Guest Post by Afif Tabsh
Afif Tabsh is a
management consultant and instructor of Project Management at the American
University of Beirut. Passionate about volunteerism and community development,
he currently serves on the Boards of four NGOs, as well as leading his own NGO,
AieServe. He is a Laureate Global Fellow of YouthActionNet,
winner of the King Abdullah II Award for Youth Innovation and Achievement, Ambassador
of Peace at the Universal Peace Federation, and a Global Shaper at the World
Economic Forum.
I’ve been
involved with NGOs for years, yet I’m constantly surprised with the vast
differences in how people perceive board members and how board members
themselves perceive their role. To some, a board is a group of people who attend
meeting after meeting with no real outcomes. To others, it’s some mythical,
grandiose, elitist group who are granted special powers to lead the
organization. I’d like to help demystify all of that…
My involvement
ranges from small local clubs, to national organizations, to branches of
international organizations. Irrespective of shape, size, or topic of
those NGOs, I can easily draw a line of similarity among them.
To start
with, the Board is sometimes called the Board of Directors, Steering Committee,
Executive Board or Executive Committee. Despite of the naming diversity, the
roles and responsibilities remain the same.
So let’s
talk about the core of the issue—what is expected of board members?
Board
members have three key roles that form the pillars of any NGO:
1. Decision Making
Board members are elected members that lead the
organization; often they include founding members. In this context, all major
decision making in the organization goes through them. In my experience, I have
noticed that sometimes board members become passive and rather apathetic to
decisions being made, which can bias the views of the organization towards the
opinions of the remaining Board Members. If you’re on a board of an NGO and you
see this happening around you, you’re not alone…it’s a trend!
It’s
important to deal with this issue because if all members aren’t represented in
each decision, you’ll see resistance and conflicts arising here and there every
once in a while, especially from the inactive board members who can feel
out-of-touch.
What makes
decision making in NGOs different from private sector or governmental institutions
is the fact that everyone’s opinion matters and most decisions are done either
democratically or through consensus. It should never be a one-man show.
2. Organizational/Executive/Functional
In addition to
having a decision-making role, all boards have a distribution of roles and
responsibilities where the most common structure is: President, Vice President,
General Secretary, Treasurer and Accountant. Each individual not only has his
decision-making role, but also a functional role to play, whether it’s taking
care of financials, managing internal communication or heading committees. If
those tasks and responsibilities are implemented properly, this second pillar will
ensure that the NGO stands tall and becomes sustainable. When leadership roles
are managed properly, the internal dynamics of the organization function
properly.
3. Jack-of-All-Trades
Yes you read it
right—as soon as you become a Board Member of an NGO you suddenly become a ‘jack-of-all-trades’
as your responsibilities expand beyond what you expect. You roll up your
sleeves and take on tasks related to strategic planning, outreach, public
relations, proposal writing, volunteer management, project management,
reporting, web development, graphic design, fundraising, training,
consulting, event organizing and so on. Great board members do not just make
decisions or perform the duties of their title, they get involved at all levels
and are able to assist, support and improve what their organization does.
Based on my
experience, I can say that those three pillars, if implemented properly, are
what make a healthy board and thus a healthy organization. If you’re a board member,
and you feel you are missing out on any pillars…then consult with your team. You
might be holding your organization back. If you’re doing all three and you feel
other board members aren’t, then it’s time to discuss sharing the workload.
Properly
leading an NGO can be as time consuming and demanding, if not more demanding,
than leading your own company. The work is social and collaborative, and you
must coordinate with several decision makers who are equal to you on levels of
authority, ownership and responsibility.
This post originally
appeared on Afif's Blog.
Afif is a 2012 Laureate Global Fellow, a program of YouthActionNet. If you are a 18-29 year old leader driving change in your own community, apply today to be a 2013 Laureate Global Fellow! Deadline March 17, 2013.
