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T29 Group Governance Self-Assessment
t29 group governance SCORE CARD
T29 activity
T29 facilitation notes
T29: Group Governance Self-Assessment
This tool can be used to assess the extent to which community (or other) groups and organisations’ decision making and management practices align with good governance principles.
| Tool purpose: | Time needed: |
| • Support the identification and analysis of who makes decisions and how. • To identify and promote understanding of the principles of good governance • To assess the extent to which existing group decision making and management practices meet good governance principles • Help identify and/or negotiate group governance improvement measures as needed and aide in strengthening the adaptive capacity of community groups • To improve organisational/group practices to be inclusive from the perspective of different groups of people, and help promote more equitable participation in decision making and benefit sharing amongst community group members, especially of vulnerable groups, | 2 hours |
| Materials needed: | |
| Chart paper, coloured sticker dots and/or coloured markers, coloured index cards or sticky notes, large circular cut-out of different colours and sizes. |
Keyword Search Tags
Project Phase:
Initiation Phase, Planning Phase
Approaches for Working With Communities: Community Development Approach,
Specific Topics:
Group Formation/Strengthening
| Table T29: Example Community Group Governance Assessment Score Card | 1 | 0 | -1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participation and Non-discrimination | |||
| The group’s governing body (e.g., executive committee, council, board) is representative of all group members and is not dominated by any individual/s or sub-group/s or does not discriminate against people who are excluded/marginalized groups and vulnerable. | |||
| At least 30% of office bearers (e.g., chair, secretary, treasurer) are women | |||
| Other members of the community that are marginalized, excluded or who are vulnerable in that community have a seat in the governing body | |||
| There is regular dialogue with, and active involvement of, all members in the community group’s discussions and activities | |||
| Equity (Fairness) | |||
| Respect and attention are given to all group members’ views and all views weight equal weight unless provided in the Group’s governance constitution | |||
| There is no personal bias in decisions made by the community group | |||
| Consideration is given to the distribution of costs and benefits (of decisions and actions) between group members | |||
| Transparency | |||
| All group members are aware of the community group’s rules and regulations and division of roles among members and governing bodies, and among governing body members | |||
| All group members are aware of how and why decisions are made by the group governance body | |||
| There is clear communication with all group members, including on all financial transactions and decision-made including record keeping | |||
| Accountability and Integrity | |||
| There is a clear system for the allocation and acceptance of responsibility amongst group members | |||
| There is a process of planning, monitoring and reporting to ensure that agreed actions are effectively implemented and reported | |||
| There is mechanism or process in place for resolving conflicts or grievances which is accessible by all group members | |||
| The group has audit group or gets to be audited to ensure financial accountability and financial health |
| Group Governance Self-assessment | |
|---|---|
| Step 1 | The first stage in the group governance assessment is ‘setting the scene’ by sharing experiences and perspectives of good governance. To ‘set the scene’ invite community group members to recount an event or change in their community that was because of (or was followed by) decisions made by one or more local groups/organisations. The local group/organization used as an example could be community group itself, or another local group or organisation such as a community council, school board, or church. It is advisable to carry out this exercise by breaking the community into smaller groups of 2-3 and present back (as a story or role play, if appropriate), or alternatively you can conduct this as a group discussion. Questions to guide the discussion can include the following: • How, where, when, and by whom were decisions made? • How were they communicated to others? • What possibilities were there to debate decisions? • Was there consensus around the decisions made? How and among whom was the consensus achieved? • Who had most influence over decision making processes? Why? • Who had the least influence over decision making processes? Why? • What was good about the decision-making process? • How could decision making have been improved? Through this discussion, elicit participants’ perspectives on what constitutes good governance. Then principles of good governance, against which the organisation/group will be assessed, can then be presented, and discussed. Although values are strongly influenced by the local cultural context, there are some universal norms that apply across cultural boundaries. Some principles of good governance include: • Participation and Non-Discrimination - All stakeholders participate in decision making that affects their lives, including representatives of people from marginalised and disempowered groups. Decisions rendered does not negatively impact in discriminating against women and other vulnerable groups. • Equity - Costs and benefits are shared fairly and impartial judgement is available in case of conflict. • Accountability - Lines of responsibility are clear and those in positions of responsibility are answerable to all stakeholders. • Transparency - All relevant information and records are available, in an appropriate form, to all stakeholders. |
| Step 2 | Prepare an assessment score card table (refer to example in Table T29) to enable the group to score itself against good governance principles using the key indicators identified. Then identify a scoring system. An example scoring system that has proven useful is using a scale of -1, 0, +1, with good = +1, moderate = 0, and poor = -1. The process of discussing good governance practices is more important than reaching a consensus in one session. If there are differences of opinion these should be noted, and the discussion moved on. |
| Step 3 | Encourage individual participants to prepare their own scoring followed by a group analysis and discussion of the patterns that emerge. In this case, it may be appropriate to make the statements as shown in the table (Figure T29) more personal e.g. I feel that respect and attention is given to my views, or I am aware of the organisation’s rules and regulations. |
| Step 4 | Discuss and analyse the results as a group, focusing on why and how the score was allocated to each principle. Any differences of opinion should be discussed. Revisit the table either during or following the discussion to adjust the scores as needed. |
| Step 5 | If time permits and if appropriate, participants can discuss the scores they would like to see in the future and begin to explore the steps needed to improve the group’s governance practices. Consider adding a column to include any actions or steps identified as needed to improve scores or keep track of the key discussion points. |
| Step 6 | If the Table was drawn on a chart on the ground, document it by either transferring it to a piece of paper or take a photo. A copy should be left with the community. Record the community’s analysis and responses in your project action tracker and follow up with the community later if/when you start action planning together. |
Facilitation Notes
- The focus of this exercise is about who makes decisions and how those decisions are made within community groups (i.e., governance) rather than the technical or financial capacity of local groups and organisations.
- Consideration should be given to whether the exercise is to be carried out with group members or wider ‘community’ who may not be members, but who may support the community group in other ways, including stakeholders who may affect or be affected by the group’s actions. This similar exercise can also be carried out amongst elected governing body members.
- The emphasis here is on the principles of good governance, some of which may threaten existing power imbalances in decision making, the facilitators must be aware of how the different principles promote good governance and be able to explain this with examples, as well as awareness on how power imbalances can lead to organisations being destabilized.
- The facilitator must also be aware of the group composition, in terms of gender, power, social relationships with the community and how political or social relationships might inhibit group discussion, and the fact that stakeholders may be unwilling to share their true thoughts, this can be addressed through having different group meetings.
- This can also be used when an elected governing body is facing governance issues and need to have a facilitated dialogue to ensure governing bodies solve issues using self-assessment tool.
- Local participants should be encouraged to build as much of the diagram as possible without interruption and to suggest anything else that should be recorded.
Tool adapted from [87]