165. Cinderella at midnight (Condition #14: scheduling)

If we made a ranking of the governance conditions that were both easy to improve and super resistant to change, meeting scheduling would be pretty close to the top. It’s also one of those conditions where we kinda look for the compromise that nobody is happy with but everyone can sorta live with instead of trying different things every once in a while that might be AWESOME for some people, even if they might be a little bit worse for others – as long as those others get the chance for something awesome in the future. Here’s what I mean, maybe we hold half-day board meetings on Thursday afternoons because half the board is retired and goes to the cottage for Friday-to-Sunday long weekends, while the other half works full-time and Thursdays are the next best day to take off other than Fridays, when the rest of the board is on their dock with a glass of sangria. Nobody is happy with this arrangement – either because they hit the road late for the cottage or because they miss a half day of valuable work time. Or worse, what about all the people we’re eliminating from eligibility for our board in the first place because they can’t get off work at all, or can’t afford child care? For many boards, we just live with these compromises because they kinda work and they feel fair. But do they work as well as alternating Thursday mornings and Saturday mornings? Do they work as well as back-to-back Tuesday and Wednesday evenings? Do they work as well as offering a child care stipend? Not to mention that at some times of the day, certain people just turn into metaphorical pumpkins. If you’ve noticed the occasional director seeming to doze off or lose focus, scheduling is a good place to start looking for a remedy.