The Dog Ate My Board Report!
I believe that most board members intend to keep their commitments, but what sounds like a simple task while seated at board table becomes a monumental challenge when real life intervenes. This is also true for association management company executives. The difference is that we have to keep our commitments to our clients or we run the risk of losing a contract.
I have learned good minutes are the key to action and accountability. The worst boards are the ones where the elected secretary does the minutes – late and sketchy. People are confused after the board meeting about what they are supposed to do and when.
There is a simple cure! If possible, offer to take the minutes as part of the service you provide – perhaps just short term to establish a format and train the secretary. Whenever the board decides somebody (board or staff) is going to do something, write it down as an action item – with the person’s name attached. If a completion date is not mentioned, ask the board when it is due (for the minutes). If there is discussion without action, I recommend asking the board if there an action item you should be recording.
Number each action item and make them really stand out in the minutes. I indent them and make them in bold! Then at the end of the minutes, on a separate sheet, I cut and paste all of the action items into a list.
The minutes ideally should go out shortly after the meeting, especially if there are a number of action items. This jogs the memory and gives time for action.
At the start of each board meeting, after the minutes and financials, I have my client boards review the list of action items. Most people, knowing that they are going to have to report to the board, come prepared and on-time. Why? Because they don’t want to have a “the dog ate my homework moment.”
One of our client boards includes an action item completion ratio as part of their dashboard indicators report. When the action items list is reviewed at each meeting, the ratio is given. BTW—Staff actions also go on the list, so we are as accountable as they are.
This strategy, though time-consuming and sometimes ego-bruising, is really just a way to change organizational culture. After several board meetings of 100% accountability, boards begin to fall into line. Board members who are “all talk and no action” sometimes resign (and is that really such a bad thing?).
We are all little kids who don’t want to do our homework if nobody cares whether we did it or not. If it is important enough to list as an action item, it is important enough to ask whether it got done or not.
| | Permalink |
Comments
I really like this concept, Pat! At one association where I've worked, we tried something similar, but after a few years the document was so filled with ongoing action items (things we were expected to continue doing permanently) that no one really had a good sense of what needed to be done and what was ongoing or pending. That's why I really like your idea of a completion ratio as part of the dashboard board members see.
I think your completion ratio idea helps turn what could be more of a tracking tool into an action tool. (For organizations that end up with a lot of ongoing action items like we did, it might also be a good idea to either require that items on the board action list be something that can be completed, or to track ongoing items separately.)
Posted by: Lisa Junker | December 9, 2008 9:00 AM
Good points, Pat. When serving as CEO of small associations, I always took minutes. They were accurate and appropriate. It didn't detract from my participation in the meeting. Minutes taken by Board members or staff or often inadequate.
Posted by: David M. Patt, CAE | December 9, 2008 7:16 PM
One of my favorite organization presidents said repeatedly: "He who writes the minutes creates the history." Preparing the record is one way to shape an organization.
Posted by: Kathy Rabenstein | December 10, 2008 5:53 PM
Kathy's comment reminds me of the first time I read minutes from a board meeting I had actually attended (written by a board member). I was shocked to see how much the board member's biases colored what was written about various presentations.
Looking back, I think I was really naive to be shocked! (And I wonder how much my biases influenced my memory of the board meeting ... maybe she was writing down some biased information and I was remembering information that was just as biased but in a different direction. Hmm.) But it was a good lesson to me in the importance of keeping minutes factual and action-oriented.
Posted by: Lisa Junker | December 11, 2008 9:29 AM
Thank you to all of you for your comments. Clearly there is some interest in this topic of board accountability.
I had some more meetings this week using this "action items" system. The boards are starting to feel really good about themselves and their accomplishments. And, of course, that generates positive energy.
For those of you who take minutes, or even just lots of notes, you might be interested in a cool new product that I discovered at Costco. It is called a Pulse pen and the set that I bought cost $199.
The pen is actually a very sophisticated tool that allows you to record while you are writing in a notebook. The notebook is special -- the paper knows what you are writing. The result -- you take your notes and then (assuming record is on) when you touch the pen to the paper where you wrote the notes, it will replay what was going on when you wrote down that note. You can also upload the file onto your computer and your notes will digitized.
They give you a stack of notebooks, the pen, some extra ink, and a little gizmo to charge it and upload files to your computer. It also comes with a microphone allows you to avoid the scratching sound of the pen.
My minutes are MUCH better as a result of having this new toy and unlike with e regular recorder, you just play the part you need.
Of course, there are some legal implications of recording meetings, and I always disclose to the board that the pen is recording. I will delete the files in accordance with our records retention policy. The pen makes a very soft beep when turning on and off. I make a point of turning off when a board is in executive session.
Posted by: Pat Troy | December 12, 2008 6:15 PM