Division Business Council Charter

Meeting Purpose:

Business representatives from each division as well as invited department managers meet bi-weekly to gather and disseminate information, problem-solve, move issues to completion and share best practices. As a working meeting, the intent is to assess and identify field priorities to help Berkeley Lab move forward with its strategic initiatives and free the scientists from administrative processes wherever possible.   As representatives from divisions, our role is to communicate the content of the meetings, as appropriate, to our respective divisions, evaluate business changes from our division's perspectives and represent our division's unique business needs. Of key importance is to build trust and working relationships with each other and with managers across the Lab. Our goal is to be a Council that is valued, and because of that, plays a critical role in Lab initiatives, directives, changes, and process improvements from the start. The agenda for each meeting is driven by Laboratory business needs in real time.

Attendees:

A representative from each division will attend each meeting.   Divisions are represented by Deputies, Business Managers, Administrators or Resource Analysts as appropriate. Each member of the DBC has a back-up in the respective division to attend meetings in his or her absence.   This will promote information exchange as well as employee development and succession planning within our divisions.

Leadership:

The group is led by committee.   The chair and co-chair are division representatives, and this responsibility will rotate every six months.   Advisors from Ops, CFO, and the Directorate have been selected to help shape the agenda, raise issues and establish a communications plan. The leadership group will meet every other week to discuss the agenda for future DBC meetings.

Format:

Each meeting is two hours.   The first hour is for presentations and information-gathering from other department managers on new initiatives and issues.   The second hour is a working session for division representatives to share information, provide updates and raise issues for discussion.    The Council's focus is to establish and work on a prioritized punch list.

Tools:

Meeting minutes will be distributed after every meeting to attendees and guests.   All meeting agendas, presentations, supporting documentation, meeting minutes and general information will be posted in the e-room that is available for all participants.      

Membership: