Lakeland, Florida Development News

City Enhances Board Member Onboarding Process with Focus on Training and Preparedness

The Municipal Boards and Committees meeting focused on improving the onboarding process for new and reappointed board members. Staff liaisons from various city departments presented their current onboarding procedures, highlighting the importance of preparing volunteers with foundational knowledge, responsibilities, and available resources. Discussions included standardizing welcome emails, providing orientation materials like videos and handbooks, tailored onboarding experiences by staff liaisons, and the role of continuous education. Key recommendations for enhancement included requiring resumes for applicants, developing better training for board chairs on meeting facilitation and parliamentary procedure (Robert's Rules of Order), simplifying legal statutes for laypeople, and potentially offering a consolidated workshop on legal aspects like Sunshine Law and ethics for all board members. The meeting also touched upon the importance of volunteers understanding their roles, responsibilities, and the public record nature of their service.