Good practice in action: Monitoring and successful relationships
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Healthy funding relationships are essential to successful monitoring. Ongoing monitoring gives the funder and the funded organisation confidence that the terms of the contract will be met.
Ministry for Culture and Heritage’s monitoring process
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH) is committed to having clear expectations and maintaining good relationships with the national cultural organisations it funds.
MCH funds national arts and heritage organisations, such as Creative New Zealand, the New Zealand Film Commission, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.
Respect different viewpoints
National cultural organisations and Ministers can have differing views on their relationships. There can be tensions between the statutory independence of these organisations and government expectations that Crown-owned and funded agencies have regard to government policies.
Be aware of relationship complexities
Lines of communication can sometimes become muddled when an agency has a number of relationships to manage around a specific issue. MCH manages this risk by being clear about its key messages and requirements for each audience.
Agree clear expectations
MCH lays out in advance clear, explicit and agreed expectations and roles.
Ensure there are ‘no surprises’
The principle of ‘no surprises’ is one key to the relationship between national cultural organisations, MCH, and the Minister. Agencies are expected to inform the Minister and MCH of potentially contentious issues, and any others that may have an impact on operations. Risks are to be identified early. Equally, MCH undertakes to keep agencies informed of any developments or issues that may affect them.
Provide regular reports
Most national cultural organisations are required to identify key risks, issues and achievements in regular reports to Ministers. They are also required to brief Ministers more fully on specific issues as they arise.
National cultural organisations also meet with Ministers to discuss current issues and concerns. While meetings provide an opportunity for MCH to raise specific concerns about an agency’s performance, any concerns would usually be raised and discussed with the agency before meeting the Minister.
Maintain open communication
MCH maintains a policy of open communication, meeting regularly with the national cultural organisations, both formally and informally. MCH reports about an organisation are often referred to the organisation for comment before being submitted, and final versions copied to them.
How the principles support good practice
The principles:
- show the importance of good relationships to the funding process
- set out a clear rationale
- inform both the funded organisation and the funding agency
- show an awareness that there is no single way of monitoring an organisation’s performance – there are advantages and disadvantages to any process.
Benefits and drawbacks of monitoring
Benefits
Monitoring schedules, quarterly reports, and fortnightly ‘issues and risks’ reports keep the Minister informed and they help the cultural organisations to remain focused. The reports also give MCH staff a good understanding of an organisation’s operations.
Drawbacks
The level and frequency of reporting, preparing briefings and attending meetings is time-consuming and requires resourcing, and this may delay or crowd out developmental work, such as improving evaluation processes or developing better governance systems.
