As a company providing products and services to the not-for-profit sector, it seems to us that one of the challenges in running a non-profit organization is slow decision-making. You often need to consult with so many different types of stakeholders: board members, staff, donors, members, industry, government - the list goes on....
This often leads to a delayed and suboptimal decision-making process – the situation changes faster than the organization can process all the inputs, reconvene and make the decision..
What's the answer? Sorry I do not have a perfect solution - but I do have some ideas:
- efficient process for preparing, conducting and following up board and staff meetings
- proper technical infrastructure for the board and staff to have instant access to relevant materials and reports. Web-based tools are finally making this easier !
- Someone taking the initiative for a particular decision
I am certainly anxious to get your own feelings on this subject.
Best wishes for the upcoming holidays - and I hope the cartoon below will never be a reality in your organization :-)
Copyright, Grantland Enterprises; www.grantland.net. Used with permission. May
not be reproduced in any format.