The Wild Goose Chase
Another title could be, “Where is the Executive Director and/or the President of the Board?”
An artful relationship exists between an association’s executive director and the president of the board of directors. One representing the staff side and the other representing the profession or industry. However, occasionally one has to wonder what either party is doing when volunteers send staff on wild goose chases. OR better yet, one of these two parties sends staff on random assignment wasting staff resources on pet projects.
Wondering what I’m referring to? The random requests made by volunteer leaders of association staff members. Things outside the scope of the primary purpose of the organization…or those tasks or assignments that have not been thought through but eat away at staff time.
I witnessed just this kind of activity a while ago in a volunteer role. Six staff members spent an entire day putting together token gifts for new members. The idea, while not bad, was never thought out and was completely last minute. But what was most surprising was that the executive director didn’t step in to set some expectations for the project — or better yet, outsource it to a fulfillment house. After some inquiry, staff members told me that this is typical in this volunteer-driven organization. I was shocked. It makes me wonder where the board president is and why the president isn’t reigning in the volunteer leaders? And why does the staff feel compelled to say “yes” to every project that gets thrown at them? And where is the executive director in all of this?
I’m wondering how many other organizations have similar situations? At the December 2005 Great Ideas Conference, I was reading some of the ‘Sacred Cow BBQ‘ comments in the creativity room. Several of the comments focused on similar issues.
I think many organizations have never been truly bottom-line focused and therefore do not seem to value how staff account for their time. Executive directors and presidents may want to periodically examine the path in which new projects enter the staff pipeline.
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