Some of my work in the last few years has been to help volunteer boards work intentionally and effectively towards goals. If any of you have been a board member, you will be familiar with some of the difficulties: members come to meetings, get excited about ideas, but then get caught up in their worlds of work and forget about them. I have long thought that learnings gained from developing a highly functional group of volunteers could transform management and leadership practices. In the workplace, we can largely rely on the power of a monthly salary to motivate and direct people - but that does not mean that they come to work excited, using their best talents, and working purposefully towards organizational goals.

So what are some of the ways to get people more fully involved? Where do we begin? From my experience, I believe that we have to intervene at several levels simultaneously. This means working at the system, the group, and the individual level to make sure that all support and contribute to the involvement and motivation of individuals. Here are three things I have learned.

Build Relationships
I once worked with a board who, despite strong belief in the mission of the organization, seemed unable to get done the things they agreed upon. The newly-elected chairperson was action-oriented and had a clear vision of how the board needed to operate to turn itself around and achieve the organization's goals. He set a structure for the board and found people to hold key positions, but after a year, only a few people were carrying the load of the work; things were still not getting done; and frustration was high. Obviously, clear goals, roles, and procedures were not enough. We had to set the task aside temporarily and focus on building relationships and a common vision within the group. Afterwards, we continued to make space at each meeting for group building activities. Over time the board transformed into a group who engaged one another in energetic dialogue about organizational direction and strategy and whose workload was broadly shared.

We humans are sociable animals. We have a natural tendency to join groups. Once we bond with a group, we become invested in its well being and in its continued existence and success. A healthy organization channels this natural human inclination by fostering good relationships.

Trust grows from good relationships and has a powerful effect on the health of an organization. Once trust is developed people more easily say what they think, take risks, admit mistakes, and differ with one another. What is the difference in what is said in your work group when the boss is in or out of the room? How much do people say what they really think in small clutches after a meeting? When trust is low the organization engages only a fraction of an individual's talent and commitment and collects only partial or even poor information to underpin its decisions.

So how do you get good relationships in your organization? First, make sure you believe in their value. Know why and how they contribute to the bottom line. Know how they add to the quality of your products or services. Articulate these values to new and old employees so that everyone knows the seriousness of your intentions. Secondly, pay attention to them - all the time. Task demands have a way of overriding relationship demands, so we need to continually prompt ourselves to keep them on our radar screens. Allocate time and resources to good relationships. Create formal and informal structures that incorporate them into the work routine. Model behaviors that encourage them. Third, get help when you need it. Maintaining good relationships requires skill and occasionally calls for restorative measures. Outside people can help you gain perspective, resolve difficult conflict, and build your group.

Clarify the Relationship between Goals and Roles
I recently served on a board in a role in which I was unsure of what I was supposed to do and why. My responsibilities were described in vague terms in the by-laws, and so I largely defined the role for myself and took the opportunity to do a project that I was interested in. After a time however, I began to feel dissatisfied because my work had no real connection to any organizational purpose. In the second year I decided to engage in activities that were more in line with organizational goals, but found that each one I explored was already being done by others. Needless to say, I began to question the value of my contribution and my continued membership.

When the board started succession planning, it turned out that there were a number of roles like mine. People wanted to join the board, but they did not want to do any of the jobs on offer. It also emerged that there were a number of stakeholder demands that were not being addressed by any role. The world had changed since we last organized, and the whole structure needed to be reviewed. We had to do some work to set goals to meet stakeholder demands, and align roles with those goals. Once that was done, the roles had a clear purpose and recruitment was much more straightforward.

People are more engaged when they know how their work contributes to the overall goals and well-being of an organization - that what they do is of value and seen to be of value. This requires that roles be in line with goals and that we communicate the link to the person filling the role. As with our board, you may find that when you start to look at role/goal relationships, you open up bigger questions. Do your activities purposefully address goals that meet stakeholder demands? Ensuring that they do pays double dividends with a more effective organization and more satisfied people.

Set Up Structures and Organize Meetings to Increase Dynamic Communication
It always interests me that once a task reaches a certain point of complexity, our natural tendency is to divide it into logical parts and make someone responsible for each. The silos, so predominant in many organizations, are produced yet again. In silos, we look up and down, but not across. A few people at the top have an overview, but most of us get immersed in our little piece and lose sight of the whole.

Most boards I have worked with are organized in this way. Usually a member heads a committee made of non-board members. Meetings consist largely of committee reports where each person tells the group what they have done, and the others listen. This makes for a subdued dynamic. By structuring our organization and meetings in this way, we set up barriers to communication and a common vision. Consequently we may find it difficult to mobilize our group to respond to the needs of the whole organization.

In developing our structure we need to find a balance between specialization and overview. The answer lies in developing systems of accountability that span areas of responsibility - making the boundaries of the silos more permeable. We have a number of choices. We can define functions as broadly as possible and form teams of people whose roles support that function. We can organize along a matrix and set up dual lines of authority. We can develop a fluid structure of task forces.

We then need to pay attention to our meetings. Is their main purpose to pass on information or is it to make decisions? Transfer of information is important, but if meetings focus solely on this, they do not use the resources of the group. Decision-making meetings will engage members more fully, both with one another and with the concerns of the organization. We must ask ourselves: How much information do we need to stay informed, ensure accountability, and make decisions? How can we best get this information - E-mail, memo, or verbal report?

But none of these will work well without a basic groundwork having been laid. Teams are notoriously difficult, and matrix organizations frequently fall prey to power struggles. Their success rests on the first two items discussed. With good relationships and clarity on our roles and contribution, we can more easily step outside the safety of our silo, discuss the problems we face, and work with others to support larger organizational goals.