Possible roles for GNSO vice chair/s
Hello All, Having been in the role as chair for a while, I can see at least a couple of vice-chair roles that would help spread the workload: (1) vice-chair for meetings - work with staff to schedule the various GNSO related meetings at each major ICANN meeting, as well as help plan any inter-sessional meetings (2) vice-chair for operating planning - work with staff to develop the budget for GNSO related expenses to feed into ICANN's annual operational plan/budget - e.g travel costs, as well as work with staff to plan for both staff and GNSO volunteer resources for various projects (task forces, working groups etc) - identify projects that provide efficiency improvements (e.g website updates, new use of collaboration tools, document management systems etc) - maintain a rolling 12 month operational/work plan - ensure we don't over commit projects to the available resources Note that in either case the vice chair would work with staff to essentially prepare documents for review by the Council as a whole, and publish the relevant material in sufficient time to allow Council feedback and discussion at a Council meeting. Note that at various times these roles have existed - but never really formalised. Marilyn Cade often assisted in meeting planning, and we did have a planning committee chaired by Grant Forsyth at one time. Regards, Bruce Tonkin
Hello everyone Just a few personal thoughts from my perspective which may assist. The role of chair is a heavy load and there is a lot of very close collaboration with the staff to make sure all the threads come together. Separating out the role of chair -- to be a neutral facilitator; to provide policy input and to help steer the work - is critical. From my observation, there is too much work for one person. The vice chair roles -- as Bruce has described below -- would be a really good way of spreading the work around and having people involved in work that suited their differing skill sets. Also, the vice chair roles act as good succession planning mechanisms for future council and board leadership roles. On the first -- this would be great because there is a lot of logistical work to arrange meetings which isn't necessarily the role of the chair. As we have moved to a series of intersessional meetings in addition to the very full schedule at ICANN meetings, having someone from the Council as point person here would be terrific. On the second -- great idea for many reasons not least because the load and complexity of the work only seems to be increasing. An orderly and predictable approach to the work will help everyone -- staff, councillors and any one else who wishes to be involved in the process. This division is also consistent with what the ICANN Board does with various committees like meetings, governance and finance. Kind regards. Liz ..................................................... Liz Williams Senior Policy Counselor ICANN - Brussels +32 2 234 7874 tel +32 2 234 7848 fax +32 497 07 4243 mob On 17 Apr 2007, at 10:23, Bruce Tonkin wrote:
Hello All,
Having been in the role as chair for a while, I can see at least a couple of vice-chair roles that would help spread the workload:
(1) vice-chair for meetings
- work with staff to schedule the various GNSO related meetings at each major ICANN meeting, as well as help plan any inter-sessional meetings
(2) vice-chair for operating planning
- work with staff to develop the budget for GNSO related expenses to feed into ICANN's annual operational plan/budget - e.g travel costs, as well as work with staff to plan for both staff and GNSO volunteer resources for various projects (task forces, working groups etc)
- identify projects that provide efficiency improvements (e.g website updates, new use of collaboration tools, document management systems etc)
- maintain a rolling 12 month operational/work plan - ensure we don't over commit projects to the available resources
Note that in either case the vice chair would work with staff to essentially prepare documents for review by the Council as a whole, and publish the relevant material in sufficient time to allow Council feedback and discussion at a Council meeting.
Note that at various times these roles have existed - but never really formalised. Marilyn Cade often assisted in meeting planning, and we did have a planning committee chaired by Grant Forsyth at one time.
