ARE YOU ON BOARD

Boardmanship Insights

Board members are visionaries and policy makers; they do not
micro-manage the park and recreation agency

Dr. Ted Flickinger
IAPD Executive Director

The executive should be the only staff contact with the board on agency policy matters.

Understanding the unique roles of the board and the executive can foster a fruitful partnership in which boards do not micro-manage and executives do not see their boards as people they must "put up with."

Making the Partnership Work

There are a variety of relationships between boards and their executives-some good, some not so good. Unfortunately, sometimes you will find the board president trying to operate the agency, or a board member attempting to dictate policy without approval from other board members. Some board members like to call the agency staff and give them directives. These are not examples of good boardmanship.

What is the flip-side? In some cases, the executive takes an attitude that the less the board knows about what is going on in the agency the better off things will be. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Perhaps there is never an ideal situation, but the rule of thumb is: The board consults with the executive and establishes policies, and the executive administers these policies and reports their effectiveness, or need for modification, to the board.

The executive and the board must act in unison, demonstrating a spirit of cooperation and an attitude that joint decisions are most often the best decisions. When decisions cannot be reached, then compromise should be emphasized. Citizen input and expertise from the board members is an essential value that the executive must incorporate in his or her management approach. Frank, truthful and frequent communication between the partners is absolutely necessary.

A Message to Chief Executives

Some executives see their boards as burdens rather than as resources. Chief executives who see board members as another special interest they have to try to satisfy are usually not very successful.

Board members will admit that they are not as knowledgeable about the agency as their executive. They are not expected to be. They are "sounding boards" and should be highly respected for their roles and responsibilities in park and recreation services. Board members want feedback from the executive on the effects of their decisions. Some board members have complained that they approve expenditures, but never hear about them or the effect the agency has on the public it serves. Board members want to hear about successes-not just the failures.

• Keep them informed. Make board members comfortable about trusting you. Always be loyal. Board members are ultimately responsible for everything that goes on with the agency, including what they delegate to the executive.

• Assist your board members in their duties and responsibilities of making policies. Tell them the issues, what the options are, and the negative and positive points. Make recommendations. But don't look for a rubber stamp board. Create opportunities for the board to be creative, to plan, and to develop strategies to meet current missions and future goals. Make them part of the total agency.

• Support the board's actions. This is a team effort. As the executive expects board members to live by fellow board members' decisions, so must the executive adhere to this practice.

The Role of the Board and the Executive in a Winning Leadership Team

The board and executive of the agency constitute the leadership team. This partnership philosophy identifies that board members, working together, are responsible to the citizens of the community. The board's responsibility is that of determining and providing the conditions under which the staff can render quality services. This relationship is not one of "we" and "them."

Joint responsibilities involve various areas, but probably none are as important as policy formulation and planning. Policy determination is the responsibility of the board alone. The board determines the basic policies. It either initiates these policies or passes upon those

6 / Illinois Parks and Recreation

BOARDMANSHIP INSIGHTS

proposed by the executive. The executive should be the only staff contact with the board on agency policy matters.

More recently, the board's role has changed to one of representing the community, passing board policies, adopting the annual budget, and working with the executive in developing long-range plans. The executive, with staff, implements board policies efficiently, effectively and with enthusiasm, even when staff disagree with the policy. It is amazing what different perspectives are generated from the thinking of a variety of people, yet, this is healthy.

The executive should never permit his staff to criticize publicly (through oral or written communication) the views of a board member. This practice, if condoned, will immediately break down confidence between the executive and the board. The executive should not side with a few members on his board. The executive who identifies with one group, or plays one group against another, will eventually lose the confidence of the rest of the board.

Board/Staff Relationships

The board should have a very limited relationship with the agency's staff.

• There is nothing wrong with socializing with staff and having staff/board functions. But, if board members start interfering in staff matters or listening to the staffs complaints about their jobs, the executive, or the agency, then board members have gone beyond their boundaries. Official communications between the board and staff should be through the executive.

• The executive manages the agency and the staff, including hiring and firing. This is not a board function. Moreover, staff members should not be a part of the board's evaluation of the executive. The board never evaluates through the staff.

• As a board member you are one of several individuals. You are acting as a board member when you're relating to the staff. You don't make commitments, you don't make decisions. That is the responsibility of the full board and not die individual.

• A board member should not act as if the staff are subordinates. The board member does not have the right or responsibility to supervise staff. That's the job of the executive. The executive hires, fires, evaluates staff members and gives them direction. As a board member, you're primarily a policy maker.

• When you're working with the staff of the agency as a volunteer, you're going through the executive, you're not directing the staff. If staff try to go over the executive's head, refrain from receiving that kind of information. Inform them they have to follow the chain of command and they shouldn't bring problems directly to board members. However, if it's a real severe problem, there is nothing wrong with a board member individually bringing it to the attention of the executive and board president for resolution. The board should, of course, have a grievance procedure for serious staff problems.

Board/Executive Relationship Q&A

Board members and the executive should have a total agency perspective. The quality of the working relationship between the board and the executive is of critical importance to the effectiveness of each. Although the board must take responsibility for basic policies and their consequences, it also must give the executive the authority and flexibility to act decisively. Test yourself on the following concerns.

1. Is there a climate of mutual trust and support between the board and the executive?

2. Has the board delegated to the executive the authority he or she needs to administer the agency successfully?

3. Does the executive keep the board fully informed (and vice versa)?

4. Does the executive have a clear sense of where his or her responsibilities begin and end with respect to the board's responsibilities?

5. Does the board have a clear sense of the delineation between policy issues and management issues?

Strategies to Keep the Board from Meddling with the Staff

1. During orientation and training of new board members, have them sign a board Code of Ethics that identifies not directing or meddling with individual staff members (as well as the executive) unless acting on or delegated by the full board.

2. Identify in the board policy manual that all board questions or requests regarding staff should be made to the executive. The executive will know the staff member's workload. When a staff member is asked by a board member to do something, it places this person in a very uncomfortable position to choose between helping the board member or doing his/her regular duties. It also breaks the chain of command which can affect the morale and team work of the staff/executive relationships. 

The executive should never permit staff to criticize publicly (through oral or written communication) the views of a board member. This practice, if condoned, will immediately break down confidence between the executive and the board.

July / August 2000 / 7