I had a board chair call me the other day (in a harried fit) saying their executive director had died recently – and had worked almost to the end before her cancer at the age of 47 caught up with her. Unfortunately, the Board Chair of this small nonprofit discovered a number of office problems as she tried to fill in as “key staff” until a new Executive Director could be hired. She found that she:
Succession planning for key staff is one of the most important activities a board can do. It fulfills the requirements that a board must be “stewards” of the organization. Planning can be done in a few hours with key staff and the board attending the session. A good facilitator can calmly take everyone through what can be dicey and emotional discussions and decisions about what critical information is needed and what the transition process is when staff leaves – either suddenly or in a plan-full way.
I will always remember what a trainer said to us once at a workshop for volunteer directors: “In times of trouble, structure is your friend”.
Once the succession plan is laid out and documented, everyone can breathe a sigh of relief and move on. Although pass words and other items may need to be updated several times a year, for the most part, their succession plan only needs to be reviewed every other year or so, or when big changes occur, like adding lots of staff or expanding programming.
Don’t be caught like this board chair who rang off the line with the exasperated comment “It would have taken so little planning to save so much time!” She is right.
- Didn’t have the passwords to get into the website or the email system to change and update information
- Didn’t have the password to get into the computer or QuickBooks files
- Had to spend hours digging for “key contact” information – like their bankers name and number, account information, the name and contact information of the attorney or CPA or insurance agent
- Couldn’t make sense of the files – the Executive Director had her own mystical filing system and it worked…for her
- Didn’t know what grants were coming in, going out, or needed reporting
- Didn’t know if the annual State and Federal organizational information had been filed
Succession planning for key staff is one of the most important activities a board can do. It fulfills the requirements that a board must be “stewards” of the organization. Planning can be done in a few hours with key staff and the board attending the session. A good facilitator can calmly take everyone through what can be dicey and emotional discussions and decisions about what critical information is needed and what the transition process is when staff leaves – either suddenly or in a plan-full way.
I will always remember what a trainer said to us once at a workshop for volunteer directors: “In times of trouble, structure is your friend”.
Once the succession plan is laid out and documented, everyone can breathe a sigh of relief and move on. Although pass words and other items may need to be updated several times a year, for the most part, their succession plan only needs to be reviewed every other year or so, or when big changes occur, like adding lots of staff or expanding programming.
Don’t be caught like this board chair who rang off the line with the exasperated comment “It would have taken so little planning to save so much time!” She is right.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please take a few moments to post your biggest issue!