Regards, Bruce Tonkin
Very helpful suggestions Bruce. I have a couple questions for you in this regard: 1) Are meetings and operating planning the two biggest areas that you have seen where support in your role of chair have been or could be helpful? Are there any other areas in which vice-chair support could possibly spread the work load out for the chair? If we do consider going this direction, I think it is important to not restrict the vice-chair roles to simply the two categories suggested. Whereas the primary responsibilities could be meetings and operating planning as Bruce suggests, each vice chair should also be responsible for leading in other areas as well such as liaisoning with task forces and working groups, filling in for the chair in leading Council meetings, in representing the GNSO in various other forums, etc. In my opinion it would not be very difficult to define the roles in an effective and yet flexible way. If we followed Bruce's suggested approach or something like it, I think that it would be better to elect the chair and the vice chair(s) separately so that we can better capilize on individual Council member strengths. Vice chairs of course should have the leadership skills for serving as chair but they should also more specific skills related to the defined role for the particular vice chair position. Holding one election where the highest number of votes determines the chair, second highest is 1st vice chair, etc., may not maximize our chances of using peoples' strengths. To pull something off in the short time we have will require some added work. I for one would be willing to work with two or three other Councilors to develop some ideas if there is interest and if there are some other volunteers. We would need to do our work in the next week so that the Council could consider any recommendations before the nomination period begins. One approach that might work would be to elect slates of candidates; slates could involve various combinations of chairs and vice chairs with the same candidates filling different roles on different slates. Regarding Robin's concern about Power distribution, it might be healthy to have Chair/Vice-Chair combinations that as much as possible balance various interests on the Council (e.g., users vs. providers, commercial interests vs. non-commercial interests, etc.) but I personally think that the abilities to provide leadership, to commit the time necessary and to be neutral should not be compromised just to achieve balance. Chuck Gomes "This message is intended for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. Any unauthorized use, distribution, or disclosure is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify sender immediately and destroy/delete the original transmission."
-----Original Message----- From: owner-council@gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-council@gnso.icann.org] On Behalf Of Bruce Tonkin Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 4:23 AM To: Council GNSO Subject: [council] Possible roles for GNSO vice chair/s
Hello All,
Having been in the role as chair for a while, I can see at least a couple of vice-chair roles that would help spread the workload:
(1) vice-chair for meetings
- work with staff to schedule the various GNSO related meetings at each major ICANN meeting, as well as help plan any inter-sessional meetings
(2) vice-chair for operating planning
- work with staff to develop the budget for GNSO related expenses to feed into ICANN's annual operational plan/budget - e.g travel costs, as well as work with staff to plan for both staff and GNSO volunteer resources for various projects (task forces, working groups etc)
- identify projects that provide efficiency improvements (e.g website updates, new use of collaboration tools, document management systems etc)
- maintain a rolling 12 month operational/work plan - ensure we don't over commit projects to the available resources
Note that in either case the vice chair would work with staff to essentially prepare documents for review by the Council as a whole, and publish the relevant material in sufficient time to allow Council feedback and discussion at a Council meeting.
Note that at various times these roles have existed - but never really formalised. Marilyn Cade often assisted in meeting planning, and we did have a planning committee chaired by Grant Forsyth at one time.
Regards, Bruce Tonkin
I share Bruce's and Chucks comments re vice chairs. An outside party has also informed me that typically vice chair positions in other bodies with similar diversity may be nominated and later affirmed by the group, rather than being a separate election. In either case I'm happy to work with Chuck and Bruce in writing a short job description for two vice chairs. This need not be linked to our timetable for electing the chair though if that's too great a rush. Philip
Philip Sheppard wrote:
In either case I'm happy to work with Chuck and Bruce in writing a short job description for two vice chairs.
Do we need two? I mean, the registrar constituency has the equivalent of three, but we also have a larger number of face to face meetings per year than council does, and also, a much, much larger number of members - the logistical complexity is much, much higher. Might it make more sense to create one position and leave room for more in the future as we come to understand our needs and capacity more closely? Again, I agree with the additional structure, it can only help. But I'd like to be deliberate and understand fully what the implications of our plans our. I'm not sure that we've adequately considered capacity and constraints to the point where "two " is indeed the magic number.
This need not be linked to our timetable for electing the chair though if that's too great a rush.
Great idea. We should put some time bounds around completing this task however. We have a habit of letting administrative design tasks hang around much too long. It might be constructive to assign an arbitrary drop dead date to ensure that we continue to move forward in a constructive manner. -r
Would anyone besides Philip be willing to work on this concept in the next several days? I would be happy to provide a telephone bridge or we can have Glen provide one. Bruce - is this okay with you and are you willing and able to participate? It seems to me that our deadline should be on or about one week from today to come up with a proposed plan for consideration by the full Council on the list. Chuck Gomes "This message is intended for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. Any unauthorized use, distribution, or disclosure is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify sender immediately and destroy/delete the original transmission."
