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PTO Officer Transition Kit

Ensure a smooth officer transition this year—and set up your PTO up for success next year and for years to come.

Change can be hard, especially when the leadership of an organization is what’s changing, but it also brings new energy and ideas to your group. The PTO Officer Transition Kit will help your group continue building on its successes as a new set of leaders takes over.

Inside the PTO Officer Transition Kit:

For Current Leaders:

  • Officer Transition - Planning Ahead 
    Transition isn’t just replacing one person with another. It also involves passing on the organization’s mission and vision from leader to leader.
  • How To Nurture New Leaders
    Tips to bring out the best in your current volunteers.
  • Election Season Tips To Ease Officer Transition
    Whether your elections will usher in a brand-new lineup of leaders or bring in a just a few new faces, it helps to take steps in advance to ensure that the transition goes smoothly.
  • Creating a Procedures Book
    A procedures book is the key reference book for a new officer and serves as an ideal way to transfer organizational knowledge from one leader to another.
  • When No One Steps Up To Lead
    What do you do if no one is stepping up? There are things you can do to get the help you need. 
  • How To Retire Gracefully
    Before your term of service comes to a close, ask yourself: “What kind of ex-officer will I be?” 
  • Committee Chair Year-End Report:
    Pass along important details and lessons learned to the next volunteer.

For Incoming Leaders:

  • You’re Elected! Now What?
    Feeling lost? Take a breath and get ready for a great term!
  • Build a Strong Executive Board
    PTO leaders each have a particular job to do. But their second role is working well as a group of officers together.
  • Success Tips for Executive Board Members
    Five things you should know about representing your PTO in the community, plus four essential tips for working with school support staff.
  • Advice for New Leaders
    Members of our Facebook community share what they wish they’d known before becoming a PTO leader.
  • New Officer Checklist
    Reminders and must-dos for volunteers taking on a new leadership role.

Why Is a Smooth Leadership Transition Important?

Planning for effective leadership transition saves new leaders from wasting time reinventing tools, procedures, or systems for getting things done. It also maintains partnerships with key people or groups that have been developed by you and your team, or those who have gone before you. This kind of information is called organizational knowledge—without it, new leaders tend to struggle, redoing work that has already been done.
Passing on the knowledge minimizes confusion and reduces the lag time that can occur as new officers try to figure out what’s going on. Shared information results in new leaders feeling confident as opposed to worried or disoriented as they assume their new duties. Strong programs keep momentum.
A good officer transition plan can also give the outgoing leaders a sense of closure. It’s natural for committed leaders to want to hang on; however, letting go is necessary to allow the new leaders to take over in a way that’s healthy for your group.

Still have questions?
Call us at 800-644-3561; we’re here to help.