Re: Re: Operations Manual

[gary white <in2iris@yahoo.com>]

This is very well stated, and I thank Anner for writing it.
 
Several good points are outstanding in these comments.
One of these is that it would be beneficial to have all of us who hold
positions in AIS review each other's job descriptions.  There may well be
useful suggestions from the group to improve or include points in another's
job description.  We may also find that there may be things that have fallen
through the cracks and need to be addressed, perhaps by adding an item to a
particular job description, turning a committee of one into a true committee
(such as happened with the Exhibitions committee), or even creating a new
position to deal with it.
 
As Anner pointed out, the Operations Manual is not, should not be, a static
document, but ever changing to meet the goals and mission of the AIS.  And,
without updating, new position holders may not have all the necessary
information about their position to do it as effectively as they
otherwise might.
 
I also see no reason why the Operations Manual cannot be on both the Wiki and
the AIS website.  Of course, it should be on the AIS website, but having it on
the Wiki as well may be  quite useful, not only for easy access, but also part
of an open and transparent posture.  I see the wiki as a reference, for
irises, hybridizers and their introductions, gardens (ie the new National
Collections initiative), shows, awards, history, and the AIS itself, etc. 
And, as such, it seems appropriate that other AIS members and the public be
able to read about the various positions and what they involve.  There is
nothing secret here, nor is there any danger that things will be changed
forever and lost without our knowledge.  It would be highly unusual for anyone
other than the position holder to make changes, but even if they were made,
could very easily be reversed.
 
Gary White
 
 


--- On Tue, 3/12/13, John Jones <jijones@usjoneses.com> wrote:


From: John Jones <jijones@usjoneses.com>
Subject: [AISdiscuss] Re: Operations Manual
To: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2013, 10:48 PM


Anner White head sends:

Friends, I want to speak, please, to this matter of the Operations Manual. I
consider this issue critically important.

I believe I have standing to offer useful comments because I have actually
contributed to the AIS Operations Manual. I think I was the first author of
the section on the workings and policies of the Membership Office, now much
revised, as well it should be. I also speak from experience as a new AIS
worker who had urgent and desperate need of such a Manual at a time when one
did not exist.

I understand an Operations Manual to be the means by which the Society
promotes efficiency, improves communication, and insures against crisis in the
event of catastrophe, incompetence, or sudden change.

I further understand it to be the means by which each department learns the
importance of each other, and comes to understand how all the pieces of the
organization are related, and must support each other. Because all will read
the record of the practical workings of the Society, so all will better be
able to make enlightened decisions impacting their offices, and the
organization.

Properly, an Operations Manual is a how-to book, not a mission statement, nor
a catalog of the romantic desiderata of an ideal society, nor a philosophical
treatise on power and responsibility. The Bylaws exist to define legally areas
of responsibility and the limits of power. Their purpose is to safeguard the
rights of the entire membership, not protect the privileges of the Board. They
are not intended to provide specifics on quotidian operational practicalities,
and an Operations Manual is not supposed to have the same legal force or
purpose as they. Such a Manual will necessarily involve reference to policy,
but it cannot also serve as a manual of all policy.

Obviously you need such a Manual so that if someone drops dead in their tracks
or looses their mind another can step into their shoes without undue stress
and confusion and carry on, but there is another reason other than harkening
to the call of duty--- who so often, as Ogden Nash correctly lamented, "hath
not the visage of a sweetie or a cutie"--- to embrace this chore.

Writing your part of the Manual can be a very positive experience. I was
cutting back the liriope in the front yard the other day when it was sunny,
and a passerby said something simpleminded to me about how yardwork is a such
a total drag. I responded that it needed to be done, and if you did not enjoy
it, the process was yardwork, but if you did, it was gardening. I invite you
to consider doing your bit for the Manual not only a privilege, but also a
pleasure.

You will find documenting your office and its contribution to be a valuable
exercise. In writing up your job, you will think hard about it, and will come
to understand it better, and have insights which will enable you to do it more
efficiently. You will understand more clearly how it relates to all the other
AIS jobs, and you will appreciate exactly why what you do is important. You
will find you are very proud to do your best. This I promise you, and I know
first hand exactly what I am talking about.

I suggest that compiling and maintaining a viable Operations Manual is best
understood as an ongoing process, not a goal. AIS cannot make an Operations
Manual for the ages. It must evolve and change with the AIS. At any given time
it must be clear, precise, complete, and authoritative, and the content
unambiguous and oriented toward practicalities and efficiency. Every job
description in it should contain the requirement to keep that office's portion
of the Manual current and correct. The established process by which
departments can independently revise or update their contribution should be
deliberately kept simple and transparent.

You will need an appointee to manage the Manual, now and forever, to receive
updates, keep the lines of communication open when change occurs, initiate
discussion when that seems to be called for, bring problems to the attention
of the Board, and keep all the little bits and pieces in good order and the
whole presentable. No, I am not volunteering. I have other work to do for AIS
which is also important. 

I expect that you will find that when everyone knows what everyone else is
supposed to be doing, energies will be appropriately directed and more of the
right sorts of things will be accomplished in a timely manner, leaving more
time for fun and promoting the AIS mission.

I have no idea what condition the extant Operations Manual is in now, but from
what I am hearing, and have been hearing for years, it sounds like you should
archive the current fragmentary document, and simply start over. You appear to
be fatally bogged down.

I encourage you to establish realistic and concrete new guidelines, inform all
parties that timely cooperation is mandatory, that their job depends on their
understanding that fact, and set a firm new deadline. Declare an amnesty for
past non-cooperation, announce the golden opportunity to do the right thing
for AIS, and move cheerfully forward.

You need to set up a private dedicated email group like this one, make it so
it accepts attachments and simply have folks publish their Manual
contributions to the whole for comment, or direct their questions to other
departments about matters of mutual interest or responsibility. If anyone now
serving deems the material in the files for their department to be current and
beyond improvement, they can resubmit it.

When you get everything sorted out, then you can tart the document up for
pretty, and put the Manual on the AIS webpage, if you wish.

I encourage you to promise yourselves that the AIS Operations Manual is going
to be finished by the 2013 Fall Board Meeting, and to keep your promise to
yourself, and to AIS.

I have every faith you can do this, and do it well. 

Cordially,

Anner M. Whitehead
"When you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps almost
impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day a little, suddenly
the work will finish itself." Karen Blixen, (1885-1962), coffee farmer and
author.   

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