July 28, 2010 by Jeff Hurt
How transparent is your organization?
Transparency is not a fading 2010 buzzword. It is an evergreen concept that members and the public demand. It is the way an organization and its leaders think and behave. It’s how an organization grows trust that is rewarded by loyalty.
An authentic, transparent organization intentionally shares information beyond the board room with members and nonmembers alike. Organizational transparency encourages, honors and engages with public input. It doesn’t ignore it. It doesn’t hide behind the membership wall.
Wikipedia defines transparency as
Transparency, as used in the humanities and in a social context more generally, implies openness, communication, and accountability. It is a metaphorical extension of the meaning [that] a “transparent” object is one that can be seen through. Transparent procedures include open meetings, financial disclosure statements, freedom of information legislation, budgetary review, audits, etc.
Which of the following items does your organization have?
Guidestar‘s 2008 The State Of Nonprofit Transparency: Voluntary Disclosure Practices posted in 2009 has some interesting findings .
How transparent and trusted is your organization? What can you do to improve that transparency and trust? What other items would you add to the transparency checklist?
Filed Under: Ramblings
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Hello Jeff!
Very useful management and organizational tips you’ve got there. I believe it is important for each management to be transparent as much as possible since it may alienate their people especially those that are on the bottom of the org’s hierarchy.
Great points above. You may want to share them too with other management and organization professionals over at Expert Checklist http://expertchecklists.com/. It’s a new web app for professionals working in difficult and complex environments where users can work together to create and discuss very effective checklists for their fields.
The cool thing is that you can modify the list for yourself and print it as PDF. On the web site, you can also work together with other pros to improve the list or discuss changes.
Jeff, may I use the picture with the soapy window for a presentation about transparency? Thanks for letting me know. Harald
Dr. Nusser:
I purchased the use of this picture for this blog from iStock photo or Shutterstock. I can’t remember which one. I don’t own it. sorry.
[…] Image: Midcourse Corrections […]
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