By Lisa Hochgraf
For the last few years I was the president of a local non-profit board. Now that I'm no longer a director, I've been reflecting on what worked (and what didn't) governance-wise during my tenure.
Reading The Imperfect Board Member by Jim Brown (recommended to me by CUES member David Tuyo, CCE, VP/solutions with CUES Supplier member Lending Solutions, Elgin, Ill.) has helped me recall a mistake I made--the "late mistake." I would allow meetings to start after the allotted time.
It kind of made sense at the time. If our treasurer was at the copier, the membership person was trying to extract herself from her household of small children and the executive director of the organization we served was finishing one last detail from her regular work, did it really make sense to begin? (Note: Our group supported the organization that the executive director led, but we did not hire and fire this person.)
Brown would say absolutely start on time, because, in the end, everyone gets penalized for a late start.
In our case, I took heat indirectly for our late start translating to ending late, even though others had prompted starting late. Some of our discussions might have been rushed--especially those later on the agenda. And those like me who were at the table at the agreed-upon time might have felt their time was wasted.
Here's what the main character (David) in Brown's book says about his own experience coming late to a board of which he was a member, but not chair:
It's funny. As a chairman, I've always felt uncomfortable starting meetings before all the board members were present. But I just realized that as an individual board member, I feel more uncomfortable with the weight of everyone waiting for me. Because of my experience tonight, I'm going to begin my board meetings on time even if some of the others haven't shown up on time.
Has your board ever made the mistake of starting late? What were the impacts of the late-start? What other mistakes does your board make?
Lisa Hochgraf is a CUES editor.
