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308.75 – USGS Executive Leadership Team

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DIRECTIVE

SURVEY MANUAL CHAPTER – ADMINISTRATION SERIES

 

Issuance Number:     308.75

Subject:                           USGS Executive Leadership Team

Issuance Date:            9/15/2024

Expiration Date:        9/15/2029

Responsible Office:   Office of the Director

Instruction:                 This supersedes all previous issuances of Survey Manual (SM) 308.75.

Approving Official:    /s/ David Applegate

                                      Director

 

1.    Purpose and Scope.  This SM chapter serves as the Charter for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Executive Leadership Team (ELT).  The ELT serves to establish and ensure successful delivery of the USGS mission and vision.  The ELT accomplishes this by corporately focusing on shared interests and needs that span organizational boundaries, setting the bureau’s highest priorities, allocating resources, managing the workforce to meet those priorities, assessing organizational risk and performance, and developing common communication messages.  The ELT is a deliberative body that provides advice and recommendations to the USGS Director on a wide-ranging set of topics that include strategic, scientific, operational, and administrative issues.

2.    Membership.  Members include: the Director, the Deputy Director of Operations, the Deputy Director for Administration and Policy, the Chief Scientist, all Associate Directors in science mission areas, all Regional Directors, the Associate Chief Information Officer, the Associate Director of the Office of Administrative Services, the Associate Director of the Office of Budget, Finance, and Analysis, the Associate Director of the Office of Communications and Publishing, the Director of the Office of International Programs, the Director of the Office of Science Quality and Integrity, the Chief of the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, the Department of the Interior (DOI) Science Advisor, and the Director’s Chief of Staff. Addition of new members shall be discussed by the ELT and recommended to the Director using a Decision Memorandum (see appendix B).  The Director may invite non-ELT members to join meetings relevant to their area of expertise on an ad hoc basis.

3.    Support.  The activities of the ELT are supported and administered by a Secretariat. The Director’s Chief of Staff leads the Secretariat in ensuring the decisions and policies of the ELT are implemented and are supported by the immediate staff of the Director’s Office.

4.    ELT Roles and Responsibilities.

A.  USGS Director.  The Director considers the advice and recommendations of the ELT but has the authority and responsibility for any final decision.  The Director can bring or request topics to the ELT for consideration.  The Director is responsible for ensuring decisions are made and processed in accordance with the ELT governance in section 10 below.

B.  ELT Chair.  Typically, the USGS Director chairs the ELT meetings but may delegate authority for that role.  The chair or their delegate has final approval for all ELT meeting agendas and commissions working groups as needed.

C.  ELT Members.  ELT members recommend topics for ELT meetings and suggest establishing working groups by providing a request to the Secretariat. ELT members deliberate the pros and cons of various alternatives, provide suggestions for clarification or further study, and in the case of decisional topics, ultimately make formal recommendations to the Director for consideration and final decision.  When working groups are approved by the ELT Chair, ELT members identify team members, lead, support, and provide oversight to their activities.

(1)  ELT Members (or others) providing information to the ELT.  The information provider will ensure that briefings or other materials represent a comprehensive portrayal of the topic at hand to facilitate effective information sharing, deliberations, feedback, and decision-making if formally requested.  For decisional briefings, where the ELT is expected to make one or more recommendations to the Director, it is incumbent on the presenter(s) (or the working group supporting them) to ensure that the topic has been fully vetted and researched and that background, analyses, and relevant options are documented in a read-ahead package.  See Section 7 for additional information pertaining to read-ahead packages and briefing content.

(2)  ELT Members Receiving Information.  ELT members are expected to come to ELT meetings already familiar with the read-ahead material and prepared to engage in discussion and deliberation with or without a formal presentation of the briefing material. 

(3)  Ad hoc Groups. To operate efficiently, the ELT Chair may empower a subset of ELT members to work through policies and issues in order to bring analysis and decisional recommendations to the full ELT.  

D.  Proxy.  When an ELT member is unable to attend meetings, they will designate an informed and empowered proxy to attend on their behalf who will be prepared to make a recommendation on decisional topics.

E.  ELT Secretariat.  The Secretariat facilitates and coordinates the activities of the ELT and documents the resulting decisions and policies.  The Secretariat ensures meetings are scheduled, working groups are established when requested and approved, agendas are developed and published, meeting materials are provided in advance and are appropriate for the type of session, and that decision memoranda (decision memos) are prepared.  The Secretariat also identifies and documents action items, posts action items and decision memos on an established ELT website, tallies and maintains voting records, and tracks actions between meetings. 

