile and 99%of existing tenants on profile after review. We came up with decisions at each board meeting and the board had a good knowledge of the topics and task at hand. The board was also able to provide good leadership and governance by exercising effective control. The ability of the board to be open and accountable to the tenants and lease holders was a success of its undertaking. It was able to open up communications, by making sure that everyone in the organization had a full knowledge of their purpose. Opening communication and informing people about its works NCVO (2010, p.22) which the board did is important to ensure good governance. The board was also able to consider the organisation’s responsibilities to the wider community. It was able to listen and respond to the views of the customers. The board achieved this by realising that the customers were not satisfied and therefore suggesting that customer profiling should be used to better capture the customers’ needs and wants. The board was also able to come up with more effective payments methods through debit cards and making orders through the phone. Members were assigned specific tasks and this worked out well since a lot was able to be accomplished in short time. The board was able to come up with a good decision on the point of antisocial behaviour. Although the board sometimes deviated from the agenda a good decision was made and everyone in the board was able to participate in decision making with the exception of only a few members who were silent. It is important to note that every member should be engaged fully in every discussion. This is because some members may leave not having accepted the decision reached yet they were not given a chance to air their view (Resource Centre 2007, p.4). Silent members can be asked directly to give their opinion on the discussion. Our Agenda was always simple and we were able to stick to our agenda in every meeting making decisions according to the agenda stated. This enabled us stick to the issues which is essential in ensuring quick resolution of issues under discussion. Often the discussions started on a low note but ended up picking pace because of our arrangement of the agenda. Leading to a lively discussion whereby everyone contributed and all topics were addressed. On the issue of leasehold according to the Hackney homes senior management team (Hackney Homes, 2009), it was found that leaseholders had more difficulty than tenants in that the leaseholders paid for repairs of their own homes. For services provided for example, communal repairs; gardening. They also have to pay part of the cost of capital works and improvements. The lease holders also seem to be only concerned with what they pay for services and have a keen sense of value for money. They also were more critical of bad services and bad quality of work. Although the tenants also pay for many works and service charges, they do so as tenants and some charges are hidden in their rent. For the leaseholders if the charges are exorbitant they can take the landlord to the leasehold valuation tribunal. We agreed that although we were saving money customers are not satisfied with services we were providing, we also came up with a solution on how to be able to address this issue through customer profiling. Another issue that we tackled was to take a look at where we are spending our money and deciding whether we are spending in the right manner and if we can save some more. Exercising financial control is sign of good governance and strong leadership (NCVO 2010, p.14). On point ten, we discussed the fact that customers were given one estimate price and then later charged more; the solution was that discussion needs to be made with the manager of contractors about solving this problem. It was also found that leaseholders pay more money than expected and that direct debit was only paid once a month which was not fair to the customers who could not meet this deadline. A verdict was therefore reached that customers should be allowed to pay online and by telephone and that all payment forms that the organisation designs should not charge the customers any money. We also came up with a decision that we needed to read points number nine and ten and come with solutions after the Easter holiday. The idea about reading point 9 and 10 before the meeting was a good idea since it allows a more in depth discussion by members and quick resolution of issues. This reflects good practise by boards’ governance since all members are aware of matters under discussion. Opportunities and challenges This exercise has taught me that there are very many challenges facing the board and it is not as easy as it seems, and that although the roles of the different board members are stated clearly there might be instances during the board meeting that a member will have to step in for his colleague and perform their duties. It was definitely a challenge especially when members didn’t have full knowledge of the responsibilities bestowed on them. The opportunities are immense in the boards during voluntary, board members are able to discuss at length issues facing them and are able to delegate and perform their functions in the right manner without many unwarranted restrictions. The role of the management board is vital within the community. It plays a key role ensuring that things are done since they are often not involved in day to day running of organizations. It is my opinion that there is great opportunity in volunteering. Since being part of volunteering gives one an opportunity to offer service to the general public. Volunteering also gives one an opportunity to network. Though there is also the challenge in volunteering especially that of commitment, since members are not answerable to anyone and most often are not remunerated it makes it difficult for full commitment. My feeling is that the board did a very good job. This is in relation to the fact that the board ensured that everyone was engaged in the decision making process. Items set in the agenda were discussed and the board was able to handle any absence from any of its members. Decisions and follow up regarding key issues was reached especially in handling issues of points 9 and 10 such coming up with a more accurate resident profile which was done. Being involved in the governance of an organization bring with it wealth of lessons. My experience in the board includes receiving practical skills in running of meetings. Another lesson includes ensuring that the activities of meetings are carried out within the scheduled time. Making sure everyone in a meeting is involved but ensuring that the discussion is within the agenda of the meeting. Working with people from diverse background and beliefs is also an important lesson. Reference List Black, L. (2008). Guidelines in Chairing Committees, London. Director of Registry. Hackney Homes (2009). Leasehold summary for Hackney Homes Senior Management team. London. Hackney Homes Mullins, L. J. (2005). Management and Organizational Behaviour. New York: Prentice Hall/ Financial Times.was this mentioned in the text NCVO (2010). Good Governance a code for the community and voluntary sector. London. NCVO . Pierce, J. W. (2002). Managing Organisational change.Management and Organisational was this mentioned in the text- make sure that anything here is mentioned in the text and vice versa Behavior . Cincinnati: South Western College Publishing. Resource Centre (2007). Chairing a meeting. London. Resource Centre Read More