Question: As much as we try to "stick to our knitting" as a board by governing instead of managing, our board members just love to talk about the details. Our Executive Director can't make a report to the board without people asking questions, making comments, giving advice and even offering motions to make decisions. It's not because they don't like what they hear, but because they love what they hear and want to be part of the action. How can we as a board focus on the strategic future when there is such a strong desire to talk about the present?
Answer: I can assure you, yours is not the only board in that situation. If the organization were a restaurant, the board members should be visiting the dining room regularly to talk to the customers. Then they should go back to the boardroom and plan the future that the customers want to experience. Instead, they tend to head for the kitchen. They love to stir the pot, taste the food and talk to the chef about how to make improvements.
Boards should measure the past, monitor the present and focus on the future. It's difficult to know where the CEO report fits into that context.
Personally, I think there should be some time for your Executive Director to give some general information about what's going on and for the board members to listen, ask questions and even make suggestions. The problem arises when this is not done in the context of something greater.
I suggest that Board Chairs arrange for the CEO to have about 30 minutes to give a general information report at some point early on in each meeting. The Chair can explain to the members that this is not measuring, monitoring or planning the future. It is simply a time to give the CEO and the board to have a "feel good" time about what's going on.
Out of courtesy the board members should allow the CEO to share information without interruption. They should also know that what the CEO is sharing is information from the "kitchen" about preparing the items on the menu. It is not an opportunity to assess the value of the activity, to measure results, or to monitor the limitations of authority or expectations of responsibility. It is simply a chance to talk about the work that everyone loves and to which everyone is committed.
When a board realizes and accepts this context, there is no harm in being in the kitchen for a little while. The problem arises when board members lose the focus of this context and start to stir the pot by shadow managing, critiquing or criticizing. The worst is when someone makes a motion to direct the CEO to make a certain management decision. That is a violation of the circle of freedom that the board has created for the CEO in defining the job description with its circle of authority and circle of responsibility.
It is only natural for board members to be formulating opinions and perspectives about the job the CEO is doing, but it is most unhelpful for this general sharing of information to degenerate into a performance review.
When the general information time is understood within the right context of the relationship between the board and the CEO, it can be a helpful, motivating time for both the CEO and the board.
To summarize the answer to your question I would encourage the informal reporting time by explaining to the board and to the CEO what its purpose is and also what is and isn't appropriate during the period. Limit the time, enjoy it, and then get on with governance.
Les Stahlke, President
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