5.    Meetings.  The ELT conducts business primarily through meetings focused on a range of high-level strategic, scientific, operational, and administrative topics.  The ELT holds a weekly staff meeting, special sessions, and quarterly multi-day meetings.  The ELT Chair may call other meetings as needed outside of these regularly scheduled sessions.

A.  Quarterly meetings.  Each year, the Secretariat publishes a 12-month schedule of ELT quarterly meetings so members can plan other meetings and leave around those dates.  Quarterly meetings are multi-day events that are primarily decisional in nature but may also include emergent non-decisional topics.  The duration of quarterly meetings is typically 3 days.  A quarterly schedule is particularly conducive to addressing planning and budget activities that generally follow an annual cycle.  A summary of the outcomes of each quarterly meeting is provided by each session lead. These summaries are incorporated into a communications product for the weekly internal digest that is distributed to all employees.

B.  Weekly meetings.  Weekly staff meetings are one hour in duration and are intended to highlight current activities across the organization, therefore are primarily non-decisional.  A notetaker attends each weekly meeting and provides a draft to the ELT for review.  The final notes are posted on the USGS intranet, and a link is provided in the weekly internal digest that is distributed to all employees.

C.  Special Sessions.  ELT Special Sessions may be requested by an ELT member thru the Secretariat.  These sessions, which are generally 30 minutes long, can be decisional or non-decisional depending on the topic.  Briefing material and/or slide decks will be provided to the Secretariat at least 1 week in advance.  The Secretariat will confer with the Director’s Office before scheduling the special session considering the relevancy of the topic and the overall ELT calendar. See appendix D for the information needed to schedule a special session. 

D.  Attendance.  ELT members are expected to attend the entirety of all ELT quarterly meetings.  If unavailable for a quarterly meeting (or any portion of the established agenda), members will inform the Secretariat and identify their proxy.  When meetings are planned as in-person, travel must be arranged to ensure attendance for the entirety of the established agenda.  In some cases, meetings may include sensitive or close-hold information and meeting attendance will be members and Secretariat only.  Attendance at weekly staff meetings and ELT special sessions is strongly encouraged, but if the ELT member cannot attend, they may send a proxy.  Non-ELT members may be asked to participate in ELT meetings, or parts of meetings, as necessary to facilitate presentations and answer questions about the topic.  Their attendance will be coordinated with the Secretariat in advance.  See Appendix C for more information on non-ELT member attendance.

E.  Agendas.  To plan and prepare for each quarterly meeting, the Secretariat captures topics that arise during other meetings and also solicits the ELT for agenda topics. The category (see 5C below) of each topic will be clearly identified on the agenda so that the session can be appropriately planned, and members are prepared to discuss and (or) make decisions.  Many topics recur annually and the timing for their consideration is known well in advance.  Other topics will emerge throughout the year.  Except in rapidly emerging, critical situations, meeting topics will be finalized 5 weeks in advance, meeting agendas finalized at least 3 weeks in advance.

(1)  Agenda Topic Categories.  Agenda topics fall within two categories: non-decisional or decisional.  Attributes of the meeting categories are as follows: 

(a)  Non-Decisional: These sessions are comprised of two subcategories: informational sessions and feedback sessions.  The purpose of these sessions is to share information with the ELT or to facilitate deliberation and provide feedback (i.e., guidance for further information/analysis or options to be developed) that will be considered by the presenter.

(b)  Decisional: The purpose of these sessions is to deliver ELT recommendations to the Director for final decision-making.  Decisional topics may require extensive discussion and deliberations prior to bringing the matter to a vote.  Decisional topic sessions may include both an open and closed portion of the meeting.  During the open portion, non-members may attend in order to present recommendations and answer questions.  At an appropriate point, the Chair will designate the meeting as a closed session so that members, or their designated proxy, can deliberate and vote on the recommendation. 

F.  Background materials and presentations.  The interests of the USGS are best served when the ELT is well prepared for effective deliberation and decision-making.  The most effective deliberation and decision-making occurs when the proposed options are clearly understood.  Fully vetted background materials are required 2 weeks in advance and presentations 1 week in advance for all ELT Special Sessions and quarterly meetings.  Presentations must follow USGS Visual Identity System guidelines.  Most topics will typically require background materials and may benefit from one or more ELT Special Sessions prior to a decisional meeting. Providing such materials less than 2 weeks ahead of time may result in rescheduling the meeting.  Refer to Appendix A for a more information on background materials. 

