Here are some common symptoms that non-profit board and
committee meetings suffer. See if you can cure the meeting malady by entering
the number of the most appropriate treatment in the box to the left of
each ailment.
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(A) You feel like your time is
being wasted because there is not much important work on the agenda,
and no decisions to be made.
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Ask the meeting chair to hold
discussion to topic, and to provide feedback to the offender after
the meeting. |
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(B) Your meetings are frustrating and are not producing
positive results, but no one seems willing to say anything about it.
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Ask the chair to distribute and
follow an agenda, with timelines assigned to each agenda item. |
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(C) Board meetings go on endlessly,
with discussion wandering back and forth among topics.
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Plan some time before or after
the meeting for mingling and getting to know one another. |
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(D) Repetitive discussion goes
on at length, with no decisions being made.
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Suggest meeting less often, or
canceling meetings when there is no business to be done.
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(E) The same people always seem
to do all the talking.
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Propose a motion or resolution,
and request that the chair call for a vote or an indication of whether
consensus exists.
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(F) Board members provide lengthy
verbal updates of all the activities and issues in their areas of
responsibility, causing meetings to drag on.
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Distribute meeting minutes, documenting
who is to do what, by when, and to produce what results, as soon as
possible after the meeting. |
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(G) Board members' comments seem
to indicate that they have not read the background reports in advance
of the meetings.
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Directly ask the quieter members
to share their views and ideas. |
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(H) You have one fellow board
member who is constantly speaking at length about irrelevant matters.
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Suggest that participants provide
feedback through meeting evaluation questionnaires. |
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(I) Board members are not following
through on the actions delegated to them at the last meeting because
they have forgotten or were unclear what was expected of them.
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Ensure that an interesting, succinct
and relevant package of board materials is distributed at least one
week in advance of the meeting. |
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(J) Board members are using the
meeting time to talk about themselves and to socialize instead of
getting down to business.
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Encourage board members to distribute
written reports in advance of meetings, and to report only when updates
are necessary or decisions on their issues are needed. |
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Non-profit
boards and committees accomplish much of their work through meetings.
A well-run meeting can facilitate effective decision-making, yet it seems
that one of the most common board member complaints is that their meetings
are less than effective.