In the last 15 years of working closely with a number of boards, I am always surprised when a new horror story from the boardroom arises. I mean, shouldn’t I have seen it or heard it all by now? Clearly not, given the stories I hear on a disturbingly regular basis.
Nonprofit boards are complex beasts. Just when you think everything is smooth sailing, they rear their ugly heads to remind you who’s boss.
In all seriousness and graciousness, though, there are SOME boards doing the work, engaging in appropriate and useful ways, having the tough conversations, and making the difficult decisions. I just wish these stories weren’t the exceptions to the rule. A girl can dream…and also continue working to be part of the solution!
Until then, I hope to bring you a laugh or two this Halloween season and a healthy dose of “you’re not alone” virtual hugs as I share a few of the tales over the next three weeks that have come my way because others have been brave enough to share.
Tale 1:
The meeting was scheduled for 10 a.m. on a Saturday, but before the chair called the meeting to order, everyone sat around the table talking about their week. After 30 minutes, one of the newest board members finally got up the courage to ask if they were waiting for something. The chair shared that the board secretary was going to be late and that there would be nobody to take the minutes until he arrived, so they’d give it a few more minutes.
The new board member was annoyed. She wasn’t going to give up her weekend due to poor time management. The board meets every other month, and this was her second meeting where things were significantly delayed because of one person who was running late. She wondered why other board members didn’t feel the same way, particularly when there was a quorum and business could move forward. The chair proudly shared, “You’ll learn soon that we’re an informal group. We aren’t rigid and uptight with schedules.” After finally calling the meeting to order at 10:45 a.m., the chair handed out an agenda with more than 15 items on it, most of which were discussion items.
The board meeting ended at 2:30 p.m. On the bright side, pizza was ordered for lunch.