Clarifying staff roles with the Board of Directors
Regardless of if your agency has a large Board of Directors that strictly follows Roberts Rules of Order or your Board is a small group whose meetings are held informally, most Executive Directors 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.
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 RelishYourRole.com/28
Factors to Consider for Agency Staff and Board of Director Interaction.
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 personnel issues, 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.
Three options for agency staff attendance at Board meetings
1.Only the Executive Director attends Board meetings
If the Executive Director is the only staff present and is an observer and not participant in the meeting, an ‘us-and-them’ scenario is created.
The Board makes decisions, and the staff are expected to follow. The Executive Director has limited input in the process that led up to the decisions.
This is a decision without representation model. While it is rare, there are Boards which operate in a vacuum and do not make use of the insights an Executive Director can offer.
In many cases, the Board only hears from the Executive Director, no other staff attend their meetings, nor are assigned to support Board subcommittees.
When the Executive Director is the sole representative of agency staff, there are no checks and balances in place to ensure that full and accurate information is being presented to the Board of Directors.
A potential consequence of a lack of contact between the Board and staff can be suspicion on the part of the Board that the Executive is trying to keep information from them and staff resentment over having no contact with those who are ultimately responsible for the agency.
2.Staff attends Board meetings but do not speak
We have all attended meetings like this; the staff sit silently along the wall while the Board conducts the meeting. It creates the vibe of having The Grown-Ups and The Kids’ Table.
In this scenario there is potential of Board members to feel superior to the paid staff. Not only is the Board making decisions without full information, but the staff feel undervalued.
A consequence of this approach is a deterioration in employee morale.
3.Staff attends and participates in Board meetings
By including the employees who do the work as advisors at Board meetings, they effectively surround themselves with subject-matter experts who can help them make well-informed decisions.
Staff attend and participate whenever the Board needs their knowledge or skills.
If the Board will be discussing a new community outreach effort, it is smart to bring in the staff member who will be leading that effort.
When discussing the investment policy, it makes sense to bring in the finance director.
Benefits of including staff in Board meetings
It is a chance for staff to demonstrate knowledge.
Allows staff to improve their 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.
It deepens the Board members knowledge of the work and staff of the organization.
Guidance for considering staff attendance at Board meetings
1.Remember who is the boss
It is important to remember all staff (including the Executive Director) are not voting members of the Board. The Executive Director should be a non-voting member, and the staff are there as advisors.
The Executive Director is the only employee of the Board of Directors 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.
2. Staff should assist the Board in their governance role.
You want your board to know, respect, and value your staff and this can come with repeated exposure between Board and staff.
Staff can provide in depth knowledge about agency operations which is useful for Board deliberations.
3. Staff need to respect boundaries
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.
4. The Executive Director should always be informed of staff Board interaction
Board members can request information and reports from staff (such as another copy of the budget or last month’s client statistics report).
They must stop short of directing staff work by asking for reports that are not already prepared or asking them to perform tasks without the Executive Director’s knowledge and approval.
As the Executive Director you want the Board to be fully informed when they make decisions, and this can often only occur when they hear from the staff who has direct 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.