Here are a few insights on the subject: • Respect and celebrate staff accomplishments, both individually and as a group. Board members should have a feel staff sensitivities expressed above. I know people who believe it is easier to run a 150-person operating committee than to develop a two-page policy statement for the board. He shared it with the CEO, but the CEO did not proceed to implement the program. Problem #5: Remnants of Crisis If your board has just experienced (or is in the midst of experiencing) a crisis, they have had to jump in with both feet to get the job done and make sure the organization survives. At the university level, the process is called "shared governance." • Staff input is crucial for major decisions, and staff members need to interact with board groups in conducting major program reviews. with staff can go through the CEO. SCENARIO: A credit union board member has an idea about a children’s banking program that he thinks should be implemented. • Meet with staff in small groups and on appropriate problem solving committee assignments. According to Jan Masaoka, Director and Editor-in-Chief of Blue Avocado, some chief executives feel that independent board-staff interaction undermines their authority and creates the potential for staff to provide the board with misinformation.Similarly, they might be concerned that board members will inadvertently leak inappropriate information to staff (ie. The CEO needs to strive to create an atmosphere in which staff members feel free to express opinions in these reviews. 4.0 - Rehearsal Scenarios: Board Member Interactions with the CEO or Staff Rehearsal 4.1: Program Decisions: Board or Staff? In this instance it is also the staff… Ethic of ‘volunteerism’ in Boards may make Board members wary of monitoring or controlling professional staff – and professional staff resentful of attempted control by perceived ‘amateurs’. The board … He agrees that engaging the board isn't just a quarterly, formal interaction. Management has to be done by a manager, and no board member is likely to have the time, the skills or the day-to-day know-how to be able to out-perform the staff. Yes, this looks different for each organization—depending on critical factors like the nonprofit’s size, culture, and scope of work. Desire to maintain smooth personal relationships, as part of satisfaction with The issue lies with a couple of board members working on a committee with a couple of staff members. Normally these would occur when staff are supporting a particular portfolio, event, or program. They are a resource pool, often called upon by management to provide advice or guidance in their area of expertise. Overload for Board members, detracting from effective decision-making. Board members can get their arms and minds around operational issues. "You need to want more interaction and find ways to do so. If you don't, you won't build that relationship," he says. In that setting, the board is not speaking with a unified voice. In the good old days (and they' re still not so old at a lot of companies), all communication between the board members and company staff was funneled through the CEO' s office. However, it is important that the CEO is apprised of board member–staff interactions and the aim of these. In this Blue Avocado article by Jan Masaoka, “ Should Staff Contact with the Board Be Restricted,” the benefits and hesitations behind board and staff interaction highlight why this is not a black and white situation. 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