Managing change and crisis

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Managing change and crisis

• Nick Partridge,
• Chief Executive
• Terrence Higgins Trust
• April 2006

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Terry Higgins died on 4th July 1982
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Why do we need NGOs?

• Speaking generally, there is no one so fit to
  conduct any business as those who are personally
  interested in it.
• Government operations tend to be everywhere
  alike.
• With individuals and Voluntary Associations on
  the contrary, there are varied experiments and an
  endless diversity of experience.
• John Stuart Mill On Liberty, 1869

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Why are NGOs so complex?

• An NGO is a curious hybrid of an organisation,
  mixing three seemingly incompatible elements
• - a service bureaucracy,
• - a voluntary membership, and
• - informal personal relationships all in
  one structure.
• To complicate matters, it also maintains two
  parallel lines of authority, between Board and
  staff, and between professionals and volunteers,
  in its governance and management.
• Kramer,1990

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How an NGO develops expect crisis
Founding
Adolescent
Adult
Mature
Periods of relative stability
Periods of crisis
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Forces driving NGOs into ineffectiveness

• Overloaded agenda
• Inadequate time for strategic thinking
• Cumbersome sub-committee structure
• Role confusion (where more than one role is held)
• Restricted skills range
• Favouring particular interests
• Breakdown of trust between Board and staff
• Failure to keep appropriate personal distance
  between Board members, staff, volunteers and
  service users
• Breaking confidentiality

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The cycle of declining trust
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Leadership role of the Board and Staff
Adds value
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Managing external crises

• Political attack
• Media investigation
• Funding cuts
• Community criticism
• Disaffected staff/volunteers/service users

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Managing external crises

• Support from the Board
• Support from partners
• Support from funders
• Early warning no surprises
• Communications plan internal and external
• Maintain a long term view
• Support each other a thick skin is not enough