Roles in the Museum
Management Committee
Composition, Role, Functions, Expectations and duties and responsibilities.
Composition:
The Management Committee consists of The President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and between two and four other elected members.
Role of Management Committee (“Board”):
The Board has the compliance and performance roles in the Museum.
The Board will meet its compliance requirements by monitoring and supervising management and providing accountability to stakeholders. Stakeholders are defined as Museum Members, Staff, Government, Donors, Sponsors, Partners, Visitors, the General Public and the like. The Board will meet its performance requirements by formulating strategy and policy for the Museum.
Functions of Board:
Develop a team with the right mix of skills, experience and personalities to act effectively.
Taking steps to protect the Museum’s financial position and its ability to meet its debts and other obligations as they fall due.
Adopting a strategic plan for the Museum, including general and specific goals and comparing actual results with the plan.
Adopting an annual budget for the financial performance of the Museum and monitoring results on a regular basis.
Adopting clearly defined delegations of authority from the Board to management sub-committees where terms are reserved for the Board.
Agreeing performance indicators with management sub-committees.
Determining that the Museum has instituted adequate reporting systems and internal controls (both operational and financial) together with appropriate monitoring of compliance activities.
Establishing and monitoring policies directed to ensuring that the Museum complies with the law and conforms to the highest standard of financial and ethical behaviour.
Determining that the Museum accounts are in conformity with Australian Standards and are true and fair.
Determining that satisfactory arrangements are in place for auditing the Museum’s financial affairs and the scope of the external audit is adequate.
Selecting and recommending auditors to museum members
Selecting and if necessary replacing paid staff, setting adequate remuneration packages, ensuring adequate succession and giving guidance on the appointment of sub committee chairpersons and volunteer work group leaders.
Ensuring that the Museum has in place a policy that enables it to communicate effectively with its stakeholders and the public generally
Adopting a structured and formal induction processes for the encouragement for new Board members.
Reviewing the Board own processes and effectiveness, and the balance of competence on the Board.
Expectations of individual Board Members
To be informed
To ask questions
To read about board papers in advance
To attend board meetings
To be fully ready for the issues under debate
To participate in discussion
To act at all times in the best interest of the Museum and its members
To accept responsibility when board decisions are made by the majority
Duties and responsibilities of the Board as a group
- Duty of care and diligence? If we can answer positively to the following questions – we are diligent.
Are all Board papers supplied in advance?
Do Board members read their papers in advance?
Do we receive regular and clear financial reports?
Do we have full and frank debate?
Have we defined policies in relation to areas of greatest risk of significance for the organisation, including conflict of interest?
Do we check on implementation of Board decisions?
Do we have a thorough Board induction process?
Do we have a duty statement for Board members?
Do we have a Code of Conduct for Board members?
Do we have relevant managers/chairpersons attend Board discussion relating to their area of responsibility?
Duty of good faith and proper purpose. Board members must be honest and loyal in their dealings with each other and the organisation. Their duty is to the organisation as a whole not specific interest groups. ‘As a whole’ means all members and creditors.
Duty of confidentiality. Information obtained at Board level must remain confidential and must not be used for any purpose other than for business of the Museum.
Duty to avoid conflicts of interest. Benefits from material personal interest must be avoided. This is quite broad to include friends, relatives and business associates. Members should declare any conflict of interest.
Duty to meet all provisions of associations or corporations law. Rather than expect individual Board members to be aware of every specific law, the Board can put in place systems to monitor compliance.
The Board cannot delegate away the ultimate responsibility for ensuring the organisation is run smoothly.
Operations Team
Summary of Composition, Role, Functions and Meetings
Composition:
The core operations team will consist of the following (“operations team”)
Executive representative (generally the President)
Finance (generally the Treasurer as representative)
Exhibition (generally the Exhibition Officer as representative)
Public relations (generally the Chairperson as representative)
Collections (generally the Chairperson as representative)
Operations Manager
Role of Operations Team :
The operations team is to manage the day to day activities of the Museum taking responsibility for their areas of operation, as well as implementing policies and strategies authorized by the Board. Decisions must be ratified by the Board. These committees may or may not have delegated powers from the Board.