-----Original Message----- From: owner-council@gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-council@gnso.icann.org] On Behalf Of Ross Rader Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 10:19 AM To: Philip Sheppard Cc: 'Council GNSO' Subject: Re: [council] Possible roles for GNSO vice chair/s
Philip Sheppard wrote:
In either case I'm happy to work with Chuck and Bruce in writing a short job description for two vice chairs.
Do we need two? I mean, the registrar constituency has the equivalent of three, but we also have a larger number of face to face meetings per year than council does, and also, a much, much larger number of members - the logistical complexity is much, much higher.
Might it make more sense to create one position and leave room for more in the future as we come to understand our needs and capacity more closely?
Again, I agree with the additional structure, it can only help. But I'd like to be deliberate and understand fully what the implications of our plans our. I'm not sure that we've adequately considered capacity and constraints to the point where "two " is indeed the magic number.
This need not be linked to our timetable for electing the chair though if that's too great a rush.
Great idea. We should put some time bounds around completing this task however. We have a habit of letting administrative design tasks hang around much too long. It might be constructive to assign an arbitrary drop dead date to ensure that we continue to move forward in a constructive manner.
-r
I agree that it makes sense to start with creating one vice-chair position and add more if the need arises down the road. Robin Ross Rader wrote:
Philip Sheppard wrote:
In either case I'm happy to work with Chuck and Bruce in writing a short job description for two vice chairs.
Do we need two? I mean, the registrar constituency has the equivalent of three, but we also have a larger number of face to face meetings per year than council does, and also, a much, much larger number of members - the logistical complexity is much, much higher.
Might it make more sense to create one position and leave room for more in the future as we come to understand our needs and capacity more closely?
Again, I agree with the additional structure, it can only help. But I'd like to be deliberate and understand fully what the implications of our plans our. I'm not sure that we've adequately considered capacity and constraints to the point where "two " is indeed the magic number.
This need not be linked to our timetable for electing the chair though if that's too great a rush.
Great idea. We should put some time bounds around completing this task however. We have a habit of letting administrative design tasks hang around much too long. It might be constructive to assign an arbitrary drop dead date to ensure that we continue to move forward in a constructive manner.
-r
Hello Chuck,
Very helpful suggestions Bruce. I have a couple questions for you in this regard: 1) Are meetings and operating planning the two biggest areas that you have seen where support in your role of chair have been or could be helpful? Are there any other areas in which vice-chair support could possibly spread the work load out for the chair?
The biggest workload in the month preceding a physical ICANN meeting is the meeting planning. There is quite a bit of negotiation involved with the other groups - Board, GAC etc with respect to getting timeslots for different meetings that are optimal for the GNSO. I haven't done much operational planning - that was more identifying a need rather than something that is currently done. Regards, Bruce Tonkin
Council, now that we have a vice chair should we formally agree an internal role for the position ? Chuck and Bruce started this discussion a little way back. Allow me to restart based on Bruce's original. How do we and the chair and vice-chair feel about this ? Philip --------------------------- Role of Vice-chair of the GNSO Council 1) Meetings - work with staff to schedule GNSO related meetings at each major ICANN meeting, as well as help plan any inter-sessional meetings. (2) Operating planning - work with staff to develop the budget for GNSO related expenses to feed into ICANN's annual operational plan/budget e.g travel costs, as well as work with staff to plan for both staff and GNSO volunteer resources for various projects (task forces, working groups etc). - identify projects that provide efficiency improvements (e.g website updates, new use of collaboration tools, document management systems etc.) - work with staff to maintain a rolling 12 month operational/work plan and ensure we don't over commit projects to the available resources. (3) Deputise for the chair when the chair is unavailable.
You mean this isn't just a status position? !!! :) Like I said in the poition statement I sent to the Council list before I was elected, I am ready to serve at Avri's and the Council's direction in whatever ways I can add value. There may be things that Avri would rather take the lead on and I am sure she will comment on the suggestions below. Chuck Gomes "This message is intended for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. Any unauthorized use, distribution, or disclosure is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify sender immediately and destroy/delete the original transmission."
