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Nova Scotia Rural Team Charter



Contents

 

 

Introduction

The purpose of the Nova Scotia Rural Team Charter is to describe the key elements that guide and ground the work of the Nova Scotia Rural Team (NSRT). We recognize that the task of working horizontally, i.e. across a number of organizational mandates and personal sets of values and goals, is a significant challenge, and one that requires excellent communication and collaborative skills and processes. In developing this Charter, it is our intention to have a tool that can enhance our efficiency and effectiveness as we develop shared views and pursue shared directions.

This Charter has a number of elements which taken together support our work.

Vision and Mission provide a broad description of the purpose of the NSRT. Values describe what is important to team members about their personal conduct, and how they relate to each other. Role of the NSRT, and Individual Roles and Responsibilities, describe the jobs that members are asked to do.

In addition to those broad and general items, this Charter has a section on Operational Guidelines. These are guides to specific aspects of the group process and structure, covering such things as agenda development, decision making and other key features of group governance.

In addition to serving as a touchstone for team members in the conduct of their business, this Charter can assist in the orientation of new members or alternates, helping them to understand the basic elements of team membership and process.

The Charter is a living document, and will be amended as necessary to guide and reflect the evolution of the NSRT.


 

Nova Scotia Rural Team


Vision

The Nova Scotia Rural Team (NSRT) envisions a future where rural communities are sustainable (socially, culturally, economically and environmentally) as a result of co-operative work with their partners.


Mission

The mission of the NSRT is to build and support integrated partnerships between government and community in order to foster innovative and sustainable rural communities.


Role of the NSRT

We carry out our mission through four strategic directions: rural dialogue; rural policy; rural community capacity building; and, interdepartmental and community partnering and collaboration. The NSRT has a focused role and objectives within each of the four strategic directions.


Values

Values underlie both what we do and how we act. The following values are important to team members with respect to personal conduct, as well as how we relate to each other. They guide us in our internal and external relationships.

Respect for Diversity - within the team and our organizations, and within the broader rural community. We recognize and appreciate many types of diversity, including culture, language, organizational mandate and personal styles and values.

Inclusion - resolution of complex issues requires that all who are impacted or interested should be involved in some manner.

Shared Responsibility - as colleagues and partners, all team members share in the responsibility for group processes and outcomes.

Collaboration - we achieve more by working together than we could on our own; we recognize our mutual interdependence, respect each other's mandates and goals, work together to meet each others needs.

Communication - we believe in and practice full sharing of information, as well as patience, and good listening and speaking skills.

Shared Learning - we specify desired results, monitor and evaluate our performance. We learn together and adapt as we go.


Individual Roles and Responsibilities

To the best of our capacity, time and available resources, the job of a member of the NSRT is to:

-   Share information and gain knowledge and understanding of rural issues and rural realities.
  • actively participate in the Rural Team and in the Rural Dialogue
  • look for the common ground
  • identify crosscutting and underlying issues that affect all of rural Nova Scotia
  • seek understanding of the implications and impacts on minority communities

- Identify and develop partnerships around rural priorities.
  • encourage full and inclusive participation between and among governments, rural communities, academia and the research community
  • create synergy where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts
  • take collective action and foster collaboration based on mutual respect
  • work horizontally and collaboratively (across sectors - farming, fishing, forestry, oil and gas, mining, tourism, etc. considering the social, health, cultural, economic, environmental factors)

- Challenge conventional thinking, and take responsibility and demonstrate leadership within the Team and in our organization.
  • be a committed and pro-active Team member
  • take the initiative and recommend change and action
  • ask the difficult questions
  • think outside the box
  • be creative, daring, innovative and have fun

- Effectively communicate within our organizations and networks.
  • be a conduit upwards with senior management and outward with
  • middle management and field staff
  • provide information, intelligence and advocacy
  • influence decision making
  • develop internal systems and consistent messaging

- Represent our employer and community interests within the broader context of the rural agenda.
  • balance our roles so we all see and contribute to the bigger picture

