Boards and Committees

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Boards and Committees

• Forming Task Groups and Teams

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Almost all organizations establish formal
structures to facilitate group decision-making
and to set policy.

• Boards are the primary decision-making structure
  in nonprofit organizations.
• In most nonprofit organizations, board members
  are volunteers.
• Board members set policies, hire and fire the
  director, monitor how funds are spent, and are
  legally responsible for everything that happens
  in the organization.
• On some boards, members may be expected to
  fundraise, lobby on behalf of the organization
  with government, help obtain publicity for the
  organization, or volunteer to help run programs
  or deliver services.
• Organizations generally look for board members
  that are influential in the community, have
  connections to other powerful people, or that can
  raise money. In some cases, organizations look
  for board members that have special skills that
  can be used to help the organization (for
  example, lawyers, accountants, social workers
  etc.).
• Clients or community residents may be seated on
  boards if they are believed to be knowledgeable
  about client needs or if they can provide a link
  between the organization and the community.

3
Holland (1998) identifies six competency areas
for board members

• Contextual. The board understands the norms and
  values that influence the organizations culture
  and uses this understanding to guide its actions.
• Educational. The board makes sure that all
  members are informed about organization
  operations and their own roles in
  decision-making.
• Interpersonal. The board members engage in
  activities that help them develop a sense of
  group cohesion.
• Analytical. Board members adequately gain an
  understanding of the issues they address and take
  into account a variety of perspectives on these
  issues.
• Political. The board develops and maintains good
  relationships with constituency groups within and
  outside the organization.
• Strategic. The board is actively involved in
  making decisions that pertain to the
  organizations future direction.

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Why would anyone want to be on a board?
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Boards have

• Officers (usually President, Vice-President,
  Secretary, and Treasurer).
• Rules for making decisions (By-laws).
• A set of formal procedures (Roberts Rules of
  Order) in most organizations.
• Established meeting times
• A predetermined number of members

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There are different views about the boards
relationship with the executive director

• Partnership between the board and the director.
• The director does most of the work because he or
  she has expertise. The board simply makes policy
  based on what the director tells them.
• The executive director follows the orders of the
  board.

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Executive Directors should have the following
skills

• Choosing information to be presented to the
  board.
• Selecting items to be placed on the agenda.
• Building working partnerships with board members.
• Using effective verbal and written communication
  of recommendations for policies and procedures.
• The ability to work with a variety of people
• The ability to communicate the experiences and
  perspectives of clients and staff to the board
  and to advocate, as appropriate for these
  constituency groups.
• The ability to communicate with board members
  about strategies that should be used for
  interactions with people and institutions in the
  organizations external environment
• The ability to work with the board and other key
  constituency groups to develop operational and
  strategic (long-term) plans for the organization
  (Hardina Malott, 1996a Holland, 1998 Murray
  et al., 1992 Tropman, 1997).

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Roberts Rules are used by many boards to guide
decision-making

• Based on a formal, hierarchical structure.
• Requires that proposals for decisions be made in
  terms of motions motion must be seconded, a
  period of discussion is allowed, and then there
  is a vote. Motions and votes are recorded in the
  board minutes
• Involves majority rule.
• Chair (usually the Board President is in charge)
• Strict use of Roberts Rules can tie up
  decision-making.

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Not everyone uses or likes the Roberts Rules
model

• Some people are more comfortable with consensus.
• A modified form of Roberts Rules can be used
  that includes consensus building.

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Board members may be

• Appointed
• Nominated by a Committee of the Board
• Elected

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One primary assumption of much of the recent
literature on boards is that boards should be
diverse in terms of gender, ethnicity, and social
class. Inclusion of people with diverse interests
in organization decision-making is believed to
improve the quality of services, stimulate
innovation, and help the organization balance the
demands of funders with the needs of the
community (Parker Betz, 1996). The term
diversity as it pertains to organization board
generally refers to member skills and experience
as well as demographic characteristics such as
age, gender, ethnicity, physical or mental
disabilities, sexual orientation, and social
class (Daley, 2002).
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Parker and Betz (1996) identify a number of
effective methods for recruiting members of
diverse groups for membership on boards

• Ask community leaders to identify prospective
  board members.
• Extend face-to-face invitations to potential
  recruits.
• Use established community groups as recruiting
  pools for participants.
• Identify and recruit informal community leaders.
• Hold board or planning meetings at times when
  prospective members can easily attend them.
• Plan special events or activities that can be
  used to introduce the organization to new people.
  
• Provide training for new board members so that
  they understand they role and duties.

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Boards delegate some of their work to committees

• Committees are smaller groups that have a
  specific task or function.
• May be regular (standing) committees or ad hoc
  (temporary).
• May include people who are not on the board.
• May be internal to the organization and be made
  up of staff members or a mixture of clients,
  staff, board members or people outside the
  organization.

