The pandemic has challenged local government organizations to respond to highly dynamic environments involving health, social, educational, and economic changes. Recognizing local government organizations as systems optimizes them to respond and excel in their ability to serve the public. The purpose of this conceptual chapter is to assess the viable system model's (VSM) efficacy as a vehicle for evaluation within the context of local government organizations, and to determine what enhancements to the model might be needed for post-pandemic application. The viable system model may benefit from the integration of complementary enhancements that may humanize the VSM for use in a post-pandemic context. Ultimately, the new reality of the post-pandemic era calls for systems thinking to reveal ways to structure service delivery reliably and innovatively.
The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups by Daniel Coyle describes the skills, abilities, and practices of effective professional teams that the author gleaned through interviews and observations. The added, accessible summations of scientific research allowed the author to narrate the discovery of each “secret” as an unanticipated benefit that could be applied in virtually any organization. Coyle's approach to performance and culture creation comes with the welcome intention that readers apply the lessons.
This article describes an initiative of designing a strategic plan with a volunteer board using the online platform Zoom. The article defines the role of boards of directors in general and addresses the special case of volunteer boards, presenting key performance issues of volunteer boards. Emphasis is placed on the relevance of formulating clear, focused understanding of organizational purpose, role clarity and performance expectations, strategic emphasis fortified by clear agendas, the structuring and enlisting of board member contributions to governance, guidance by board staff, and shared versus individual authority of board members. Board strategic planning represents one of the most valuable deliverables by the governing body and provides an avenue of structured contribution that leads to results. Using Zoom as the vehicle for designing the board strategic plan and implementation plan as described in this article optimized adult learning principles and integrated highly structured and persuasive facilitation to generate a strong, well-connected plan, demonstrating the benefits of economy made possible using an online forum. The final product reflected rigorous critical thinking and design for realistic application.
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