Find Out: Is Your Nonprofit Board Micromanaging? Or not?
The Board Micromanaging Quiz
Suggested Answers
Board Meetings
| 1. A board member asks a question about a staff member’s responsibilities. | No |
| 2. When the CEO is not present, the Board assigns an individual staff member at the meeting to complete a task.
|
Yes[1] |
| 3. The Board asks the CEO if staff can take on a committee task. | No |
| 4. The Board tells the CEO how to fix an operation’s snafu. | Yes |
| 5. The Board creates a policy to correct an operation’s snafu. | No |
Committee Meetings
| 6. A member voices an opinion about the CEO’s decision on an operations issue and asks for a report at the next board meeting.
|
Yes[2] |
| 7. A member assigns a staff member to complete a committee task. | Yes |
| 8. A member discovers an accounting process error and informs the CFO how to correct it.
|
Yes |
| 9. A member discovers an accounting process error, informs the CFO how to correct it, and emails the board chair and CEO afterward to explain what happened.
|
Yes[3] |
| 10. Three board members decide they would like to discuss an HR policy at the next board meeting and ask the CEO to put it on the agenda. | No |
Individual Encounters
| 11. Without asking if input would be helpful, the Board Chair shares a list of ideas on an internal challenge.
|
Yes |
| 12. After confirming that the input is welcome, the Board Chair provides a list of ideas on an internal challenge.
|
No |
| 13. At a networking event, a board member asks a staff member (not the CEO) to send a link to the program background.
|
No[4] |
| 14. At a networking event, a board member grills the staff member on why the staff runs a program the way it does, frowning at the answers the staff member shares.
|
Yes |
| 15. The Board Chair passes on three suggestions on how to supervise employees to the CEO developed during the CEO’s evaluation. | No |
Read How Can You Stop Your Board from Micromanaging? for more information about board micromanaging. Need more help with your board? Karen is available for a mini-consult or more. Click here to email or here to set a time to chat.
[1] The board asks the CEO to assigns the task.
[2] If the Committee agrees than they bring this request to the board who in turn asks the CEO to create the report.
[3] Sometimes micromanaging makes sense especially if the issue is time sensitive. Solving the challenge and keeping communications open, invites everyone to discuss how to handle similar issues going forward.
[4] Assuming this is information that staff would share with board members.
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