Dear Association Executive:

Recently on the American Society of Association Executive’s (ASAE) Executive Section listserv, there have been many questions about how to get the board out of the minutiae in order to find time to work on strategic direction or Ends policy. The board’s focus on the day-to-day is not their fault (entirely.) Board members want to to a good job. But most have learned the traditional approach of board service — showing up at meetings, approving staff work and debating whether or not the office can afford a new copier.

When your board is busy with staff reports, committee reports and working on day-to-day operations, they don’t have the time to focus on strategy or governing. Board members come to your meetings with dozens of other competing priorities and thinking about their own business or family decisions. Once they get to your meeting, the agenda is full of operational (staff) reports or decisions. Is it any wonder board members default into operational mode?

Hildy Gottlieb at Help4Nonprofits.com says it’s like running a ship. You, dear Association Executive, are the captain. You manage the crew, read the charts, navigate and ensure the safety of crew, ship and cargo. You make sure the cargo is delivered. The board’s role is representing the owners of the ship. The board decides what kind of ship, what cargo it will haul, where that cargo will go, to what customers and at what cost. They monitor performance based on how well you deliver. Too often, the board thinks they’re supposed to be captains. When you have nothing but captains on a ship, you have anarchy! (Plus, you sacrifice some much needed crew.)

The board’s job isn’t to run the organization. That’s what they hired you (the captain) to do. The board actually has its own job and it’s not an “extension” of yours. Their job (and their added value) is to represent the owners of the organization (people who expect certain outcomes or results.) This can be the community at large or a specific, defined group of stakeholders such as a neighborhood or micro business owners. In other words, they represent a subset of the community and sit at the board table on behalf of those who are not there. They are representatives.

My point is that, most board members don’t know that their job is representing and governing on behalf of those they represent.

if board members don’t know what their constituents think, how can they represent them? How do stakeholders have a voice in where your organization is headed? How does the board know unless they ask? Their job is to provide that vital link to the owners or stakeholders or their constituency.

Most board members don’t have a clue that that’s what they’re supposed to do. And, that’s what makes your job more difficult.

John Carver (author of Boards that Make a Difference) describes a traditional nonprofit board of directors as a group of competent individuals who get together to do incompetent things. Nonprofit board members tend to think that a nonprofit is a different animal than a for-profit. This perception is to the detriment of the organization. A nonprofit is an artificial entity created for the purpose of some pursuit — a corporation. The law gives corporations a great deal of power. For-profit corporations recognize this.

For some reason, nonprofits seem to think they have little or no power. Nonprofits have as much power as the board believes they have.

You can unleash that power by helping your board see a vision of what they can become when they’re not busy swabbing the decks and running the crew. Good board members are hard to find and harder to keep. Let’s not drive them away with mind-numbing operational matters.

Very sincerely,

Sherry

Insights into group dynamics are essential to facilitators to successfully accomplish the purpose of the meeting.

Facilitators should have a working knowledge of organizational behavior.

Organizational behavior is the applied discipline of understanding individual behavior in groups, group process and facilitating individuals in groups to work more effectively and efficiently. As a field of study, organizational behavior integrates psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics and political science. As applied in practice, organizational behavior helps facilitators motivate and encourage people in the group to be flexible and innovative as well as work together successfully.

As a facilitator, I need to understand the principles and stages of group development to cultivate effective group process and decision-making. In some situations, the group does not necessarily need to become a team but some teambuilding is advantageous. My strategies for the groups depend on what stage the group is in – forming, norming, storming, or performing (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forming-storming-norming-performing for more information). In addition, I need to observe group behavior throughout a session in order to create participation.

A facilitator will find it inherently useful to understand the culture within an organization. The organization’s culture is like societal culture and is comprised of a variety of things such as values, beliefs, norms, experiences, attitudes, artifacts (stories, rites and rituals) and patterns of behavior.

Functionally, organizational behavior becomes an organizational control mechanism that informally defines what is acceptable and what is not.

For facilitators, understanding organizational culture provides a powerful level for guiding group behavior. Each organization’s dominant culture is unique and can contain subcultures and countercultures.

As a facilitator I have observed that subgroups often form in a group that’s in the storming stage of development. This state occurs when members of the group find that they like some members but not others. The group is divided into factions. The storming stage is the most difficult stage to facilitate since it is full of tension and emotion. The best approaches I have found in this situation is to surface all the problems (get the “dead moose” off the table), create norms that make it safe to discuss the problems and encourage members to debate in a non-personal way. The worst thing is ignoring the situation, attempting to avert arguments or becoming authoritarian. The group will end up focusing its energy on being dissatisfied with me rather than solving its problems. I need to remain clear that I am not taking the group’s behavior personally and accept that tension is normal.

Again, I most often encounter subcultures or countercultures in groups during the storming stage. When interpersonal aspects overshadow getting the job done, I need to bring people’s attention back to process and help people learn group skills. I need to help the group identify their differences or issues and solve them together. I need to stay neutral and totally calm in order to best facilitate communication in this situation.

