Steadying The Ship In Time Of Crisis

During the best of times, one of the most demanding voluntary jobs on offer is chairing the board of a non-profit. But, as so many have discovered in 2020, steadying the ship during an unprecedented storm of uncertainty is not easy.

At LEAD we want Chairs to know that they’re not out there navigating these unchartered waters alone.

Chairs are expected to be a bit of everything — an expert on the organisation, group facilitator, supervisor of the manager, organisational advocate and spokesperson, expert on meeting procedure and do it all as a part-time hobby and with little, if any, training.

So, we decided to change that by inviting Board Chairs to an online forum to share ideas, dilemmas and support.

On 22 July, 71 engaged and passionate Chairs joined our lively virtual discussion, “Lessons from the Lockdown - what Chairs have learnt for the next big threat.”

Most of the challenges identified by the Chairs could be broken into three main concerns — technology, reprioritising work and team well being.

Technology:

As we all transitioned to working from home and were forced to hold meetings online rather than face-to-face some unforeseen challenges arose.

Some trustees didn’t have access to the technology they needed, be it temperamental WiFi or the necessary hardware (eg. Smartphone or computer). There was also an issue of technical competency, with many, particularly older, Trustees not technologically proficient to comfortably take part in online Zoom meetings.

Chairing an on-line meeting had its own challenges, as it was much different to face-to-face where you can better gauge the feeling in the room and ensure everyone’s voice is heard.

But there were advantages too. As people have become more comfortable with working from home, policies around that have been developed.

Others found the use of Zoom gave the ability to host meetings with overseas coaches which would normally have been out of reach due to travel costs.

Some Boards are now developing a mixed-model for their future meetings with some Board members attending via Zoom and others in person.

Reprioritising Work:

Keeping staff employed was a priority for all non-profits. One Chair reported their organisation was unable to operate during lockdown so staff identified a list of jobs that tend to get put on the back-burner and thanks to the government’s wage subsidy they were able to remain employed and tackle those tasks. They also created a digital delivery of some of their services to keep connected with their community.

Other Chairs made use of the time to do more reading and taking part in international webinars that became more accessible as the rest of the world locked down. Indeed it was because of access to various governance workshops that were offered to community groups during the lockdown, that many Chairs reported feeling supported during those difficult weeks.

One Chair reported that they worked to capture as an organisation what worked and what was missed while the experience was still fresh. They have identified a number of things to follow up on including ensuring their IT is fit for purpose.

Team Wellbeing:

Top of mind for all Chairs was the wellbeing of the entire team from Trustees, to staff and volunteers.

There were lessons in being reflexive and understanding that some team members will have experienced trauma and challenges that may have ongoing implications.

In some ways, people appeared more accepting and caring of others and one Chair reported moving to weekly catch-ups rather than monthly to touch base with everyone on a personal level as well as update the operational side of the organisation as well.

One Chair reported the weight of responsibility they felt for checking in with Trustees and ensuring the Trust was still able to function and that everyone had the brain space to think about the issues for the organisation as well as their own personal situations.

Overall, the Chairs reported an added sense of responsibility for thanking, encouraging and giving hope to the team to enable them to pull together as one during such a difficult time.

This forum of course, was held before Auckland went into its second lockdown in August. We have no doubt there were more lessons learnt from that experience, so we’re looking at holding further Chairs’ Forums in the coming months.

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