Difficult Decision - Put that on Pause Please

It was a tense meeting. The board was considering options for resolving a projected budget shortfall. The two options were to: accept a budget shortfall on the assumption this was a temporary situation; or, require the Executive Director to balance the budget, which would, most likely, mean key staff members would be asked to accept fewer hours of work and thus, lower pay.

A motion to support one of the options was duly moved and seconded. During the ensuing board discussion there were appeals for prudent fiscal management with a balanced budget. Others argued that preservation of priority programming was necessary to avoid breaking the spirit of the organization during, what all agreed was likely to be, a one to two year funding squeeze.

Several board members were struggling with this dilemma since they counted themselves as friends of the staff involved. Most, if not all, board members had served along side staff in delivering one program or another.

After all viewpoints were on the table, the chair wisely called for a short recess. She acknowledged the difficult decision that was before the board and that for her to consider the best option she’d need some time to test her own motive to ensure she was assessing what was best for the organization, not what satisfied her own personal biases. Several board members left the room to find a quiet spot to collect their thoughts. Others had quiet conversations with each other.

In the end, the motion passed with a strong majority and no further discussion.

What Can You Do?

Human nature being what it is, we sometimes, consciously or sub-consciously, express our own biases before considering what is best for the whole. When there are tough decisions to be made:

• Pauses that allow for quiet reflection and a sober second thought are always a good idea.
• A ‘straw vote’ or informal show of hands to see the extent of division within the board is often a helpful step. If it is close to 50:50 then chances are the members or owners will be similarly split. More information or more time will be needed to get a clear majority.
• Choose not to take offense when others on the board express a viewpoint that is counter to yours. It is not about taking sides. Our job is to get to the best decision and sometimes conflicting statements can be constructive in exploring the nuances of a situation in order to arrive at the desired destination.