It was a nightmare: a three-hour Zoom meeting of a board of directors who showed up at 7 pm after a full day’s work to make one important decision.
With some advance communication and planning, the whole thing could have taken maybe an hour.
The decision was which candidate to hire as the new executive. We had interviewed the three candidates for about an hour and a half apiece over the previous week.
The only communication about tonight’s meeting said simply that it was time to decide.
The agenda turned out to be to discuss each candidate in turn, spending 30 to 40 minutes on each. Five of the 12 board members did most of the talking.
- Candidate 1 clearly wasn’t right for the job, though we dutifully noted her strengths.
- Candidate 2 had more to offer but also had significant gaps.
- Candidate 3 was the clear favorite from the get-go.
After spending time on each candidate individually, we discussed the three together. 9 pm came and went.
As the time for the vote arrived, a long-time board member (not the chair) asked for input from “Bob,” who had not said one word.
Bob thought the whole process had been a waste of time. None of the candidates was up for the job. He wanted to start over.
So then we took another 25 minutes to rehash decisions made months earlier, including what kind of experience we could expect for the amount we could pay.
I’ve learned from my client Laurie Reuben what the board chair could have planned and communicated instead.
1. Take a straw poll in advance.
If we had known, going into the meeting, that 10 people wanted Candidate 3 and 2 were leaning toward Candidate 2, we could have saved, at minimum, the time we spent on Candidate 1, and probably most of the discussion of Candidate 2.
2. Set and distribute an agenda.
If a poll had been taken, the agenda would have had two items: (1) Discuss poll results. (2) Vote.
3. Lay out ground rules about participation.
Especially on Zoom, says Laurie, the meeting facilitator has to be directive. Even in person, setting up “open” discussion leaves room for a few to dominate.
In the agenda document and again at the beginning of the meeting, lay out the ground rules: “We’ll go around the Zoom, and everyone will have 3 minutes. You can pass if you’re not ready to speak, but I will come back to you.”
With this advance communication, the meeting probably would have taken an hour. Bob’s objection would have been dealt with early, so that the meeting could end with a ringing endorsement of Candidate 3.
Laurie has lots more tips about facilitating meetings – and more! – on her blog. She also offers free webinars. Tell her Jan sent you.