Growing 4-H Opportunities Together: Volunteers in Vision and Action

GROWING 4-H OPPORTUNITIES TOGETHER: VOLUNTEERS IN VISION AND ACTION PHASE 2: STEP 8 Facilitation Guide: County 4-H Federation/ Council Meeting

OVERVIEW This is designed to help faciliate the discussion with the County 4-H Federation/Council about their participation in this process. It is important to have a good understanding of the process. It is also important to show enthusiasm for this process. Your goal is to “sell” this.

The second part of this lesson is to help the county 4-H program diagram their organizational chart. This will lay the groundwork for later efforts in aligning a volunteer structure to support the program priorities.

TARGET AUDIENCE County 4-H Federation/Council members

OBJECTIVES After this meeting, participants will:

Have an understanding of and be excited about the Growing 4-H Opportunities process. Identify the parts of the current 4-H program to diagram the structure and create an organizational chart.

MATERIALS NEEDED Copy of “Growing 4-H Opportunities Factsheet.”  Sample County 4-H Program Organizational Chart for all to view: poster, PowerPoint slide, or handout.  Flipchart paper/post-it notes.  Markers.  Organizational Chart Worksheet (optional).

LESSON TIME 1 hour LESSON INSTRUCTIONS Time Script in Bold Supplies needed Pre-work Review the “Growing 4-H Opportunities Factsheet” and timeline set by staff. 20 minutes 1. Overview of Process

Share with the Federation/Council the process of Growing 4-H Copies of the Process Opportunities: Volunteers in Vision and Action. It is important that the staff Report: ______person speaking is enthusiastic about the process and shows how important County this process is.

 Walk through the Process Report.

 Describe the timeline that is set. Highlight the dates of the focus groups.

 Acknowledge the Steering Committee members. Describe the responsibilities of the Steering Committee.

 Identify how the Federation/Council members and 4-H members can and should participate in the process:

o Participating in the focus groups.

o Participating in the action planning process.

40 minutes 2. Federation/Council Organizational Chart Sample County 4-H Organizational Chart One of the pieces that will get us ready for the process is to diagram (poster, PowerPoint our county 4-H program’s organizational structure. The organizational slide, or handout) chart provides a framework for the county regarding how to communicate, who makes decisions in the county 4-H program, and the lines of reporting. It may also tell something about funding or how budgets are aligned.

Here’s a Sample County 4-H Organizational Chart. Show sample (poster, PowerPoint slide, or handout). Organizational charts can be made for different audiences; for our purposes, the audience will be 4- H members and volunteers.

What does an organizational chart do for our 4-H Program? a) Communication: It is a pictorial view of the parts, tells a story about what is important. b) Process for making decisions: It is about who is responsible in making decisions: Is there a chain of approval needed before the final step? Do all parts follow the same process? c) Authority: Who or what position has the final say? Is it the PC, RP, VPD, middle manager volunteer, 4-H Council, or Extension Center for Youth Development? Are there some things the individual or a specific group has the final say over? Might this be a photography PDC, or a committee chair, or a 4-H project volunteer? d) Defines roles: What roles are there? What is each role responsible for? What are the titles of positions? Let’s look at each part of the sample. Review the Sample Organizational Chart.

We’re going to use the sample template as we work together to diagram our county’s 4-H organizational chart. The boxes above the line on the sample are given—that is, they should be part of every county’s organizational chart in some form. The boxes below the line reflect the Flipchart paper/post- uniqueness of each county 4-H program. Don’t worry if you don’t have it notes, markers every part right now.

Using the Sample County 4-H Organizational Chart, divide into four* groups with both youth and adults to work on a different component of the organizational chart:

County Federation/Executive Board. County Committees. County Programs. 4-H Clubs. (*depending on current county programming, may have sub-groups working on different club types, etc.) Each box represents a piece of the structure. Using the flipchart paper/post-it notes, (optional: organizational worksheet may be used) identify for each box: Who’s in the box? This can be specific names or categories of people. Who do they report to? What decisions do they make? How and to whom do you share your work with? How are they funded? After 20 minutes, groups will report back and turn in their notes.

We are starting to get a good picture of our organizational chart for the county 4-H program. So what are the next steps? Staff will take all of the parts, put them together, and share the finished product at the next meeting.

Let’s finish up with thinking about the process we just went through.

How would you describe this experience of putting the organizational chart together? How did it make you look at ______County 4-H in a different way and how? On a scale of 1-5 where are you with understanding how this whole GOT VIVA process. (Have participants show their fingers using this scale: 1=confusing 3=seems good but have questions 5=exciting and ready to pursue Ask a few individuals why they made that choice. Closing

Thank you all for participating. This process is a great opportunity for the county 4-H program. I will keep you informed as we progress through the process.

SOURCES Piehl, B. (2011). Designing your 4-H organizational chart. University of Minnesota Extension.

AUTHORED BY: Rebecca Harrington, Extension Educator, Center for Youth Development Karyn Santl, Extension Educator, Center for Youth Development Barbara Piehl, Extension Educator (retired), Center for Youth Development