Establish governance and operations
Your initiative will need a governance structure and operational model. Governance and operational models are likely to depend on the type of initiative you are offering and common governance models within your industry.
Part of the Creating an industry-led initiative module.
Think about how your initiative should operate
As you map out the practical elements of your industry-led initiative, you will also need to consider the type of governance and operational structure required to support it. The appropriate governance and operational model will likely to depend on the type of initiative you are offering and common governance models within your industry.
Some common examples include:
- independent entities with formal boards and management structures
- initiatives run by volunteers
- initiatives led by existing entities.
Factors that can influence governance structures include:
- how your initiative is funded
- membership models
- level of risk associated with your initiative
- activities provided by the initiative
- who is accountable
- whether you will be employing staff or providing clinical services
- legal requirements.
Decide how your initiative should operate. The types of activities (what your initiative does), the stakeholders (who is involved) and what governance models are common in your industry (how things are usually managed) will influence how your initiative operates.
Some questions to help decide how to operate your initiative
These questions can help you decide what governance and operational model best suits your initiative:
- Who is accountable for our initiative?
- How will we sustain our initiative financially (e.g. co-contributions, donations, membership fees, subscription fees)?
- What is the best structure for membership or involvement?
- How do our activities or stakeholders influence the type of operating model we need?
- What common governance models are people in our industry familiar with?