- Represent the NSRT and Canadian Rural Partnership while participating in other activities, outside of the NSRT.
  • advocate the rural agenda and rural priorities
  • promote rural diversity
  • promote rural and urban interdependencies

- Link and integrate local priorities with the Canadian Rural Partnership.
  • apply and expand the Rural Lens to identify implications and impacts of government policies, programs and services on rural communities
  • contribute to setting national direction, goals, strategies, priorities, policies and programs
  • bring Nova Scotia priorities to action


Operational Guidelines

This section of the Team Charter provides specific operational guidelines or protocols for how we do our work. These should be modified periodically, as required, to be of use to team members and to guide the format and flow of meetings.


General Protocols

  1. Meetings must start and end on time. Speakers and agenda items must remain within specific time allocations. The chair may request that a member serve as timekeeper to ensure that the agenda stays on schedule.
  2. The team will decide which agenda items are ready for decision or require more discussion.
  3. Group maintenance is everyone's responsibility.
  4. Under normal circumstances, team meetings will be held on the third Wednesday of each month.


Meeting Stages

When planning and participating in meetings, we will use a four-stage model:
  1. Agenda Building
  2. Information Exchange
  3. Discussion leading to decision
  4. Evaluation

Agenda Items: When developing our agendas, we will make a distinction between information items and discussion items. For discussion items, we will specify whether or not a decision is desired or necessary.


Specific items will be handled as follows:

Information Items
  • Roundtable: this is a formal opportunity for members to share information; members will generally be limited to 2-3 minutes each, with a total time for not to exceed 60 minutes. The roundtable will be the first agenda item after lunch, unless there is a guest presenter, in which case the presenter will speak immediately following lunch, and the roundtable will follow the guest.
  • Action Items: reporting back on action items from previous team meetings.
  • Ad hoc requests: providing information or reporting back on items which may have emerged and been handled between meetings.

Discussion Items

  • Two types of discussion items: those for which a decision is required, and those for which the purpose is only to have a discussion.
  • For each item, a specific amount should be assigned.
  • For each item, the desired outcome should be specified.
    • input received
    • recommendation of the team
    • decision made by the team


Decision Making

  • Under normal circumstances, the NSRT will make decisions by consensus. This means that there is substantial agreement among members.

  • We may develop and use a "gradient of agreement" to assess how the group is feeling about a specific discussion. This tool can give us a snapshot of where members are on specific proposals or discussion leading to decision. It gives members a sense of how much work may be required to reach consensus, and how to move the dialogue forward by seeking clarification from members who have reasons to disagree. Following is a possible gradient model:

    Agree (it has my support)

    Agree w/reservations (can live with it)

    No Opinion (not ready to decide)

    Disagree (some changes are needed)

    Strongly Disagree (cannot support)

  • In specific situations we may use other methods, such as voting or deferring to the chair or a sub-group.

  • When a decision is considered to be "high stakes," we will strive for consensus. In situations considered to be "low stakes," voting or another form of decision making may be considered.


Individual Participation

Members undertake to ensure that our participation is focussed and effective, taking as much time as necessary (but as little as possible) to express our views clearly. We will adhere to time limits specified by the chair and agreed to by the team. Emphasis is on listening to understand and trying to build on each other's comments and create a collective picture.


Use of Alternates

If members cannot attend a regular team meeting and want to send alternate, we are responsible to ensure that the alternates who attend for us are briefed and able to participate in team discussions.


Orientation of New Members

Due to a number of factors, team membership is not stable, and it is common at any meeting to be introducing a new member. The NSRT will use a variety of methods to orient new members, such as: a package of orientation materials which includes this charter; individual discussion with a team member; and partnering at an initial meeting with an experienced member who can answer questions and assist the new members in understanding team protocols and the flow of discussion.


Travel

A Travel Directive Summary and Guidelines document has been developed to promote the economic use of vehicles for NSRT business travel and ensure consistency in the reimbursement of kilometric rates for the use of personal vehicles. NSRT members should consult this document for guidance on travel relating to team activities.


 

Date Modified: 2003 01 02