Proposed Organisational Changes Margrethe Tingstad from WILPF Norway presents as the convener of the ad-hoc Committee on WILPF’s Organisation, which was appointed at 2013 International Board meeting. This is the minutes of the oral presentation. This part of the programme is a review and presentation of the proposed organisational changes. The ad-hoc report was presented and discussed in Sections and regional meetings. It concentrates on culture and communication as well as main structures and finance. The recommendations are clear that there is no quick recipes. We wanted involvement at all levels. It is about organisational development, embracing what we have and making the platform for our political work stronger. Increasing effectiveness and efficiency to achieve the goals. Much has been done and we are doing well. But there are obvious bottlenecks and suboptimal practices.
Main findings and concerns Culture What we do is defined by culture; it’s the informal structure. There is not one culture but there are some features shared and some subcultures. Culture can eat strategy. Culture is powerful; it’s a strong informal social structure. The current WILPF culture allows us to ignore decisions we do not fully agree with, to replay decisions over and over and it leads to indecisiveness, procrastination. This culture is
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not sustainable. We are culturally diverse; we have to make sure we are competent in dealing with that. We need to appreciate it, mutual respect and understanding is necessary. Disagreement can be useful. For example handled properly disagreements can lead to creative, unexpected solutions. We lack good conflict resolution methods and we currently lack the culture needed to resolve conflicts. Culture is closely linked to communication. It’s the key to successful cross-cultural understanding. The Communications Team has done a tremendous job also taking down many barriers in communication. Getting informed and getting connected is a mutual responsibility. Many just wait for information to come to them, instead of taking the responsibility for seeking it by themselves.
History WILPF history is an underdeveloped asset in our work. There is a richness and value there, which risks being lost. WILPF also needs to bridge the academic-UN-grassroots language barriers. These will help create a sense of belonging for a diverse membership. Age differences in the organisation are both an opportunity and a challenge.
Structure WILPF structure needs to be looked at particularly in three areas: governance,