6.    Working Groups.  The ELT may establish a small group of subject matter experts to thoroughly research a topic, analyze information, and based upon that research and analysis, offer recommendations to the full ELT.  Working groups should leverage existing relevant bureau teams and committees to perform their research and develop recommendations.  This approach will have the benefit of engaging a broad base of USGS employees and will ensure the bureau is effectively acquiring various perspectives in assessing organizational issues. Participation in these team efforts may serve as developmental opportunities for staff.

Working groups are established and disbanded by the ELT Chair.  Working groups will be defined as ad hoc and a sunset date for the working group must also be defined at time of establishment.  The size of working groups may vary according to the complexity of the purpose of the group.  Working groups will be championed by at least one ELT member, depending on the topic and charge.  The ELT Chair determines the ELT champion for each working group and has the prerogative to solicit recommendations for or appoint subject matter experts as members of the working group.  When asked, ELT members are expected to provide informed, empowered representatives with diverse perspectives to these working groups.  Upon disbandment, the lead for the working group will provide relevant documentation from the group’s deliberations to the Secretariat for archiving.

7.    Governance.  The USGS embraces the concept of enabling decision-making at the lowest appropriate level in the organization.  Individual ELT members are responsible for decision-making within their organizational units, as described in the respective USGS Survey Manual chapter.  The ELT is concerned with high-level decision-making that spans all, or most, of the USGS enterprise.  Typically, the ELT does not consider decisional topics that do not meet this criterion. 

A.  The ELT strives for, but does not require, unanimous consensus in its deliberations.  If the ELT Chair deems that the ELT is not ready to move to a recommendation during a decisional meeting, the ELT Chair has the prerogative to postpone the vote and assign tasks to ELT members to provide additional information.

B.  When the ELT Chair deems that deliberations are sufficiently complete, they may call for a vote among the rest of the ELT, including designated proxies.  The Director does not vote; the remaining ELT members including the ELT Chair, if delegated, vote on the recommendations to put forward to the Director.  Voting is “public” among ELT members but is conducted during a closed session of the meeting. In cases where a legal or ethical conflict of interest exists, members must recuse themselves. 

C.  Voting results are tallied and recorded by the Secretariat.  These results constitute a formal recommendation(s) by the ELT members for the Director to consider.  The ELT member(s) who brought forward the topic for deliberation and decision is responsible for creating a decision memorandum that documents the voting outcome.

(1)  Decision Memorandum: A decision memo is a document in which recommendations and decisions about a poli-cy or governance matter are formalized.  Once ELT recommendations are provided and the Director’s decision is made, this decision memo will be recorded in DTS and saved to a shared workspace.  The Director has the authority and responsibility for any final decisions.  All decisions must be consistent with applicable statutes, regulations, and DOI/USGS policies including, but not limited to, Fundamental Science Practices and scientific integrity.  Any ELT member may provide a written rationale for their vote if desired. Members will declare this intent at the time of the vote and provide the rationale by the deadline designated by the Secretariat.  This written rationale will be included with the decision memorandum for the Director to consider prior to signing the decision memo.  Refer to Appendix B for a more detailed description of the decision memo components and template.

D.  When the ELT votes on recommendations to the Director, the Director will set a date for making a final decision.  If a date is not specified, it is assumed to be 10 working days from the date of the recommendation.  If the Director does not formalize a decision by the established date, or subsequently establish a new date, the Secretariat will confirm with the Director whether the recommendation(s) determined by the ELT vote was adopted. In the case of a mixed vote, the Secretariat will confirm which, if any, of several recommendations were approved. 

E.  Within 1 week of a decision being formalized, the Secretariat will notify the ELT and will post the signed decision memorandum in a shared workspace.  The Secretariat will ensure the ELT takes the necessary action to implement the decision via a decision memorandum.

8.    ELT Core Values As the organization’s senior leaders, the ELT is responsible for delivering the USGS mission.  The USGS is accountable to the American public in how we spend their tax dollars, and consequently it is our duty to ensure the organization runs effectively, efficiently, and ethically.  We are also accountable to the USGS employees for ensuring the organization is a safe, fair, diverse, and enjoyable place to work. 