I use a number of process tools as a facilitator to create effective communication and feedback in a group.

I use:

• appreciative inquiry (for more on appreciative inquiry go to http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/intro/whatisai.cfm),
•  gap analysishttp://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_gap_analysis.htm),
• decision grids, priority setting, surveys and survey feedback, force-field analysis, fishbone (or root-cause) analysis and many others.

The tool that I choose depends on the job at hand and the group’s stage of development.

I am constantly learning about group behaviors, theories of group interactions and group processes.

My personal vision for every group is to integrate the shared commonalities and align the wonderful differences within a group.

In reality, this is not always achievable but a purposeful direction is necessary. If I can at least cultivate a sense of shared group responsibility and move a group toward the collaborative or performing stage, I believe I am successful.

Assessing Organizational Ends Starts with Questions – Not Answers

In his book “Good to Great”, Jim Collins offers this wisdom for CEO’s:

“Leading from good to great does not mean coming up with the answers and then motivating everyone to follow your messianic vision. It means having the humility to grasp the fact that you do not yet understand enough to have the answers and then to ask the questions that will lead to the best possible insights.”

This wisdom applies equally to a Board of Directors.

Boards need to be a disciplined as they expect their staff to be in gathering information. Good information gathering starts by crafting the right questions prior to conducting an environmental scan to assess whether your organization is meeting the needs of the community.

An environmental scan should insure that a board’s Ends consider the needs, concerns and demands within the community it serves. An organization should exist to create change. It should be the change itself that drive the Ends.

External Environmental Scans

The “value add” of a board as trustees of the owners is to be the link with the external environment and bring that information to the organization. This linkage needs to be regular and periodic. The information gathered will help a board assess whether or not its Ends are relevant and current.

Just as a for-profit corporation conducts an environmental scan to assist with the strategic planning process, a governing board should periodically conduct an environmental scan and ask questions for which it doesn’t already have the answers.

Open meetings, focus groups, surveys, and presentations from third party experts are all dynamic ways to gather information. In addition, a board could consider:

• Board-to-board meetings

• Researching community needs assessments and demographic data

• Breakfast or lunch meetings with groups in the community (one of my clients found this to be so successful that it launched a new entity of like-minded organizations who have similar funding needs)

• Open forums

• Town hall meetings

• One-on-one meetings with community leaders

• Board committees to gather intelligence

7 Measures of Success

Many of us in the nonprofit sector eagerly awaited the publication of this book by The Center for Association Leadership. The book is a research project spanning four years and mentored by Jim Collins. With the assistance of the best-selling author of Good to Great and Built to Last, The Center conducted four years of intensive original research and analysis of 15 years of data. The purpose was to tease out the characteristics that distinguish associations that achieve remarkable results year after year.While some conventional wisdoms were dispelled by the research (e.g., it’s better to hire a CEO from the outside), many common axioms were upheld. Collins wrote in the book’s introduction that “every association can deliver better results for its members.” This is a nice corollary to “good enough is never good enough.”It’s interesting to note the choice of words Collins used in his observation regarding the nature of what separates a great institution from the average. He says great organizations are comprised of:

“Disciplined people who engage in disciplined thought and who take disciplined action”

Collins repeated this mantra a few times during a presentation to the American Society of Association Executives. Why not say “focused” or “purposeful” or “mission-driven?” If you’ve heard Collins speak, you know he’s a bit like that Monk character on television who is obsessed with order and detail. He doesn’t choose his words at random.In his speech to ASAE, Collins said it was more than mission or focus. Discipline requires the organization to stop doing the wrong things in order to have the time to do the right things well and achieve remarkable results. Collins’ observation is a meaningful one for governing boards. Is your board remarkable?

Consider these questions:

• Is it difficult to get all of your board members to attend meetings?
• Is your board having difficulty recruiting the members it really wants because those people “just don’t have time?”
• Does your board spend most of its meeting time listening to staff and committee reports and little time on compelling dialog and debate about the future?
• Does your board tend to rely on their own perceptions of the members rather than conducting diligent discussions with members about what they need?
• Does the board struggle with how to evaluate your performance or conduct your annual review?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, it may indicate that your board views its role as managing instead of governing. If you answered yes to any of these questions, it may suggest that your board isn’t spending enough time on the “right things.”That’s where disciplined thought and action come in. Discipline helps the board get done what it needs to do efficiently and expediently. Discipline frees up time to make a difference for the people they serve (why most people join boards.) It creates meetings that are exciting and engaging (and worth attending.) It will help your board recruit and retain quality board members because everyone wants to be part of a remarkable board.Where do you start to create an environment that fosters disciplined thought and action? You can begin with the principles found in Policy Governance

WHAT’S ALL THE FUSS ABOUT GOVERNANCE?

