Roles and responsibilities

A lack of clarity about people's roles - whether within the management committee, between trustees and staff, or among staff and volunteers - can easily lead to conflict. To avoid this, it's important that roles and responsibilities are clearly defined in policy documents and job descriptions and that these are kept up to date to reflect any changes. As well as having responsibilities defined in such documents, it's crucial that they are known and understood by all concerned.

Channels of internal communication need regular monitoring and review and should enable consultation to take place freely on major changes of policy. An annual 'away day' for management committee and staff is a valuable opportunity for discussing values and strategic issues in a neutral environment.

Find out more about other conflict resolution issues and examples in the In more depth section.