Nancy Lublin was right on the mark in a Fast Company article when she observed:

The biz model [for nonprofits] destines us for burnout. We take people with big hearts and crush their souls; you sign on to help cure cancer and then leave because you’re just shilling rubber bracelets. You want universal literacy, but the only way to move toward it is a big chicken dinner at a fancy hotel.

She is speaking about the problem created by how nonprofit volunteers and staff are managed and how nonprofit volunteers and staff should approach their work.

This problem affects both volunteers and staff. It is indicates poor placement, supervision and management.

I think the nonprofits with few or no staff are especially vulnerable to this problem. It starts with poor volunteer screening and placement system. It continues with poor or no supervision. And is aggravated by poor planning and coordination by the board and leadership.

BUT all of these issues have relatively simple ways they can be solved.

When you screen for connection to mission, for governance vs results and for personal interests, the volunteer can be placed in the position that will maximize results and minimize burnout.

When committee chairs are placed effectively and given training in supervision, the volunteer will see results and have a sense of fulfilling the mission to which they are connected.

When the Board is focused on governance and creates a management team, the volunteer will function in an effective and rewarding environment.

None of these steps are expensive. They do require an experienced person to help create the operating system.

We do can help do that.

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photo credit: DieselDemon

Many nonprofits treat volunteers like fingers for a leaking dike. They stick them into whatever role seems to have the most need at the moment. This is a mistake.

Poor decisions about volunteer assignment, I believe, increases burnout and, more importantly, underperformance.

A board member or committee member, who underperforms, accepts a responsibility but doesn’t complete it or completes it late. The lateness and neglect undermine the effectiveness of the board, the committee and ultimately the organization.

Underperformance  is more damaging than someone leaving because they are burnout. I know that a person who leaves won’t be doing anything. I don’t know a person is underperforming because he/she is in the wrong position will not carryout a responsibility until after the deadline.

All nonprofits should have an effective volunteer coordinator. This should be one of the first positions created after the initial board has been created.

I believe, strongly, that anyone helping a volunteer find their place in an organization should:
a. understand from where the volunteer’s passion for the organization and its mission comes;
b. identify, as much as possible, what are the volunteer’s unique abilities and interests; and,
c. offer to the volunteer as many options as possible from which to choose to increase the probability they will feel fulfilled and energized by their volunteer work.

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photo credit: maplegirlie

Inver Hills Community College Inver Grove Heights, MN beginning September 28, 2010

Minneapolis Community and Technical College Minneapolis, MN beginning September 29, 2010

Nonprofit Organization and Operation: A Hands-on, How-to Approach is designed for nonprofit entrepreneurs and volunteer leaders from organizations somewhere between the “start up” and the “staff up” phases. By taking an approach that is tailored to the needs of class participants, the course will help you to develop an organization with the means and resources to be successful. Topics of the course will include but not be limited to:
Beginning a nonprofit
Recruiting and organizing board members
Building committees and leaders
Building and leading a management team
Recruiting and placing volunteers
Creating plans and measuring results
Operating a results oriented organization
Creating resources
Communications

The course will use lecture, small group discussion, peer-to-peer discussion of issues brought in by participants, and case studies. There will be assignments to be completed outside of class, with the opportunity for feedback each week. You’ll have the opportunity to discover resources here that will help you focus your efforts as you move through the various steps of launching a functioning nonprofit organization.

Nancy Lublin has once again hit a nail on the head with her new column in Fast Company March 2010.

Read it and learn.

In addition to her suggestions to organizations: 1. Don’t be crazy. 2 Ground people, don’t grind them. 3. Give them a break.

I go back to my big three: 1. Get you committee chairs off the Board. 2. Have a management team. 3. Screen and assign volunteers based on their interests and abilities.

Have you just got one started?

Where do you go for technical assistance?

What questions do you need to answer as a nonprofit entrepreneur before you organize a new nonprofit?

You can find a lot of information on boards and board training.

You also need to know about how to find, screen and assign volunteers. How to select and train committee chairs.

Another area that most organizations miss is the management team. You need to be able to create and run a management team in an all volunteer organization.

I  will be dealing with all of these questions and other topics.
photo credit: BozDoz

Does the communication and decision making in your organization get hijacked?

