Change the World: Build a Strong Non-Profit Board
I have spent years working on and with volunteer boards which are the epitome of a high-turnover team. Faced with annual elections which result in new directors, boards face a unique challenge of creating a cohesive team quickly, knowing they face a yearly cycle of change. Since they often only meet monthly (or quarterly in some instances), they do not have the opportunity to work on building relationships daily.
They are also tasked with the critical task of creating a strong vision for the organization which requires rich discussion. This discussion can be challenging without a strong base layer of trust.
How do you build trust and a healthy team when you have so much to do and so little time is a challenge boards need to solve.
Bruce Tuckman named four stages of group development in 1965: Forming, storming, norming, performing (he later added adjourning). Each time there is a personnel change on a team, it starts back at forming.
Boards face this restart each year as new directors are elected. If the turnover is small, then they can move through the phases quicker, but they still need to work through them. It can be frustrating to feel like you are always starting back at the beginning.
Ultimately, boards want to be in the performing phase where they can achieve high levels of success.
Challenges
Non-profit boards face specific challenges since they often have membership changes each year.
Establishing and Building Trust
Trust takes time and effort to build and grow, and it can feel frustrating or futile to spend time working on relationships when you know there will be new people each year. Since you are dealing with volunteers who change often, it can be frustrating to put in effort and then have people leave. Sometimes the new people will feel left out or will feel uncomfortable; especially if the team appears to be already disengaged or not cohesive, or they feel like they can’t break into an already close team.
Inconsistent Knowledge Base
Without intentional planning and work, institutional knowledge can be lost when certain members leave the board. There is often a steep learning curve to feel like you can contribute. Disconnection between those who hold the institutional knowledge, and those who don’t, can create conflict and contribute to disengagement and dysfunction.
Long Periods Between Meetings
Unlike a job where people work together five days a week, boards generally meet much less often. Whereas most work teams spend 40 hours “together” each week, boards often only have the equivalent of a few hours each month to get the work done.
Need to be Highly Efficient
Given the lack of time together, boards need to be extremely efficient with the time they do have. Dysfunction or lack of cohesiveness costs even more time.
Instability for the Organization
While change is inevitable on boards, it can create instability for the organization. Unlike traditional businesses who can choose who to hire, boards are generally comprised by people who are elected by the membership, adding an additional challenge.
Essential Work
I have a strong passion for non-profits and have volunteered thousands of hours, and I have sat on many boards. I believe they are changing the world and doing essential work to fill gaps in our society, and to serve our communities. Yet, they often don’t have the support, understanding and resources necessary to understand how to build a highly functional team.
What can Non Profit Boards do?
Accept and Overcome
We all get the forming stage of group development. Everyone is on their best behaviour and might be careful about what they say or do, so not to upset other people. It is like the early phases of dating. in the Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni writes that conflict is essential to building cohesive teams, but conflict doesn’t happen without a strong layer of trust. When individuals are in these early stages of group development, they aren’t leaning into Lencioni’s conflict layer, but rather, they often sitting in artificial harmony.
To build a healthy, functioning team, when there are frequent changes, it is important to discuss why and to ensure members understand and then commit to welcoming new members, supporting them through a strong orientation, and building relationships.
What should you do?
Build a strong orientation program with a peer mentorship element.
Intentionally incorporate team building opportunities (these do not need to be all day or expensive events)
Have fun together.
Create an intentional recruitment strategy and process
Focusing on an effective recruitment process (to attract people who understand board work and align with the mission, vision and values of the organization) helps the right people to join the board. These people are more likely to stay longer too (or not quit part way through their term). A strong orientation helps move through the stages quicker, and ensures new members understand their role and where to find background information.
DISC Profiles Can Help
I’ve been on teams where there is high turnover and sometimes it feels like we are all speaking different languages. I might understand a couple of people, but there are several I don’t. A DISC session can help everyone on the team speak the same language and understand each other better and is a great element of a strong onboarding program. These are especially powerful for boards where they often only have a single year before the next election.
DISC can also help you understand the decision making profile of individuals and your board as a whole. Who can make quick decisions (D and I styles) and who needs more time (S and C styles), so that you aren’t making impulsive decisions, but aren’t stuck in the mud forever either. Members can challenge the group more effectively in this area.
I can help too
Read these related blog posts
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I am working on a specific DISC offering aimed at non-profit boards. I understand the financial constraints non-profits face and have special pricing for this group
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