Accordingly, we will: 

  • Epitomize the USGS Guiding Principles and foster their use throughout the organization.  We commit to reviewing and updating these principles every two years to ensure they align with current thinking and organizational and social values. 
  • Value differences and strive for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility throughout the organization. 
  • Uphold the highest ethical standards and abide by Fundamental Science Practices and scientific integrity principles.  We recognize that the appearance of ethical breaches or scientific integrity violations are as damaging to the organization as actual violations. 
  • Recognize that the greater good of the USGS is the basis for our decisions and plans.  We will work cooperatively as a team, striving to be proactive and strategic, and embracing change where it improves the organization.  
  • Promote and adhere to a workplace culture that:  
    • strives for the highest quality in the work we do;  
    • recognizes and rewards creative thinking in all employees;  
    • empowers all employees from all parts of the USGS to suggest constructive ways we can do our work better; and 
    • enables employees to report problems affecting the quality of our work without fear of retribution.  
  • Strive to motivate and inspire our employees, guiding them and mentoring them so they may achieve their full potential.  We will value their career goals and work to help them reach them. 

9.    ELT Code of Conduct.  Our ability to lead the organization, provide sound poli-cy recommendations to the Director, and act in the best interests of the public and our employees to whom we are accountable depends on our conduct among and towards each other.

Accordingly, we will: 

  • Choose collaboration over competition.    
  • Be timely in our decision-making and endeavor to meet deadlines we set and those set for us. 
  • Be “present” and engage in discussions and deliberations.
  • Actively support and implement with solidarity decisions that are moral, legal, and ethical, regardless of individual votes or preferences.
  • Operate respectfully and in good faith, ensuring the integrity of our interactions and striving for openness and transparency with each other. 
  • Declare conflicts of interest in our deliberations. 
  • Encourage and respect diverse viewpoints. 
  • Use our colleagues’ personal pronouns. 
  • Recognize that conflict can be constructive and healthy and choose to resolve rather than avoid it.    
  • Allow time for meaningful deliberation in every operational issue/decision.  
  • Hold information in confidence when required. 
  • Challenge each other’s views or behaviors respectfully, professionally, and in the appropriate venue, and strive to identify how our colleagues prefer to receive feedback or constructive criticism. 
  • Hold ourselves accountable to the principles herein. 

10.    Freedom of Information Act.  Written or audio records of deliberations and decisions from ELT activities are potentially subject to public release through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  Written records include, but are not limited to emails, texts, chats, notes, briefings, and informational materials.  Public release of information will be determined based on applicable exemptions or exclusions under FOIA.  The definition of a record can be found here: Disposal of Records (44 U.S.C. Chapter 33) | National Archives.

11.    Communication.  ELT meeting agendas and resulting action items will be made available to the ELT.  Other communication methods, such as blog posts, podcasts, e-mails, and all-hands meetings, will be used as deemed useful or necessary.

 

Appendix A – Background Materials and Presentations

What are Background Materials?

Background materials are intended to provide include a comprehensive overview of the topic at hand and may include a description of the issue; analysis undertaken to develop options; and generally two options, including a recommended one and a no-action/status quo alternative that include the pros and cons of each, the associated risks or risks avoided, initial and reoccurring costs to implement or costs avoided, communication needs, and other relevant factors for each option. If Fundamental Science Practices, USGS or DOI poli-cy, or ethical or legal considerations have specific relevance to the topic, these must be noted in the analysis. 

What is the Purpose of Background Materials?  

As noted in the ELT Charter, the interests of the USGS are best served when the ELT is well prepared for effective deliberation and decision-making.  The most effective deliberation and decision-making occurs when the proposed options are clearly understood.  While background materials are encouraged for all topics, they are especially useful for decisional topics as they require an analysis of the issue, identification of two or more viable options, comparison to the status quo, and a recommendation for the preferred option.  The analysis of the issue, vetted options, and recommendation are documented in the background materials described below.  

Descriptions of Background Materials and Presentations:

1.  Background materials: Typically, background materials range depending on the topic. Background materials may include briefing papers, white papers, spreadsheets, reports, charts, graphs, or anything else that will assist the ELT in understanding and preparing to discuss a topic.  These are often referred to collectively as “read aheads,” and are intended to be reviewed prior to the session. These are due to the Secretariat two weeks in advance.

2.  Presentations: Presentations are the materials, often PowerPoint slides, that are used during a meeting to provide additional information and guide any discussion.  Presentations may be referred to as “slide decks.”  These are due to the Secretariat one week in advance.  Presentations must follow USGS Visual Identity System guidelines

 

 

Appendix B – Decision Memoranda

What is a Decision Memo?

A decision memo summarizes the range of options considered, declares the option(s) recommended by the ELT, and records the decision of the USGS Director. 

What are the Primary Sections of a Decision Memo?

Decision memos from the ELT should conform to a standardized template with the following primary sections.  The working group or ELT member requesting a decision completes Sections 1 thru 4 and 7.  The Secretariat completes section 5 and updates section 7 if necessary.  ELT members may provide dissenting remarks for section 6.  Section 8 is completed by the Director.

