FREE Newsletter from Cain Consulting Group at http://www.cain-consulting.com/LeaderFeb12007.html

In this issue:

• Good ideas from new board members

• Keep it clean

• Another look at committees

• On the road again

Dear Executive and Board Members,

Good ideas from new board members

One of the big reasons we bring new board members onto the board is to get new ideas, new perspectives and new enthusiasm. But then we fail to mine those new ideas. New board members typically don’t want to be too “pushy” so they hang back and keep their big ideas to themselves.

A Michigan executive tells me he and his board chairperson make a point of meeting with new board members within a couple of months after the new member is seated. “We typically meet for lunch with a new board member for three reasons,” says the exec. “First, we want to make sure new board members aren’t getting lost in the shuffle—do they understand what’s going on? Second, we want to keep them excited about the job. And third, we want to hear their ideas for making our board work better. New board members can be objective about how the board operates, and, if we give them permission to tell us what they think, we get some very good ideas and critique.”

Keep it clean

A Pennsylvania exec says he declares one day each year as “cleaning day” for the nonprofit. Staff dress in casual clothes and focus the whole day on cleaning out files—paper and computer files. “It’s amazing what we collect over the year,” says the exec. “The cleaning day really pays off allowing staff to get reorganized and more efficient for the rest of the year. We tend to spend way too much time digging through thick files including computer files. Obviously we have some rules about what must be retained, but we’re always amazed at how much is really not useful and only in the way.”

The exec says he also holds a cleaning day for board members. One board meeting per year is designated for board book cleaning. Board members hand off their books at the beginning of the meeting and staff reorganize, delete outdated materials, insert new materials and return the books to board members at the end of the meeting.

Another look at committees

An e-mail from Fred Hunt, President of the Society of Professional Benefit Administrators (SPBA) suggests that standing committees are a thing of the past.

“In our SPBA system, we may have 100 task forces...often only lasting minutes or hours and may be just one person. However, about 1/3 of our member firms get the gratification and leadership role in instant results-oriented attention to the issues on their mind. Having 1/3 of your membership feeling the warm glow of having played a leadership role quickly and efficiently (and usually with a solution or needed information) on an issue near and dear to them is far higher than the percent of firms who have that gratification from a staid committee structure. The speed of the process also means that useful information or feedback or responding to the government, media or whoever, can be done in hours, not weeks. Also, the informal nature of the task forces provides some legal liability protection since there are no official committees of the association writing reports or spouting off. We have about 300 open issues at any one time. That would take a huge staff in most associations, but the task-force system means that the members with hands-on experience do what would normally be staff legwork.

“Here’s how it works. First, I should say that SPBA has a strong staff role as the information-coordinating center of the association. It is more like the power structure of a corporate CEO/staff than the traditionally weaker role of association CEOs & staff.

“A member calls the office and says, ‘SPBA oughta…’ Assuming the idea makes any sense and has not already been solved, and that we have a comfort level that the member won’t go off on a wild tangent, the staff person says, ‘Great. You are now a task force to solve this.’ We give them any background & contacts in government or elsewhere, and steer them to any other members who might have useful input, and those people are free to join the “task force”. If someone else calls with the same or a related issue, we tell them to call or e-mail the first person and add themselves to the task force. If it is a topic that is delicate or has had Board deliberation, we may have a Board member added to the task force, or the CEO asks to be kept in the loop of the communications. There is no budget, staff, travel or meeting of task forces.

“With the issue background & contacts provided by the staff at the time of the formation of the ‘task force’, the eager hands-on member often has an answer or solution in a matter of hours or days. Someone from the task force calls the CEO or other staff member and reports. (There is no public voice or report of the task force, and thus no liability of an official arm of the association saying something embarrassing or litigious.) Staff (perhaps bouncing it off the Board via a quick e-mail if of special interest) decides what to do next...usually simply reporting whatever emerged, and members see it as a service & victory for them by the association. Each newsletter has a list of “Heroes”. Task force participants’ names appear on the much-read Heroes list, but not noting what feat(s) were achieved.

“I am often asked by shocked execs, ‘Isn’t that dangerous to trust just average untested members?’ In truth, it is safer than a standing committee system. People who call are probably ahead of the curve and better informed to have recognized the issue and be seeking a solution. It means that they also have incentive to move quickly and efficiently for the goal of getting the solution. Because they get their gratification from solving something of personal interest right away, they don’t care about ego and posturing.

“We created this a quarter-century ago, but it is far more relevant today. There is plenty of analysis showing that the upcoming generation are impatient for instant results-oriented service, and they don’t want to wait for their “turn” to have an impact and exercise leadership. Our system provides that total openness and flexibility. My favorite example was a brand new member who called, became a ‘task force,’ did a phenomenal job, and we asked him to speak on a panel on the first session of the first SBPA meeting he had ever attended. He did a great job in his presentation. That was all within his first month of membership. He feels appreciated and a loyal part of the association, and he got his ‘dues’ worth’, as he says, (meaning the solution to his original issue). Frankly, we find that new & younger members give us a great advantage of fresh perspective and notice things that we long-timers overlooked or took for granted. We also find that this system provides a gratification for staff, who can, themselves, organize task forces and enjoy seeing the results. If associations cannot provide this kind of accessibility & gratification for all members all the time, they are going to face hard times.”

On the road again

Cain Consultants have some busy months coming up. We’ll be holding contracted workshops in the following cities in January and February. Consider doing a training workshop or a planning retreat while we’re in your area and we can offer you a very good deal. E-mail Laura at laura@cain-consulting.com or call 800-735-9471 for a no obligation proposal.

Upcoming web seminars

Directors Only-Surviving & Thriving with the Library Board

You're invited to join board development specialist Dan Cain, and library directors from around the U.S. on January 8, 2008 for a web seminar especially for library executives. This seminar will be presented twice. Choose from 11-12 am CST or 1-2 pm CST.

Dan Cain has twenty years of experience working with nonprofit and government boards, and solving board and management problems. He'll share that wealth of experience with you in this real-time web seminar. You'll hear practical examples of how to build a good working relationship with your board, get insights about what your board really expects of you, and learn what you should expect of your trustees. This seminar includes:

• how to keep your trustees out of management and into governance

• how to communicate effectively with your board

• how to deal with problem trustees

Execs Only-Surviving & Thriving with the Board of Commissioners

You're invited to join board development specialist Dan Cain, and housing authority directors from around the U.S. on January 15, 2008 for a web seminar especially for housing execs. This seminar will be presented twice. Choose from 11-12 am CST or 1-2 pm CST.

• how to keep commissioners out of management and into governance

• how to communicate effectively with your board

• how to deal with problem commissioners