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One type of committee is a task force

• Consists of staff members or other
  representatives of organizations that serve the
  same community or target population.
• A Task Force can also include community leaders
  and representatives of constituency groups.
• They are intended to be time limited and are
  established to address unmet needs or urgent
  problems.
• One advantage of this type of decision-making
  vehicle is that permits an organization to engage
  in problem-solving on one new issue without
  losing its ability to focus on its primary goals
  (Often task forces start out as informal groups
  and transition into formal coalitions or
  collaborative, partnerships in which
  organizations establish formal decision-making
  structures to lobby government for funds or
  legislation or engage in the joint delivery of
  services).

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Most committees or task groups elect a
chairperson, although administrators may appoint
internal committee chairs.

• Committee leaders are responsible for chairing
  meetings, helping the group to set goals and
  decision-making rules, resolving conflicts among
  members, and identifying tasks to be completed by
  the group.
• In most cases, the chair will set the agenda and
  schedule meetings, although some of these
  responsibilities may be delegated to staff
  members.
• The chair is also the person responsible for
  making sure that the agenda is followed during
  meetings and following up with group members to
  make sure their assignments have been completed.
• The chair must make sure that committee members
  feel involved and committed. Committee members
  may not contribute to the group unless they feel
  involved in decision-making and that they have
  made a contribution to the groups success.

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Many committees in social service organizations
also receive support from a designated staff
person. Staff responsibilities can include

• Establishing a good working relationship with the
  chair.
• Helping the chair set the agenda.
• Providing information about what decisions should
  be made and when.
• Preparing written agendas and meeting minutes.
• Researching issues to be addressed by the
  committee.
• Sending out meeting reminder notices to members.
• Providing technical expertise.
• Preparing reports and other written products in
  consultation with community members

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The simplest definition of a team is a group of
people who work to achieve a goal (Perlmutter,
Bailey, Netting, 2001). There are three basic
types of teams

• Teams that make recommendations.
• Teams that produce things or take action.
• Teams that manage the organization.

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Mohrman, Cohen, and Mohrman (1995) believe that
workplace teams can be differentiated from sports
teams or other recreational groups based on a
number of factors

• A team is a group of individuals who work
  together to produce products or deliver services
  for which they are mutually accountable. Team
  members share goals and are mutually held
  accountable for meeting them, they are
  interdependent in their accomplishment, and they
  affect their results through their interactions
  with one another. Because the team is held
  collectively accountable, the work of integrating
  with one another is included among the
  responsibilities of each member. (p. 40)

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We use teams in social service organizations to

• To meet the needs of clients with multiple
  problems.
• To involve professionals representing a variety
  of disciplines in providing care to a single
  patient or client.
• To permit clients to be assessed from different
  perspectives and have an intervention plan
  coordinated by a group of professionals rather
  than addressed in a fragmented manner when they
  are referred elsewhere for services.
• To allow for the integration of two or more
  service systems within one agency or among a
  number of agencies that serve a specific
  geographic area or client population. For
  example, a team approach may be used in
  circumstances in which a consortium of public and
  private agencies is responsible for making child
  welfare decisions and there have been
  communication problems and other difficulties in
  coordinating care among providers

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Rules for functioning in committees, groups, and
teams

• Roberts Rules may not be used.
• Groups create their own rules (implicit
  explicit) also called group norms
• In well-functioning group members will be
  rewarded for following the rule or punished for
  not following the rules

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Effective teams have the following
characteristics

• A clear purpose.
• Chosen tasks associated with the purpose.
• Tasks are distributed fairly among members.
• Rules that guide team behavior are clear the
  rules are enforced.
• The team has a good mixture of people with
  different skills.
• The roles of each member are clear.
• Members trust and respect one another.

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Common problems with teams include

• Team members may have incompatible goals or
  levels of commitment.
• Team members may have hidden agendas that
  interfere with the process.
• Some members may simply not function well on
  teams.
• The team may lack a clear direction or a sense of
  purpose.
• Inexperience with teams may hinder the process.
• The leader may not be focused on the task or not
  be concerned about outcomes or group functioning.

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Team leaders are responsible for

• The leader must serve as a link between
  organization or unit managers and team members.
• Often the leader is responsible for informing the
  members about the purpose of the team and
  presents a rationale for their recruitment to the
  team.
• The leader is also responsible for scheduling
  meetings, finding an appropriate meeting space,
  and developing agendas.
• The leader must also be able to assign
  appropriate tasks to each team member and ensure
  that the work is distributed equitably.
• The leader must also be an advocate for the team,
  securing any additional resources from the
  management that are needed to ensure the
  effectiveness of the team
• The team leader helps members develop trusting
  relationships.
• The team leader reduces conflict and enforces the
  rules.

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Both work teams and groups go through the
following stages

• Stage 1. Dependency on the leader. A new group
  is formed. Group members express concerns
  about who is included on the team and the
  rules for team governance.
• Stage 2. Counter dependency and fight. Group
  members start to challenge the leader for
  control of the group.
• Stage 3. Trust and Structure. The group
  concentrates on resolving conflicts among
  members and accomplishing tasks. The effective
  group will engage in cooperation, negotiation,
  and members will openly communicate with one
  another.
• Stage 4. Work and Productivity. Goals are
  achieved.
• Stage 5. Termination. An assessment is made of
  the work accomplished by the team, and the
  group disbands or tasks on a new project.