Now whether the board members will read and accept these recommendations is another thing entirely. At my last position as Executive Director, the board was very active in day to day operations and assigning staff tasks. My two predecessors and I had tried to get the board to understand their actual responsibilities vs. staff responsibilities to no avail. Even our MAP reviewer recommended these changes. I tried to get board members to attend training sessions offered by the county (usually free) so that they could learn more about proper board and staff functions, but they would not go. In the end I had to depart because I was being held responsible for operations, but did not have any power or authority to control the direction of the museum.

It is key to find good board members who understand the hierarchy and their responsibilities. Change is hard especially when board members are entrenched. Most of my board members had served on average 10 years, two were original board members from 25 years ago. They did not what "outsiders" in the organization. One of our MAP recommendations was to implement term limits. Try as I could, I could not get them to change the by-laws. Their response was "the MAP reviewer does not understand how our organization operates."

I wish you luck in making the changes.


-----Original Message-----
From: Sherry Kaseberg <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tue, 2 Jun 2009 11:32 am
Subject: Re:20Board/staff boundaries

Board Source, Building Effective Nonprofit Boards
www.boardsource.org
 
Two excellent booklets:
1. Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards by Richard T. Ingram
2. How to Help Your Board Govern More and Manage Less by Richard P. Chait, PhD.
Part of a series on Governance.
 
Sherry Kaseberg
Director
Sherman County Historical Museum
Moro, OR
www.shermanmuseum.org
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cindy Boyer
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 8:22 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Board/staff boundaries
 
Hello, List
=0 A
 
Can anyone recommend a document or source to better educate board members on the appropriate interactions between board and staff?  I have sources that discuss board responsibilities, but I'm wondering if there is a "board-friendly" document that helps them understand why they should not be involved in day to day activities, or directly calling and giving tasks to staff members.
 
It's usually the job of the executive director to enforce appropriate boundaries, but we could use a little help.
 
Cindy Boyer
Director of Museums and Education
The Landmark Society of Western New York
133 S. Fitzhugh St.
Rochester NY  14608
(585) 546-7029 ext. 12
[log in to unmask]
 
The Landmark Society:  Revitalizing Yesterday, Protecting Today, and Planning for Tomorrow
 
www.landmarksociety.org
Confessions of a Preservationist: The Landmark Society blog
Facebook / MySpace
 
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