As you’re driving to work, you mentally remind yourself of all the tasks that you didn’t get finished the day before. New applications for board commission vacancies came in, but you haven’t had the time to review them. You’re pretty sure a vacancy is coming up on one of the commissions. While you’re at it, you remember that you need to check the other boards and commissions for expiring terms as well. Thinking of the mound of paper these tasks will create, you decide that the first thing you need to do is to take some time to clear the clutter off your desk and get organized. Then, as soon … [Read more...] about How to Manage Multiple Board and Commission Meetings Effectively
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Video Manager: 5 Things You Need to Know
Open meeting acts were the first step toward transparency in government. These laws allowed the public to gain entrance to government meetings for an up-close view of government discussions and decisions. Open meeting acts haven’t been around that long. San Francisco made their government data available to the public in 2009. The city of Chicago passed open data laws in 2010 and New York City did the same as recently as 2012. It was a good first step — but one that relies on the public’s ability to get to the meeting. While citizens are interested in the affairs of their community, they … [Read more...] about Video Manager: 5 Things You Need to Know
Our Survey Shows the Top-Five Issues That Keep Local Government Officials Awake at Night
Citizens seek positions in local government for various reasons. It’s a chance to work collaboratively with others in the community to help form their vision of what the community should be. It’s a chance to be more intrinsically involved in the community they love. Soon after a successful election campaign, newly elected public officials begin to feel the weight of their responsibility as worry about the community’s state of affairs sets in — worry that often keeps them awake at night. At iCompass, we took some guesses about the kinds of issues that create extreme worry for public … [Read more...] about Our Survey Shows the Top-Five Issues That Keep Local Government Officials Awake at Night
Strategies to Reduce Your Board Meeting Workload
It may surprise you to learn exactly how much time board members spend on board duties. According to the 2015-2016 NACD Public Company Survey report, the average board director spends 248 hours on board-related matters. Some quick math tells us that a board member’s workload equates to about a full month a year. A recent iCompass survey tells us that board members and trustees of municipalities feel overburdened in many of the same ways and share many of the same worries about their workloads. The meeting workload lessens for all board directors when all members of the board prepare well … [Read more...] about Strategies to Reduce Your Board Meeting Workload
How to Save Time With Your Council Meeting Minutes
If you’re a municipal clerk, you may have found yourself thinking, “The task of taking council meeting minutes isn’t hard, it just takes too much time!” The frustration stems from much of the preparation being redundant and repetitive. This article is for clerks who desire to do a great job of completing meeting minutes while eliminating their frustration by using technology to streamline the process. Software solutions can expedite minute-taking by prefilling and pre-populating data and tracking follow-ups. The many features of a board portal can do even more to make the clerk’s job … [Read more...] about How to Save Time With Your Council Meeting Minutes
