Working With Your Board

Creating Partnerships That Work

MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP

MANAGEMENT• MaintainStatus Quo(Mission)

LEADERSHIP

Staff’s Roles

MANAGEMENT• Maintain Status

Quo(Mission)

LEADERSHIP• Create &

ManageChange(Vision)

Staff’s Roles

MANAGEMENT:Ensuring

Dependable Mission Delivery

LEADERSHIP:Achieving Vision

Inside the Mission

Board’s Roles

GOVERNANCE LEADERSHIP

Governance Role

GOVERNANCE:Ensuring Public’s Trust for Mission

Delivery,Finances & Funding

Leadership Role

LEADERSHIP:Setting Strategic

Vision to Increase Impact

Partnership Roles

Board Roles

Staff Roles

Mission Driven Vision Driven

LeadershipManagement

Governance Leadership

Board & Staff Management Tasks

• Hire and support CEO• Monitor / oversee all activities, esp’ly fiscal• Ensure legal / ethical compliance• Recruit, orient & develop board• Organize / run the board / set policy

• Hire & direct staff• Implement operational plans• Orient & develop staff• Prevent & solve problems• Organize & share in fundraising

MANAGEMENT

GOVERNANCE

Board & Staff Leadership Tasks

•Create vision with ownership• Strategic / operational planning• Build board “bench strength”• Board / CEO succession planning• Provide counsel & support to CEO & staff

• Manage strategically• Secure long-term resources & alliances• Build staff “bench strength”• Develop & track success metrics• Create new opportunitiesSTAFF

LEADERSHIP

BOARDLEADERSHIP

Board-Staff Partnership Actions

Mission Delivery / Operations:• Most boards are there because of the

mission – this is both good and bad news.• Good because you want and usually get

their passion and support • Bad because they want to spend most of

their time talking about operations instead of resources

Mission Delivery / Operations:

Suggested actions: 1.) Get the board to co-create program metrics 2.) Emphasize outcome reports, not processes3.) Engage board in new program development when

needed, but bring in outside experts to help in design when possible

4.) Focus them on tying funding sources to programs5.) Periodically educate them with field trips, internal

speakers and client testimonials at board meetings

Board-Staff Partnership Actions

Financial Oversight:• Keep detailed review with the

finance committee, spend adequate but minimal time on financial reports at board meetings.

Financial Oversight:

Suggested Actions:1.) There should be 3 – 4 pieces of paper with the finance report:

- a monthly statement of activities preferably with YTD budget and actual for comparison- a monthly statement of financial position (balance sheet)- a cover page written by the board treasurer that lists any unusual activity and key financial indicators - and, if necessary, a cash flow estimate (not needed if the organization has no problems)

2.) If there is no CPA board member, recruit one to finance committee

Board-Staff Partnership Actions

Fundraising:• It is the rare board member and

an even rarer board that is both willing and effective at fundraising – staff has to find ways to make it easy to get involved.

Fundraising:

Suggested Actions:1.) Recruit at least 25% of your board with fundraising

skills2.) Educate the board at least annually in some aspect of

fundraising3.) Develop a policy of 100% board personal giving 4.) Engage your board in team asks with you or

development staff5.) Find ways to involve board members in some aspect

of fundraising

Board-Staff Partnership Actions

Planning:• Strategic planning can be a chore,

but it is the surest way to move your organization forward, instead of just going with the flow. Oftentimes, the impetus for planning comes from staff.

Planning:

Suggested Actions:1.) Educate yourself on how to do planning and do it; even if it’s

not strategic, you’ll build planning muscle2.) Recruit business members to the board to have a champion or

two3.) Hold one annual retreat each year on some topic of import to

the board, a couple of months before start of fiscal / program year

4.) Use your operational plan to report status to the board at least quarterly

5.) Hire an outside professional planning facilitator – use of staff or board is seldom satisfying

Board-Staff Partnership Actions

Micromanagement:• This is less common than

disengagement, but every bit as dysfunctional and contributes significantly to staff dissatisfaction.

Micromanagement:

Suggested Actions:1.) Hire an outside trainer to educate the board on its

roles2.) Conduct a board self-assessment (e.g., with

BoardSource instrument)3.) Get the board involved in the activities listed above4.) Have your CPA, attorney or risk manager talk to the

board about the increased liability incurred (especially in HR matters)

5.) If it’s bad enough, resign, letting them know why

Continuum of Board Involvement

Board Over-Involvement

Hijacking the organization for personal agendas Micromanagement

Responsible partnership and effectivegovernance & leadership

Rubber stamp for the ED

Absentee landlords

Board Under-Involvement