Profound Leadership’s recent survey of association executives revealed the things they find most frustrating about their Board of Directors. The #1 frustration comes as no surprise – MICROMANAGEMENT. Having a micromanaging board is more than frustrating, it can be a major distraction and waste of time ultimately slowing progress on all fronts, not to mention a huge demotivator to the Executive Director and the entire team.
Micromanagement happens when the Board steps out of its role of governance into managing operations, gets involved in the details, setting the strategic direction but also wanting to actively oversee the implementation of the details. The Board gets distracted by the details, gets into the weeds, the how’s, and is no longer focused on the big picture of the association and its mission.
Boards micromanage for several reasons, 1) governance does not provide immediate results, operational tasks produce tangible results and rewards, 2) the Board does not understand the difference between governance and management, 3) the Board does not focus on the strategic plan/issues 4) the association has a very small staff, and the Board can easily get drawn into operations, 5) the Executive Director “invites” them in to the day to day operations, 6) the Board lacks the information they need from the Executive Director in order to make an informed decision, 7) Board is not confident in the Executive Director.
As an Executive Director what can you do? Address it as early as possible. Once micromanagement starts, it can progressively get worse and accepted as a best practice by your Board. Determine the reason for the micromanagement and come up with a plan to get the Board focused on governance rather than management.
Some solutions: provide Board training, meet with the President/Chair, set boundaries, openly address micromanagement (getting into the weeds) at Board meetings, stop bringing operational issues to the Board, provide the Board with the details they need to make an informed decision. If they lack confidence in you as the CEO/Executive Director, this is quite often related to communications or lack of understanding of your role as CEO/ED and their role as the Board.
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