The ONE Massachusetts Network
ONE Massachusetts is a network-in-formation of people and organizations sharing a common vision: rebuilding public confidence in our capacity to work together, through our government, to expand economic opportunity and improve the quality of life in Massachusetts.
The Leadership Team of ONE Massachusetts is still developing and refining a network governance structure and we have learned a lot from “Net Gains: A Handbook for Network Builders Seeking Social Change” by Peter Plastrik and Madeleine Taylor 2006.
Some of the learnings from Net Gains include:
- Building and sustaining successful networks differs in some key ways from building and sustaining successful organizations or collaborations.
Successful networks:
- Are self-governed: the members rule, and vote with their feet.
- Have a high degree of freedom AND a high degree of alignment.
- Usually have a stable core of members, but the broader membership moves in and out as issue needs and campaigns change.
- Are not dominated by one or two members; members move in and out of leadership as the actions demand.
- Increase Connectivity; Align around the CVP, and jointly pursue Outcomes.
However, there’s no standard formula for the design of network governance. Essentially, the three basic questions of governance are as follows: who decides, what is decided, and how is it decided?
Who Decides? Does every network member have governing authority, or is there a division between the small number of tightly connected nodes that drive the network and those that exist on the periphery? Does everyone get a vote on the network’s steering committee (or a representative on such a body), and if so what qualifies a network member to get a vote? Some networks make a distinction between “core” and “periphery” members and assign governing authority accordingly.
Currently, the members of ONE Massachusetts Leadership Team, acting as individuals, act as the decision making body. On controversial issues, network membership will be polled.
What Is Decided? Some networks assign to a steering committee a long list of decisions such as the purpose of the network (mission, vision, operating principles), objectives/goals, values and beliefs of the network, membership arrangements, member responsibilities, network plans, and budgeting. Other networks try to minimize formal governance in favor of maximizing the freedom of network members to decide on their own.
Currently the ONE Massachusetts Leadership Team decides policy, priorities, campaigns, compliance issues, and membership requirements and responsibilities. Campaign action decisions will be made at the membership level.
How Are Decisions Made? Perhaps most important for ONE Massachusetts, is the question of how decisions are made. In the Net Gains handbook, the authors lay out four alternatives: by imposition (a funder or organizer says what the network must do), by community (a decision-by-consensus arrangement), by democracy (a voting process determines majority opinion and follows it), or by emergence (network members do what they want to do).
The ONE Massachusetts Leadership Team will strive for consensus, but there will always be an official vote. (Absent members will be polled by phone or email.) If consensus is not possible, the ONE Leadership Team will decide by majority vote.
It is also important to remember that governance structures are not static. Form follows function: in networks, a governance structure will continue to evolve as network members learn to work together to achieve mutual goals.
Finally, consider this note of caution: management and governance are not the same thing. Governance involves steering the network, while management involves rowing. Network management is about the day-to-day activities of the network, such as handling of staff and financial resources and monitoring work plans.