Each of us is involved in some way of working with a board or committee. Ministry either soars higher or screeches to a halt due to what occurs in a board meeting. Board meetings either waste your time or enhance your vision.
The worst areas to deal with in a board:
- hidden agendas
- poor planning
- aimlessness
- temper tantrums
- showcase of grace
- vision
- planning
- enthusiasm
- hope
- Inform and empower – Keep reports brief and concise. Celebrate victories and present challenges. Empower with vision, motivation, enthusiasm and hope.
- Glean Ideas – Use your time more wisely to glean thoughts and ideas. Someone always leaves a board meeting with a good idea they will not mention because there is no avenue for presentation. Every board is challenged with groupthink and decision paralysis. Make a way for brainstorming, information gathering and idea sharing.
- Action Items – Make sure you spend the proper amount of time where time is needed. Most boards will spend an hour hashing what should be a 10 minute item. Put action items on the front of the agenda and spend your energy where it matters most.
- Where are we productive in board meetings?
- Where are we unproductive?
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The nost frustrating in board meetings is to take 3 hours to accomplish what could have and should have been done in 2 hours. Your insights on planning are spot on. On the discussion and brainstorming point, I heard a podcast by Andy Stanley that really hit home with me on how to jump start discussion. Instead of focusing solely on the agenda and goals of the meeting (which can be perceived as those only belonging to the leader with no room for other opinions) he starts with a question: "What problem if left unsolved by this group will have significant impact on our organization?" That immediately moves the group into brainstorming and discussion, hopefully avoiding the groupthink that can easily occur when the leader sets the goals and mandates the agenda.
ReplyDeleteThoughts Anyone?