Holding Acccountable

CASE STUDY Holding accountable

A medium sized family services organisation had poorly performing ICT – information was difficult to access and PCs were old and slow. The board allocated a significant sum of money to upgrade equipment and set up a new shared database.

The board agreed one member would work with the Chief Exec and ICT manager to oversee the project and report back. The board member set clear terms of reference, scope for activities and budget variations (within a fixed overall cost) and passed over detailed responsibility to the staff team. The goals were clear, there was an appropriate amount of flexibility and clear accountability.

The ICT manager was empowered to make decisions and take actions within clearly set boundaries and delivered on time and budget. The trustee was always on hand for support and advice and reported back to the board regularly.

Not everything went right and there were a number of challenges with both supplier relationships and technology. The project took a lot of hard work and relied on the key skills and experiences of the board member, Chief Exec and ICT manager working in partnership, being aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, knowing when to support, when to leave things alone and when to ask for help.

The project was a great success, because of the clear accountability, terms of reference and flexibility and leadership and support. All parties were happy with the outcome and the organisation and staff are much more effective for it.