Four Key Processes

In associations, most important decisions are made by a process, rather than by a person or position.

Four key processes  are the primary  vehicles through which  member leadership articulates it’s judgement about what the organization should seek to accomplish; what positions it will take on issues of importance to its members ; what rules will govern how it operates; and how its resources will be distributed.

These key processes include:

1. the process for research and the development of information that will inform governance decision making;
2. the process for strategy that determines the outcomes to be achieved, the paths  to be taken, and the metrics that will be used to monitor success so that strategy can be adjusted when necessary;
3. the policy process which is how governance declares it’s positions on issues of importance to the members and establishes guidelines and parameters within which the work of the organization must occur;
4. the process for allocation of resources which distributes the tangible and intangible assets of the organization in a fashion designed to effectively accomplish its mission goals and objectives.

There are other processes of importance in an association, but these four are key because they are the decision and work systems through which governance accomplishes its responsibilities.

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