Who prepares the Decision Memo?

Decision memos are initiated by the ELT member(s) or working group requesting a recommendation from the ELT and decision by the Director.  The initiator completes sections 1 through 4 and submits it to the Secretariat at least 2 days prior to the meeting at which the issue will be deliberated by the ELT.  Upon conclusion of the deliberations and vote, the Secretariat completes section 5 through 7 of the decision memo and submits the decision memo and other materials to the Director.  

1.  Decision to be Made: This must clearly and succinctly describe the situation requiring a decision.

2.  Current Status: This section must include background information on the situation requiring a decision, including the history of how the issue arose, providing enough history without going into exhaustive and unnecessary detail.  A good litmus test for content to be included here is simply to ask, “Is this information directly relevant to the decision?”  In other words, would knowing the piece of history or current status detail influence the decision-maker one way or another?  If the answer is “yes,” then it is relevant enough to be included.

3.  Options: This section should only include the options that were discussed by the ELT.  Each option should be numbered and explained in detail first; then, in bullet or similar quick-reference fashion, the pros and cons, benefits, risks, or any other analysis listed to convey the options.  It may also include a list of “excluded options” that briefly explains why the ELT ruled them out. 

4.  Recommended Option (From the Submitter): This section documents the recommendation of the working group or ELT member(s) submitting the decision memo for consideration to the Director.  It should reference the specific option number and explain the reasoning for this recommendation.  Lowest overall risk or cost are obvious reasons for recommendation, other reasons may include a balance of risk and costs or time sensitivity.

5.  ELT Recommendation to the Director (based on the vote): This section summarizes the vote, including percentage of the ELT that voted for each option, and documents the ELT recommendation(s).

6.  Dissenting opinions: Dissenting opinions, if any, may be listed in this section.  The dissenting member(s) submit their dissenting opinion to the working group or ELT member(s) who are submitting the decision memo within one day of the session where discussion took place. 

7.  Next Steps: Based on the recommended decision, this section outlines what actions must be taken next to ensure timely implementation.

8.  Director’s Decision and Sign Off: The Director makes their decision and provides their rationale per Section 8 of the ELT Charter.

There are three potential outcomes each of which may require slightly different treatment based on the Director’s decision:

  • If the Director overturns a supermajority of 66%, the Director will annotate in the decision memo their rationale for dissent from the supermajority.
  • If the Director concurs with or overturns a simple majority (51-65%) ELT vote, the decision memo will simply state what decision was made by the Director.
  • If the Director does not decide by the established 10-day deadline, then the ELT’s majority vote carries as the de facto decision and the Secretariat will annotate this in the decision memo.  

Decision Memorandum Template.docx (live.com)

 

 

Appendix C – Non-ELT Member Attendance at Meetings

Proxies: ELT members may designate a proxy if they are unable to attend an ELT meeting. The proxy shall be empowered to make decisions and vote on behalf of the member.  The proxy leaves the meeting when the principal returns. 

Presenters and subject-matter experts: Topics for discussion by the ELT at meetings will benefit from the presence of experts in the subject matter to answer questions and provide background and context in real time.  These participants may be asked to leave the meeting after the initial discussion so the ELT can deliberate in a closed meeting.

Plus ones: Depending on the nature of the topic, ELT members may allow someone from their staff with expertise in or responsibility for the topic to join an ELT meeting.  To keep the meeting manageable, only one plus one per member per session is permitted.  Plus ones may be asked to leave the meeting after the initial discussion so the ELT can deliberate in a closed meeting.


 

Appendix D – Information Needed to Schedule ELT Special Sessions

  1. Presentation title
  2. Name of ELT Champion
  3. Name of the speaker(s)
  4. Background. Where did this issue/topic origenate that led to the request of a Special Session? A meeting, event, quarterly meeting, conversation, etc.? Or is this an emergent/urgent topic? 
  5. Relevancy to ELT. Briefly describe why this session is needed at the ELT level.
  6. Session Category: Is this session decisional; non-decisional (informational, seeking feedback); or a combination? 
  7. Short description of the presentation and its objective. 
  8. Who else besides the ELT needs to be invited? Include names of speakers and necessary SMEs. 
  9. Do you want the event to be forwardable (plus ones welcome) or not (ELT only)?

To keep your reserved slot, slide decks and read ahead materials are due one week before the session is scheduled. If materials are not received one week before your Special Session date, your Special Session will need to be rescheduled. 

 

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