Episode 28. Should Staff Attend Board Meetings?

Managing staff and Board relationships is an ongoing concern for a nonprofit Executive Director.  There is no one right answer is how staff and Board relationships should be managed- but there are consequences for each decision.  This episode looks at different ways staff can be included in Board meetings and offers guidance to help you set the boundaries between your bosses and your staff.

Find more practicable tips on my website Relish Your Role. com. I have so much respect for the work you do!
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Transcript

Regardless if your agency has a large board that strictly follows Roberts Rules of Order when they meet, or your agency's board is a small group whose meetings are held informally, usually as part of a potluck gathering;  most EDs struggle with what role their staff should play with the Board.

 Your board may have asked to see more of the staff, but you are unclear on the best way to honor their request.

Nonprofits and the world in which they operate continue to change.  There is no one ‘right’ answer concerning board/staff contact.

But there are questions you can ask and the consequences of decisions you should consider when thinking about staff and board interactions.

Today’s episode will explore the considerations behind staff attendance at Board of Director meetings.

You can hear the full episode and read the transcript at RelishYour Role.com/28

Board meetings are business meetings for board members.  

It takes continual effort to keep the board operating at the strategic level and to leave the day-to-day operations to the executive director and their staff. 

Executive directors often feel that independent board-staff contact undermines their authority and creates the potential for staff to give misleading or undermining information to the board. 

In reverse, you may worry that board members will give inappropriate information to staff, perhaps about a lawsuit settlement, a financial problem, or about what’s in the budget for staff raises (or cuts).

It takes work to keep both the staff and your board in their respective lanes, but it can be done with continual attention and intentional communication and action.

According to Nonprofit Pro one of the biggest differences between nonprofit board meetings among agencies of varying sizes and missions is whether or not the nonprofit’s employees are involved in the proceedings. 

There are four different ways the board may incorporate staff in their meetings.

No staff are present at Board meetings

When no staff members are in attendance, or the executive director is only attending in a supporting role and does not participate in the meeting an us-and-them scenario is created where the board makes decrees and the staff are expected to follow, without having had any input in the process that led up to the decisions. It is a decision without representation model.  While it is rare, there are boards which operate in a vacuum, not making use of the insights an Executive Director can offer.

Only the Executive Director Attends the Board meetings

In many cases, the Board only hears from the ED and no other staff members attend board meetings or are assigned to staff their subcommittees. If the executive director is the sole representative of paid staff, there are no checks and balances in place to ensure that full and accurate information is being presented to the board of directors. 

Situations where there is no contact between the board and staff usually result in suspicion on the part of the board that the executive is trying to keep information from the board and resentment from the staff that they have no contact with those who are ultimately responsible for the agency.

Staff attends board meetings but do not speak

You have been at these meetings; the staff sit silently in chairs along the wall while the board conducts their meetings around the table in the center of the room. It creates the vibe of having The Grown-Ups and The Kids’ Table.

There is often an unspoken emotional tension in these scenarios and the potential to encourage the board members to feel superior to the paid staff. The board made the decisions; the staff existed to carry out the board’s directives. This environment can lead to deterioration in employee morale and the board making decisions without full information.

Staff attends and participates in board meetings

By including the employees who do the work as advisors at board meetings, the board has effectively surrounded themselves with subject-matter experts who can help them make well-informed decisions.  Care is taken to bring in staff whenever the board needs their knowledge or skills.

For example, if you are going to be discussing your new community outreach efforts, bring in the staff member who will be leading that effort. If you are going to be talking about the investment policy, bring in your finance director. If you are going to be discussing the personnel policy, bring in your director of human resources

It is a chance for staff to demonstrate knowledge, work on presentation and public speaking skills, and gain confidence. It is also a chance to highlight staff members who are growing into leaders or who have accomplished something on behalf of the organization.

No matter which method your organization employs, it is important to remember the staff (including the executive director) are not voting members of the board. The executive director is a non-voting member, and the staff are there as advisors, not members.

General Rules for Guidance

If you do have staff present for Board meetings, they should serve a specific function and have important information which is to assist the Board in their governance role.

The executive director is the only employee of the board of directors. The executive director works for the board, and the rest of the staff works for the executive director. It is, therefore, very important to continually set expectations about channels of communication between the board and the staff.

You want your board to know, respect, and value your staff and this can come with repeated exposure between board and staff.

However, you need to have your staff respect the necessary boundaries between themselves and the board and follow agency policy when having personal concerns.

Staff should play the role of advisor, providing technical knowledge to the Board.  If they are staffing Board subcommittees, they should not be placed in the role of taking minutes (which is a Board responsibility) or taking on Board tasks.

·         There are no restrictions on board-staff contact, but the executive director should always be informed about meetings

• Board members can request information and reports from staff (such as another copy of the budget or last month’s client statistics report), but they must stop short of directing staff work by asking for reports that are not already prepared or otherwise asking staff to perform tasks. New reports and tasks can be requested of the executive director.

Your goal as the ED is twofold- you want the Board to be fully informed when they make decisions and this can often only occur when they hear from the staff person who has direct and in-depth knowledge of the issue at hand.

You also want to expose your staff to leadership opportunities and provide them with occasions to grow in their skills and presenting to the board of directors may provide this.

As with so many other relational aspects of nonprofit leadership, it takes thoughtful consideration of how you want your staff to interact with the board and vice versa.  When done well, the staff /board relationship is respectful and productive.

You can do it and I am here to help.