Every organisation has a version of the joke about the pecking order in
which the secretary turns
out to be more important than the boss. One suggests the boss thinks he
is a god, but the
secretary feels she controls her boss. Without her, he wouldn't be able
to get out the door, let
alone be a god. When it comes to getting things done, the reasons for
this little joke may
become obvious.
Important information (both formal and informal, recorded and common
wisdom) often rests
with secretaries, clerks, or assistants, who also prepare schedules,
minutes of meetings, and
reports of decisions. Unfortunately, in the voter education enterprise,
there is a good chance that
this person will not be around to ask when something is needed. In all
likelihood, they will
have moved on, together with their director or commissioner, to other
ventures. If the education
organisation was a very temporary one, the knowledge normally
maintained by one or two key
people may have been dispersed and then may be lost when those
people leave.
So good written and retrievable records need to be available that enable
people coming in to
the programme for the first time, or returning to it from another job, to get
on board quickly and
easily. Even where there is a core group that remains in place, for those
people to quickly
communicate with a rapidly-growing organisation, a book of logistical
and managerial
procedures is essential.
Such a book should include a comprehensive range of information,
preferably collected so that it
can be found easily. Secretaries' 'where is it' index books or
alphabetised lists are useful.
Documents collected in a form that can be searched by key word may
also be used. However
this recording is done, the user and their needs should be borne in mind.
Suppliers of Goods and Services
Goods and services might vary from the very basic (what realty agents
provide property to lease)
to the highly technical (who provides the demographic statistics for
various radio stations). The
list may include preferred suppliers of telephone systems, legal or notary services,
educational institutions,
through to the name of local fast food outlets and other necessary
day-to-day resources.
Such lists will include not only the formal information but also the names
of contacts who
actually expedite the business. They may also include notes about the
commercial relationship
that previously existed and any special arrangements that had been
made for special services or
reductions in costs.
This is information that is taken for granted in larger more stable
organisations and may be collected in permanent election authorities. But
it is surprising how often even in those
institutions, this knowledge is personalised and only exists while certain
key staff remain in
position. This cannot be guaranteed in educational programmes; and is a
particular problem in
the NGOs who are likely to be closely associated with such educational
endeavours.
The Civil Society Network
A second area of record keeping is to have available the details of all
civil society organisations
that have provided support to the educational programme. Here lists
should be computerised if
possible so they can retain a range of information about each
organisation and be easily updated.
In particular, educators will want to record the details, including the
personal contact details, of
all those who were involved in coalitions and consortia. NGO staff may
move on, and it may be
necessary to involve individuals as well as the previous organisation.
Who Has It?
Because of the likely dispersal of staff and resources, especially of
materials prepared for
previous programmes, there should be a fail safe record of where such
resources may be and
how best to find them. Such a listing may include information about
copyright and other
libraries, research institutes and individual researchers.
How Do We Do Things?
During educational programmes, procedures are established that will
protect assets, ensure
fiscal responsibility and fair employment practices, reduce expenditure,
and improve staff
effectiveness. These procedures need to be written down and made
available to people in
advance of their falling afoul of the procedure or having to go through
the learning curve that led
to the procedure being established in the first place. Because many of
these procedures have
legal or financial implications, they should be written in such a way that
they cannot be
misunderstood. They are designed to make people's lives easier,
however, so they need to be
accessible and simple rather than convoluted and under lock and key.
