Building a supportive infrastructure

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Abstract

An organization's infrastructure should simplify communication and support teamwork. Organizations with a weak infrastructure can appear unorganized and ineffective to potential volunteers, funders, and staff members. Rural Action, a nonprofit organization in Ohio, has used a company intranet and a system of meetings to support its staff and reduce miscommunication within the organization. This effective practice was shared during a workshop on "Growing and Nurturing Your Volunteers" at the 2001 National Conference on Community Volunteering and National Service in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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Issue

Employees and volunteers who do not feel connected to the organization or feel they do not know what is happening within an organization can be less productive and less committed to their work. A supportive infrastructure that keeps everyone in the organization's loop can reduce miscommunication and anxiety among staff and volunteers.

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Action

Rural Action in Athens, Ohio, has implemented the following actions to build its infrastructure:

Intranet: An intranet is similar to the Internet except it is viewed only in-house and is not available to the public. Rural Action's intranet includes policies, procedures, (e.g. human resource policies and procedures, procedures on scheduling the van, how to file an incident report, use of the library, the process for getting approval to submit a grants proposal, etc.) meeting dates, proposed agendas for those meetings, the internal organizational calendar, plus events they are co-sponsoring. They are currently putting up everyone's vacation days, travel days, and anything that will help people to do more synchronized planning. Right now they are putting up a grants grid that will show the status of grant proposals in all departments. There are also chat rooms for issues under discussion such as staff retreats, inspirations, etc.

E-mail discussion lists: These are electronic discussion groups, usually with a group of users interested in a particular topic.  Each Monday by noon everyone puts up their weekly schedule on one of three lists (RA Vista, RA Staff and RA Board). At the end of the month, everyone's monthly report is distributed on the llists for everyone to read. A weekly memo also is posted via e-mail lists where people can publicize announcements or requests for assistance plus other reminders such as birthdays, someone's loved one who is ill, etc.

Meetings: They have monthly team meetings (e.g. agriculture, forestry, community development, arts and cultural heritage etc.) that include paid staff and AmeriCorps*VISTA members, and university interns. During a monthly program interface meeting all paid directors and program coordinators meet for three hours to make sure programs are interfaced and well understood by one another. This is essential because members are spread over several counties and have widely divergent programs. Usually these meetings focus on one topic but each time may devote special time to fundraising and to AmeriCorps*VISTA management issues (recruiting, evaluating, and so forth). The management team is comprised of the six directors and they meet every two months just before the board meeting so that items that must be approved by the board have had a thorough airing at both the program interface and management teams.

They also have a full day staff meeting once a month where the whole staff gets together. The morning is devoted to hearing a focused report on one program area that lasts about one hour. The second hour there are more abbreviated reports from other teams. Everyone brings a potluck dish for lunch, and in the afternoon there is a training. They also usually offer one additional AmeriCorps*VISTA training per month. AmeriCorps*VISTA members are given three additional days of in-house training following their pre-service orientation and must attend the monthly staff meeting trainings and other trainings offered.

Time file: Staff files everything that goes out each day, including newspaper articles, bulletins, speaking engagements, etc. The information is arranged chronologically and provides a history of the organization. This helps to tell funders about the organization's history and to share accomplishments.

Evenings of inspiration: Informal gatherings of colleagues in the evenings in private homes. Each person is asked to bring along a song, poem, reading or something else that inspires him/her to keep on with their work.

Retreats: They are attempting four retreats in the year 2001 for board/staff interface.

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Context

Rural Action's mission is to promote economic, social, and environmental justice in Appalachian Ohio. Rural Action has projects in 14 counties and makes an impact on most of the 29 counties of Ohio Appalachia.

The organization has a contract for 42 VISTA members and 20 summer associates. Rural Action employs 23 paid staff and a few independent contractors in five offices.

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Outcome

Staff and volunteers feel more connected and better understand an organization when there is an infrastructure in place to keep them informed. People are able to spend more time working together and less time clearing up misunderstandings and miscommunications.

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Posted On

September 13, 2001

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For More Information

Carol Kuhre
Rural Action
Executive Director
Phone: (740) 767-4938
Fax: (740) 767-4957

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