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| • | Membership must be diverse and represent all voices of the organization as much as possible. Make sure membership represents broad dimensions of diversity, including different departments and divisions. |
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| • | Decide if members will be appointed or volunteer, or a combination of both, followed by interviews of candidates. Some organizations have people be nominated or apply. |
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| • | It is very effective to have the initial communication about the forming of the council come from the CEO. |
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| • | Members must care about the organization and should be Change Agents, or potential Change Agents. A Fighter in the group will waste a lot of time and energy. |
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| • | Decide how often the council will meet and what type of time commitment is expected so people know before they join the council. This can be difficult to gauge when forming, so allow for a graceful way for someone to opt out if they can not fulfill the commitment |
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| • | Decide how members will join, how long they will serve, how membership will rotate and transition new members. |
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| • | Designate an internal coordinator who will set up meetings, send out minutes and articles of interest and serve as a liaison for the council and organization. |
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| • | Visible leadership involvement, commitment and support. Best to have someone from leadership on council. |
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| • | Leadership involvement is necessary to give the council some power to really be effective in implementing their ideas. If no power, the council will quickly become frustrated and will not be effective. |
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| • | Council needs regular interaction with leadership - actual face time. |
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| • | Need to clarify the purpose of the council. Will they serve in an advisory capacity? Be very clear on their function within the organization. Be equally clear on what they are not – ie. council is not HR/diversity police; do not serve a legal function. |
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| • | The role of the council depends on their power potential. ProGroup does not recommend strictly advisory groups without some ability to recommend change up and down the organization. |
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| • | The group needs to create their own mission statement and objectives tied to the organization mission and goals. The process of getting this done is critical to team building and developing a cohesive group. |
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| • | The council needs to determine and set clear goals and how they will measure their progress and outcomes. For instance, one council had education, retention and mentoring as their featured goals one year. |
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| • | The council must recognize that they exist because of bottom-lined business issues. They must be constantly challenged to incorporate these reasons into their discussions and actions. |
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| • | Set schedule for meeting far in advance. Some councils meet monthly, some quarterly with the full group and have sub-committee meetings in between. |
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| • | Establish sub-committees or work groups as needed to address specific topics or projects. For example, may have sub-committees to work on education, business case, measurement, recruitment and retention. |
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| • | The council needs to set ground rules for how they will conduct themselves and interact. This may include how to address issues such as conflict in the council, personal agendas, inappropriate behavior, etc. |
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| • | The council members must establish how they will operate as a group, ie., may decide no meetings after the meeting when not everyone can be present, etc. |
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| • | Council members must understand that by participating on the council they will be held to a higher standard within the organization. People will expect them to be Change Agents. |
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| • | The council needs to have a budget allocated. When an organization puts dollars behind something it demonstrates commitment. |
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| • | The budget should allow for a council retreat, education and communication activities and also be able to support council activities and goals. |
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| • | A retreat is an integral step in forming an effective council. In the retreat the council should determine their mission, vision and goals tied to the organizations mission and goals; clarify their purpose and roles; determine their operating norms and criteria for interacting. |
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| • | A retreat is most effective with an outside facilitator. |
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| • | Create educational opportunities for the council so they can continue to learn and expand their knowledge of diversity. |
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| • | The council needs to have a common understanding of diversity and its impact within the organization and in terms of customer service. They need to hear different perspectives and life experiences and have some comfort with issues of diversity. |
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| • | Communication to the organization is vital so that members of the organization know why the council exists and who is involved. |
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| • | Leverage existing internal communication vehicles to promote and support the council and activities. |
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| • | There is an important role for an external consultant in helping the council form, facilitate educational opportunities and adding expertise that can set the group in the right direction and challenge them before they take wrong steps. |
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| • | The council needs to create an action plan that identifies specific steps and actions that will be taken to accomplish their annual goals. |
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| • | The action plan should include key activities, milestones, and measurement of progress. |
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| • | The council needs to continually check their proposed actions to ensure that they are in alignment with the overall mission and goals of the organization and the diversity initiative and that the actions move the organization forward in accomplishing its goals. |
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