This article by industry consultant Warren Tapp discusses how clubs without good boardroom practises can be contributing to their own undoing.
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I have seen many common mistakes made by club boards or management committees. Do any of these relate to your club?
- Having an outdated or inappropriate Constitution, or outdated or non-existent policies or strategic plan.
- Having no inductions for new board/committee members, or conversely, the same people re-elected for many years.
- Having too much conflict within the board/committee room, factions within the board and/or an ineffective chair/President who cannot lead.
- Having no control over the club manager’s strategic decisions, or having too much concern about operational matters.
- Having no understanding of the governance laws for clubs.
- Having no understanding of the club’s true financial position.
These are just a few of what I have seen. Often they are not a problem, until they are.
The other mistake I have seen is allowing members who were not elected at the AGM continue to spend the next year doing all they can to undermine or attack the board/committee, with no disciplinary action taken.
‘Sour grapes’ can really destroy a club if it continues. But make sure you listen to them first before you ‘shoot the messenger’ as clubs are made up of all types of personalities, with their own opinions and agendas, and you must manage that.
As for the list of mistakes above, the obvious solution is to get help to fix all of them – quickly. Put that list on the next board/committee agenda for discussion and action.
Club board and management committee members need to be aware of all of these mistakes and avoid them, to protect their club and members as much as possible. Doing nothing about them is not an option.
Warren Tapp
