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Good Strategies for Bad Board Members

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“Jake” was eager to get involved with his favorite nonprofit’s outreach program, so he jumped at the invitation to become a board member. Once on the board, it became apparent that he had his own agenda: he did not understand the organizational mission and goals, wasn’t prepared at board meetings, and became combative when other directors disagreed with him.

Jake was not a good board member, and something had to be done.

It’s an unfortunate situation to find yourself on a board with a troublesome, obstructive person. Often, organizations invite these good-hearted people onto boards because they have community connections, free time, or are simply passionate about the organizational mission. Many don’t realize that board service is a big job which requires an understanding of legal and governance responsibilities, as well as some leadership skills.

Not every volunteer is a good fit for a nonprofit board of directors, and it can be difficult for these individuals to recognize their own shortcomings. In the article, “12 Reasons Why You Should Gracefully Resign from a Nonprofit Board”, Gene Takagi writes, “failure to meet your duties may be holding back the organization from better advancing its charitable mission and serving its intended beneficiaries.” Jake clearly did not understand his role, and his presence was reducing organizational efficiency.

To reduce the risk of inviting a person to serve on your board who doesn’t understand their role, provide them with a clear job description prior to their start date. This reduces the chances that they will be surprised about time, energy, and resource expectations. You can email Spokes for a board of director job template.

A board needs to operate as a whole unit to accomplish its very important work. When one member shirks their duties, the entire board suffers. There are a few ways to work through board member challenges.

  • Meet 1-1
    If you have a “Jake” who keeps the board in disarray, the board chair, and another executive committee member can use conflict resolution techniques to have a personal conversation with the member to try to understand and alleviate the issues.
  • Use term limits
    If personal life challenges or volunteering fatigue are affecting a board member, board service term limits provide a non-confrontational way to ease ineffective or challenging directors off the board.
  • Look to your bylaws
    Your bylaws should clearly state reasons to remove a board member, such as unexcused absences, unruly behavior, or conflicts of interest. If a director can’t accomplish their duties due to a temporary problem, a short-term leave of absence might be a solution. However, if this is disruptive to board business or causes quorum issues, it might be best to ask the person to resign.

Nonprofit organizations need strong board leadership so organizations can provide crucial services for our community. Spokes members who are eager to learn about board service responsibilities can log in on Spokes website to watch the Best Practices in Nonprofit Management video series. We recommend watching them during board meetings for full participation. These short, accessible videos will ensure that your organization is meeting all federal compliance requirements, achieving the highest standards of responsible governance and operating with full accountability to your donors, clients, and employees.

Does Your Board Work or Govern?

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Do you know if your board is a working board or a governing board? Although we use these terms all the time, this is a trick question! All boards are governing boards. Their first and foremost responsibility is managing the organization: making policy and strategy decisions, overseeing and monitoring organizational performance, and ensuring accountability. Volunteer-run or small-staffed organizations’ board members may also have working responsibilities in addition to governance responsibilities, such as program delivery. Because program delivery is often the most fun part of the job, it’s natural to want to focus your time and energy on direct service.

However, things get sticky when procedures, policies, and roles aren’t clearly defined. When board members disagree on the difference between the “must do” responsibilities and the “nice to do” activities, it can cause friction or result in compliance issues.

It may be time to review your activities and ensure that governance comes first if:
• your board meetings continually go off topic,
• committee updates take more than ten minutes of a board meeting, or
• your board spends more time discussing details than big picture items.

Spokes’ Board Academy provides the perfect opportunity to explore:

• Board Member roles and responsibilities
• Governance to achieve your mission
• Legal responsibilities of board service

Whether you’ve served on your board for one year or ten years, this training will give you new tools and knowledge to make your board function more effectively.

Want to learn more about working versus governing boards? Compass Point has more to say on the subject here: https://www.compasspoint.org/board-cafe/working-board-vs-governing-board

Getting Board Members to Agree

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Consensus. Harmony. Unity. These are the goals of every nonprofit board. Unfortunately, they are rarely part of their reality. So, how does a board leader honor every individual around the table while encouraging them all to move forward in agreement?

In his recent article for Fast Company, “This Is Why Your Passive-Aggressive Office Note Didn’t Work,” Shane Snow suggests that understanding each individual’s outer and inner expectations is the key to creating group agreement. Snow cites a framework presented in author Gretchen Rubin’s latest book, The Four Tendencies, that identifies different personalities and how best to empathize with and appeal to those personalities–rather than avoid them or fight them.

• Upholders will do anything to meet a work deadline (an outer expectation) and also their New Year’s resolution (an inner expectation). They’re self-starters and highly reliable, but they can be defensive and rigid.
• Questioners tend to be good at meeting their inner expectations, but they need to be convinced why to do something before doing it, this way they can decide for themselves whether it’s worth doing. They’re comfortable bucking the system but can suffer from analysis paralysis and get impatient with people who just accept things as they are.
• Obligers are motivated above all else by helping others and by following rules. They can be counted on as responsible but can have trouble imposing limits or saying “no.”
• Rebels are motivated by freedom of choice and self-expression. They don’t want to be told what to do; they want to decide what to do. They’re great at being independent, spontaneous, and creative but not at being disciplined.

Read his entire article here to learn more about your own personality type, better identify the personalities of your peers, and gain strategies to use this framework to create more true consensus in the board room, with your colleagues, and in your personal relationships, too!

The Secret to Successful Board Meetings?

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The Secret to Successful Board Meetings? Great Facilitation.

Think back to the last time someone invited you to sit on a nonprofit board. If you’re like most folks, the first thing that popped into your mind was something related to board meetings… how many board meetings do I have to attend, how long are they, will I be wasting my time…?

No one joins a board because they want to go to board meetings; folks join boards because they want to help make the organization’s mission a reality. But, here’s the catch:

Well-attended and well-facilitated board meetings are critical to the organization’s ability to achieve its goals.

So, now, think back to the last board meeting you attended. Did you leave the meeting feeling it achieved something valuable in pushing the organization towards its goals? Did you feel your time was well-spent? Did you walk out of the meeting with understanding and agreement on what actions were needed from your colleagues and you? Were you glad you attended and proud of your affiliation with the organization?

No? Not exactly? Do you relate to the cartoon above?

If so, there’s a good chance that your organization is making a few cardinal mistakes that sabotage the nearly 11 million meetings held in the US each day:

  1. Failing to design your meeting agenda for success – a task that begins at least a week before your meeting.
  2. Failing to properly prepare meeting participants by sharing your agenda and relevant information prior to the meeting.
  3. Failing to understand how groups make decisions. Not supporting the process required for the particular action/decision your group is considering.

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