A friend recently shared with me and an interesting observation:

In both emails,…, I think we have examples of what I might call Management by the Many, or Management by Email Group. In other words, anyone who has an agenda can simply put an email group together, sent out their communication to the group, and either go ahead with their plan feeling as though they have the whole group’s agreement and that they are acting in the best interests of the organization, or hope to get feedback and then take action – hence, Management by sending an email to the group of your choice.

Organizational process and communication need to be two way at all times. The flow needs to be from the Board to the Director to Committee Chairs to members, guests and email recipients – and back up – equally in both directions.

Corporations have trouble with this. Why should we expect nonprofits to be any better?

Have you had problems with this? How have you solved them?

photo credit: Lars Plougmann

photo credit: S amo

Group dynamics will make or break your Board.

An important part of functional group dynamics is understanding where you are and where the other Board members are on key issues. Without this understanding there can be no compromise or collaboration; no unity on issues.

You and your fellow Board members need to understand each other on at least these key areas:

1. What kind of role does the Board play in its group process?
2. Who in the organization drives our board activity?
3. How do we define our community base?
4. What size is our community base?
5. Where should the leadership for our organization come from?
6. How do we feel about power and authority?
7. How responsible are we to our community?
8. Does our organization and the Board focus more on relationships or tasks?
9. How much structure do we as Board members like?
10. How important is history and tradition vs contemporary models and trends?

[The above points are taken in part or in whole from Ten Dimensions that Shape Your Board by Vanderwall and Benavides.]

You and your Board has the opportunity to work together more effectively when you use an assessment tool to help you communicate about these issues. Then you can use it as a basis for an ongoing discussion in the integration of new Board members.

Contact me. I would be happy to discuss this at more length with you.

Every time someone new comes on your board, the group dynamics of the board changes. The group has to reform. It has to start over to some degree.

Bruce Tuckman developed and published in 1965 a 4-stage model of group development.  He labelled the stages:

1. Forming: The group comes together and gets to initially know one other and form as a group.

2. Storming: A chaotic vying for leadership and trialling of group processes.

3. Norming: Eventually agreement is reached on how the group operate.

4. Performing: The group practices its craft and becomes effective in meeting its objectives.

Later he added:

5. Adjourning: The process of “unforming” the group, that is, letting go of the group structure and moving on.

When a group has a tool for forming with new members, the process is smoothed, especially the storming stage.

I think Ten Dimensions that Shape Your Board is a strong tool you can use each time a new member comes on the board to include them and to help the board reform.

Photo credit:

Stick People Meet. 14″x18″. Acrylic on canvas board. November 2006., originally uploaded by stuzehner. ]]> http://yayteamblog.com/2009/08/board-change-and-group-dynamics/feed/ 6 http://yayteamblog.com/2009/06/boards-are-for-governance-committees-are-for-results/ http://yayteamblog.com/2009/06/boards-are-for-governance-committees-are-for-results/#comments Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:19:34 +0000 J. Michael Cavitt http://yayteamblog.com/?p=279

Take your pick. The result is the same. The mission to which you are drawn, to which your heart is connected, is not being accomplished.

If you are or are willing to be a volunteer leader or encourage a volunteer leader, you can help your organization get its best results.

I believe there are three core problems which create these situations.

• Committee chairs serve on the Board.
• There is no management team.
• There is little or no volunteer recruitment, placement or training.

When committee chairs serve on the board there are three problems created.

• They are not expected to submit written reports since they are there to be asked.
• They should be results leaders while board members should be governance leaders.
• The board does not communicate in writing with them since they are there to be told.

When there is no management team there are three problems.

• Committee chairs don’t  know what other committees are doing.
• There is little or no coordination of committee efforts.
• The board receives little or no feed back until things don’t happen.

When there is no effective volunteer management there are three problems.

• Volunteers are placed in highest need not best fit positions.
• Volunteers burn out when asked to fill positions that don’t fit them.
• Volunteers discourage others from volunteering by speaking of their experience.

You can remove all three of these obstacles. When you do your heart will sing from the results.

Contact me with questions.

Photo Credit:Big Stink, originally uploaded by desben.