Outgoing Comments from the Executive Director
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Lisa K. Donnelly, execdir@freenet.carleton.ca
20 May 1997

Looking Forward
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is my last Board meeting before the new Executive Director begins
work at the beginning of June so it seemed like the right time to pause
and briefly reflect on my time with NCF - and on what the future holds for
our on-line community. The last three years with NCF have been
challenging, fun, rewarding and certainly never boring. 

NCF is at a fairly calm stage now so it is an ideal time to think about
our future.  In addition to my Annual Report and month reports, here are
some last recommendations for the Board and organization.  These
suggestions deal with improving effectiveness at NCF and have come out of
the years of working on and off site and with a wide array of Board members.


1)  Set goals for the strategy and Executive Director - and measure outcomes

Board involvement in setting goals and milestones for each annual
strategy will help get the best out of the Executive Director - and ensure
that your ED is supported in their actions.  Evaluating the outcomes of
the goals will also help guide and produce the best results from staff.


2)  Team work (togetherness) is important for the staff

Having all the staff together in the office forges a strong and effective
team.  The current offices are not completely adequate. A third small
space should be found to allow privacy for the Executive Director. This
would also allow for space for a fourth person to share with the Systems
Administrator.


3)  Three staff are not enough

In November 1996,  NCF reduced staff to its three core needs: Executive
Director, Systems Administrator and Office Manager.  This keeps fixed cost
as low as possible. We have now completed six months on three staff. Three
is enough to tread water with some slow increases in new member services. 
It is not enough human resources  to allow for  badly needed member service
improvements.  NCF is  beginning to atrophy and it is frustrating for the
staff because it seems that there is not much we can do about what's
happening.         
  
We need to begin hiring technical staff or consultants for projects as
soon as possible to stay vital.


4)  NCF needs to plan and deliver some new services and to new niches

NCF needs to figure out how it will fit in to the evolving networking
environment.  We need to increase our planning efforts. Whether we decide
to capitalize on network literacy or becoming a community linking resource
- we need to make tight plans, set milestones and ensure enough human and
fiscal resources to make it happen.

	  **  Lisa K. Donnelly, M.B.A., Executive Director  **
     * National Capital FreeNet/Libertel de la Capitale nationale *
	       (613) 241-9554 voice & fax (613) 241-2477
	  	 Telecommunities Canada - Board member