We Need “New” Solutions

People seem to believe that the status quo still isn’t working because they are still looking for “new” solutions. I’ve been in the nonprofit world for over 17 years and the same problems keep coming up. The spectrum runs from “my board is micromanaging” to “my board members are disengaged.” CEOs continually tell me about the need for their boards to become future-focused as opposed to functionally operational boards. Why, after all these years, are CEO’s still seeking solutions these problems when a perfectly good one has been there all along? It’s called Policy Governance®.

Muddle is an Acceptable Way of Life

Most boards and CEO’s don’t have a good grasp of governance. Governance is not management although nonprofit boards have a tendency to think of themselves as “uber managers.” Among those who are aware of Policy Governance®, there is still a great deal of misunderstanding about what Policy Governance is and is not.

(Download a concise description of Policy Governance — go to http://www.policygovernanceassociation.org/index.html and click on the #3 Quick Link.)

The term governance is used very broadly in the nonprofit world. CEO’s tend to become focused on tactics to manage board behavior – instead of seeking a system or process of governing. That’s why CEO’s are as frustrated with board politics, meddling, micromanagement* rubber stamping, etc. as ever. One CEO summed up this frustration by saying: “We’re kidding ourselves if we think we can set up a process [that is sustainable.] Living in chaos is normal.”

Reflections from a PG Perspective

As Policy Governance professionals it’s clear we have a lot of “undoing” to do. We need to overcome the perception that Policy Governance is a “cookie cutter” approach which causes it to be dismissed out of hand without any dialog on how it can lead to eliminating the chaos and creating an effective board of directors. In part, my fellow consultants and I think this is due to the perception that a model is a die-stamped, rigid structure.It’s unfortunate that the term governance is being used as a generic term to describe everything from organizational development to operations and web content management.

The term governance is used so generically, this is going to be a tough one for Policy Governance. It may be like trying to preserve a brand name like Kleenex and differentiate it from other tissues, but is worth some discussion. Give me your thoughts.

*(for a great article on micromanagement go to:http://www.help4nonprofits.com/NP_Bd_MicroManage_Art.htm

Sherry Jennings of Sound Governance (www.soundgovernance.us) embarks on the wonderful journey through the blogosphere. This writing was originally published in the International Policy Governance Association newsletter for board leaders and governance consultants.

Board Leaders: Do You Know Where Your Members Are Lurking?

Prior to a presentation on global trends and challenges for associations, I had the opportunity to speak with the presenter Rohit Talwar (a leading international futurist). I’m always interested in what books these folks are reading so I asked him, “What are you reading these days?” Imagine my shock and surprise when he said, “blogs.”

Huh? I have a 20-year-old college student and a 17-year-old high school student in my life. Aren’t blogs just a lot of personal (sometimes too personal) diaries a la “Myspace” or Facebook? Well, yes and no.

According to Wikipedia (a free content, multilingual encyclopedia written collaboratively by contributors around the world), a blog is “a website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.” What Rohit Talwar helped me discover is that the blogosphere is so much more than journals – it’s a journey. To get me started, Rohit recommended that I take a look at these:

• openBC – the world’s largest truly global networking platform for professionals
• LinkedIn — an online network of more than 7.5 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 130 industries
• Ecademy – a social network for business people
• Spoke – world’s largest online business-to-business prospect database of its kind

In John Carver’s book On Board Leadership, Carver poses the question: “Has [the board] heard from the bold, the radical, the unthinkable – whatever opinion challenges the wisdom of the day?” Carver says that “a board should strive for a wisdom that is not driven by safety or ordinariness, even though it is planted firmly in reality.” Are we board leaders, really challenging our current wisdom?

Thanks to my futurist guide, I now know that the blogosphere can help us scan for and assess the impact of trends, external forces and ideas that shape our owner communities or markets. Blogs can help us research issues and find new ideas. Blogs contain information and insights on emergent and convergent trends to help us determine if those trends are taking us toward or away from our desired End results.

Do we board leaders, know where our owners and clients are lurking? (A lurker is a peripheral participant – someone who doesn’t post ideas.) Blogs are major social networking platforms. It is practically certain that many of the people that matter to us are at least lurking out there. Do you need to do a better job of finding out where they are? How about your board considering blogging as a new channel for ownership linkage? Why not subscribe to two or three blogs that serve the needs and interests of your owners and create postings to encourage input and convey information? Finally, consider creating your own board blog to facilitate an online connection with owners or owner collaboration or to tap into owner expertise and trial new approaches. Membership associations are already well into this new game and you might like to get started on your journey in the blogosphere by visiting some of their blogs such as the following:

• Acronym
• Association Inc.
• Association Renewal

On each of these blogs, you’ll find recommendations for other blogs as well as recommendations for good old-fashioned paper-and-ink books. I warn you – it can be highly addictive!

On a personal note: My friend and professional colleague Robert Ballantyne provided the map for this blog journey. Patience as I get my bearings, please! To read about Robert’s own journey through the blogosphere go to http://howesound@wordpress.com and click on Blog Site Development.