Functions:
To encourage smooth functioning of the operations team it is suggested they:
Meet together to manage the affairs of the Museum for no longer than one hour every week on each Tuesday morning at approximately 9am. Note that on the Tuesday there is a General Meeting no operations team meeting will be held.
The Operations Team members will “manage by exception”. This means that if the tasks that they are responsible for are on schedule, in budget and performing as expected minimum reporting is required. Only discussion should be about tasks that need input from other operations team members.
Members of the Operations Team who are performing tasks will be asked to provided an estimatedtime line for each task or project.
In the event that a member of the Operations team consistently fails to perform it is likely that the Board willreplace that person.
The Operations Team has authority to act fornormal operatingactivities set within the museum budget and monitored by the Treasurer for operational and capital spending. If there is any doubt it must be ratified by the Treasurer. The budget must also be ratified by the Board initially.
Museum expenses that are not budgeted for and are of a capital nature or are operationalnon routine expenses and are not included in the budget will need to be discussed initially by the operations team and then approved by the Board before any commitment is undertaken.
Operations team members are encouraged tocommunicate and use each others skills for the benefit of the Museum.
Operations team members should create a system of checks and balances tomonitor Committee member’s work and assure that tasks are completed on schedule.
Operations team members shouldallocate tasks to members with reasonable background, expertise and schedule to enable successful outcomes.
Finance, Public Relations and Collections committees are to have representation on the Board preferably their Chairperson.
Operations team members should submit reports and proposals to Board members through anagenda that is prepared at least seven (7) days before the monthly Board meeting. Agenda prepared by Administration Assistants.
Operations team leaders (with the exception of the Operations Manager) shouldmentor a successor so that in the event of holidays, ill health etc there is continuity of operations. Mentoring means selecting a person who is capable of fulfilling the particular role.
Operations Meetings
Possible Participants –
Core members (refer composition above)
Special interest group representative as required
Volunteer member with proposal
Objectives
To conduct day to day business of the museum and take responsibility of this activity away from the Board.
To implement board ratified policy
To produce policy for the board
To ensure budgets are adhered to.
Meeting times
No longer than one hour every week on each Tuesday morning at approximately 9am. Note that on the Tuesday there is a General Meeting no operations team meeting will be held.
The operations team is to keep the Board informed by a short report on progress of each matter – that can be read by Board members prior to the Board meetings and if any matters arise then that matter will be discussed at the Board Meeting. If there are no issues the matter will not be discussed at Board level.
Special interest groups would generally have a board or operations team member on them.
WORK GROUPS
SUMMARY OF PURPOSE, COMPOSITION, ROLES AND FUNCTIONS
PURPOSE:
The purpose of establishing work groups is to classify and simplify the various activities occurring within the Museum. As the Museum grows, volunteer members will better understand how they can contribute within established work groups. The establishment of work groups means volunteer members will know what their role is when they decide to contribute their time to the Museum. They will also know how to communicate with the Board. (See channels of communication)
COMPOSITION:
Work groups are structured but relatively non-formal groups of museum volunteers who have similar interests or skills and are helping the Museum achieve its goals. (Non-formal means they do not need to keep records of their meetings)
It is recommended but not necessary for work groups to select or elect a group leader. Having a group leader will allow the work group to present one voice to management.
Work groups have a very valuable and important role in the Museum, they are the Museum workers.
ROLE:
To enable volunteer members of the Museum to utilise their experience, skills and knowledge to contribute to the professional development of the Museum.
To encourage and foster friendships within the Museum.
FUNCTIONS:
To organise their work group to initiate, plan, implement and complete tasks approved by the operations team.
To operate within a budget
To induct and welcome new volunteers into their work group
To seek guidance from the operations manager if the group needs inspiration for work in the Museum.
To communicate with their Board representative if there are any issues that they wish to be considered by the Board.
To approach requests of management in a business like manner with due consideration for the resources of the Museum.
To advise the operations manager if there is need for training of their work group.
Channels of communication within the Museum:
To ensure that work groups voices are heard, a work group has four alternative channels to present their ideas to management.
Through their Board representative. This Board person represents all work groups and is a direct voice on the Board.
Through the Operations Manager. This person is responsible for organising work and training for work groups but does not have a vote on the Board.
At a general meeting of the Museum in general business.
Report through their Operations Team representative.