-----Original Message----- From: owner-council@gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-council@gnso.icann.org] On Behalf Of Philip Sheppard Sent: Monday, July 09, 2007 10:51 AM To: 'Council GNSO' Subject: [council] Role of the GNSO vice chair
Council, now that we have a vice chair should we formally agree an internal role for the position ? Chuck and Bruce started this discussion a little way back.
Allow me to restart based on Bruce's original. How do we and the chair and vice-chair feel about this ? Philip ---------------------------
Role of Vice-chair of the GNSO Council 1) Meetings - work with staff to schedule GNSO related meetings at each major ICANN meeting, as well as help plan any inter-sessional meetings.
(2) Operating planning - work with staff to develop the budget for GNSO related expenses to feed into ICANN's annual operational plan/budget e.g travel costs, as well as work with staff to plan for both staff and GNSO volunteer resources for various projects (task forces, working groups etc).
- identify projects that provide efficiency improvements (e.g website updates, new use of collaboration tools, document management systems etc.)
- work with staff to maintain a rolling 12 month operational/work plan and ensure we don't over commit projects to the available resources.
(3) Deputise for the chair when the chair is unavailable.
Hi, I thought we had already made a resolution on the role of Vice Chair and had decided to leave the definition general. Having said that, I have _no_ problem with the council deciding it wants to carve out specific issues as being the vice-chairs responsibility. It was not the way I was looking at it - I tend to view the chair/vice-chair as a partnership where we work together and whichever one has the time or inclination to take the lead on a particular issue takes it, but we both discuss and help each other in the process. But specific areas of responsibility is also a reasonable approach. Now, some of those issues are great issues and if we take them on, I would love for Chuck to take the lead on them if he is so inclined. - the budget issue. As far as I understand, e.g., while there may be some funding for some inter-sessional support, there has never been a formal request for funding for constituencies' participation at quarterly, annual or other meetings - and hence it is not in the budget. If this is something that the council wants to request formally, then it will take some concentrated effort to see that it happens given the type of process ICANN uses to develop its budget. This would apply to any other sort of budget influence the council might need. e.g. - projects to improve efficiency. These are certainly needed and very time consuming to organize and follow up on. On things like scheduling, i think we will both need to be involved as it seems to be a most complex issue where the answer one sometimes gets is 'the staff will decide'. It can therefore take a concerted and persistent effort to put forward an argument to influence that staff decision. I will put this item under AOB on the agenda and we can discuss how we wish to proceed with it. thanks a. On 9 jul 2007, at 17.34, Gomes, Chuck wrote:
You mean this isn't just a status position? !!! :)
Like I said in the poition statement I sent to the Council list before I was elected, I am ready to serve at Avri's and the Council's direction in whatever ways I can add value. There may be things that Avri would rather take the lead on and I am sure she will comment on the suggestions below.
Chuck Gomes
"This message is intended for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. Any unauthorized use, distribution, or disclosure is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify sender immediately and destroy/delete the original transmission."
-----Original Message----- From: owner-council@gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-council@gnso.icann.org] On Behalf Of Philip Sheppard Sent: Monday, July 09, 2007 10:51 AM To: 'Council GNSO' Subject: [council] Role of the GNSO vice chair
Council, now that we have a vice chair should we formally agree an internal role for the position ? Chuck and Bruce started this discussion a little way back.
Allow me to restart based on Bruce's original. How do we and the chair and vice-chair feel about this ? Philip ---------------------------
Role of Vice-chair of the GNSO Council 1) Meetings - work with staff to schedule GNSO related meetings at each major ICANN meeting, as well as help plan any inter-sessional meetings.
(2) Operating planning - work with staff to develop the budget for GNSO related expenses to feed into ICANN's annual operational plan/budget e.g travel costs, as well as work with staff to plan for both staff and GNSO volunteer resources for various projects (task forces, working groups etc).
- identify projects that provide efficiency improvements (e.g website updates, new use of collaboration tools, document management systems etc.)
- work with staff to maintain a rolling 12 month operational/work plan and ensure we don't over commit projects to the available resources.
(3) Deputise for the chair when the chair is unavailable.
participants (7)
-
Avri Doria -
Bruce Tonkin -
Gomes, Chuck -
Liz Williams -
Philip Sheppard -
Robin Gross -
Ross Rader