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Bar News - September 6, 2002 Bar's Restructuring Plan Featured in ABA Article THE NEW HAMPSHIRE Bar Association's restructuring effort, initiated four years ago, recently was the subject of an article in Bar Leader magazine, a publication of the ABA's Division for Bar Services that is distributed to local and state bar leaders and executives nationwide. In the fall of 2002, the Bar Association's Board of Governors and top staff began considering how to address the problem NHBA Executive Director Jeannine L. McCoy identified as "mission creep," which in the article she defined as "the continuous process of undertaking great new ideas and programs while trying to maintain everything that's gone on before." The result of unrestrained "mission creep" is that Bar leaders sensed that the Bar's resources - volunteer, staff and financial - were being stretched too thin. At the outset, Bar leaders and staff looked at how to harness and better manage the process of implementing quality programming and services while at the same time preserving breathing room in the organization for innovation and adaptation. One problem the planning process identified was that the Bar's many committees often operated without clear lines of communication with the board. Working with the Bar's previous structure, said former Bar President Gregory D. Robbins, was "like trying to win the Indy 500 in a car made up of parts that don't fit with a pit crew whose members don't know what their jobs are and would rather work on their own anyway." Another goal was better coordinating the activities of the Bar with how well they served the Bar's three main constituencies as set forth in its constitution: the members, the public and the justice system. The remedy involved creating a new layer of governance: four working subcommittees of the Board of Governors focused on member services, public services, administration of justice efforts, and the administration of the Bar. Each of the Bar's existing boards and committees were assigned to one of the four new board committees so that, as the year progresses, the board can provide guidance, review the activities of the groups, and, when necessary, advocate for them before the board. The planning process also resulted in the creation of a "vetting process" to evaluate or renew activities or initiatives that will expend significant Bar resources. The board committees are also are charged with reviewing these proposals, except in urgent circumstances. One of the major aims of the vetting process is to ensure that new projects fit with the mission of the Bar. "The written proposal will detail everything from the value of the action toward the Bar's mission, to the resources required, to a timeline for the activity to be accomplished. (The vetting proposal, "Proposal for New Action," also was published in the Bar Leader article). The board committee process has been underway for two full years, and while still a "work in progress," McCoy believes it has demonstrated its value. "We have been amazed to see what we can accomplish by working through a smaller group [board committee] and then taking it to the full board," she said. The number of committees of the Bar has been streamlined and several new services and projects - including greater support for sections, the NHBA insurance agency, and the development of the Casemaker low-cost online legal research resource - have been launched or are in development. The full board meetings, freed from some of the minor details addressed in meetings of the past, are better attended and more interesting.
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