Leadership Transition

Implementing an effective officer transition for your student organization is a critical responsibility of outgoing leadership. Here are some reasons why transitioning is important:

• Provides the new leader with significant organizational knowledge.
• Minimizes the confusion of leadership change throughout the entire organization.
• Outgoing leaders gain a sense of accomplishment and closure.
• Helps the incoming leadership take with them some of the special expertise of the outgoing leaders.
• Increases the knowledge and confidence of the new leadership.
• Minimizes the loss of momentum and accomplishments of the organization.
• Provides a sense of continuity among the membership.

The following are suggestions that may prove helpful in your leadership transition.

Start Early

• Identify potential leaders in your organization early in the year.
• Encourage these potential leaders through personal contact.
• Have the officers help develop skills by delegating responsibility to potential leaders.
• Share with them the benefits of leadership.
• Clarify job responsibilities.
• Let them know that the transition will be orderly and thorough.
• Model effective leadership styles.
• Create an organizational structure to support leadership development.
• Develop a mentoring program.
• Develop leadership notebooks.
• Create a shadowing program.
• Orient the new officers together with the outgoing officers so they can understand each other's roles and start building their team.
• Transfer the knowledge, information, and materials necessary for the new officers to function well.
• Ask outgoing officers what they wish someone had told them.

Make the Transition Smooth

• Hold officer elections one month before installation to provide an overlap period for new and old officers to work together.
• Fill the gaps for new officers by asking yourself what information you wish someone had shared with you a year ago.
• Review and make current if necessary your constitution and by-laws to reflect changes made during your administration.
• Review the job descriptions to make sure they accurately describe the offices your organization needs and uses.
• Encourage informal meetings between incoming and outgoing officers.
• Plan a transition retreat.
• Review and update your mailing list or membership records.
• Leave behind files that might be helpful to the new person.
• Introduce incoming officers to advisors, SALD staff, the Student Organization Bank, other student leaders, and university administrators.
• Orient incoming officers to resources used in the past.

Add Your Personal Touches

• Share the effective leadership qualities and skills you learned on the job.
• Share problems, helpful ideas, procedures and recommendations.
• Write and share reports containing traditions, ideas or completed projects, continuing projects and concerns, or ideas never carried out.
• Have the officers go through personal and organizational files together.
• Acquaint the new officers with physical environment, supplies, and equipment.

Share the Organization's Structure

• Constitution and by-laws
• Job descriptions/role classifications
• Organizational goals and objectives
• Status reports on ongoing projects
• Evaluation of previous projects and programs
• Previous minutes and reports
• Resources and contact lists
• Financial books and records
• Mailing lists
• Historical records, scrapbooks, and equipment