Agenda Clutter

I picked up a new term today—agenda clutter!

Ralph Enlow, president of the Association for Biblical Higher Education, used that descriptive malady in the Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom Blog—which launched today. He writes: 

“…I find that the fatal combination of passivity and agenda clutter conspires to crowd out efforts to walk the talk of continuous board development.”

Enlow is one of 40 guest bloggers (40 Blogs. 40 Wednesdays.) for the new book, Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom, by Dan Busby and yours truly. Visit the blog here. Visit the book’s webpage here.

Enlow did not define agenda clutter—because we all know it when we see it, right? It looks like this:
   • Too many agenda items in too little time.
   • Too many staff members reporting on too many topics that have already been reported on in too many emails.
   • No prioritization of topics. Equal time allocated to A, B, and C priorities.
   • No “heavy lifting” on one key topic that engages the board—prayerfully and strategically. (See Lesson 36 in our new book, “Decrease Staff Reporting and Increase Heavy Lifting.”)
   • No time limits for agenda items.
   • No “meeting before the meeting” consultation between the CEO and the board chair. (See Lesson 5: “Before the Board Meeting: Collaborate, then wisely build the board meeting agenda.”)
   • No coaching of report givers—board, staff and consultants. (See the book recommended in Lesson 36, 15 Minutes Including Q&A: A Plan to Save the World From Lousy Presentations, by Joey Asher.)

Those are the first seven that popped into my mind, and like you, I can name more encumbrances that contribute to agenda clutter. 

But perhaps there is a deeper issue at play:

The same old/same old agenda template:
it’s faster to replicate last quarter’s agenda than to take time for prayer and allow the Holy Spirit to breathe new insights into this board gathering
on what-should-be holy ground.

What might happen in your boardroom when you eliminate clutter?

BOARDROOM ASSIGNMENT: Invite an outside observer, or a board coach, to observe your next board meeting—and assess the level of agenda clutter. Ask: do our boardroom deliberations and decision-making/discernment practices align with our mission and the most effective stewardship of God’s work here?

Order: Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom, by Dan Busby and John Pearson (Download a sample chapter here.)

Read the Blog: Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom Blog

Board Meetings on Holy Ground

The next time you set the table for your board meeting, set the ground also. The gospel song, “We Are Standing on Holy Ground,” by Geron La Ray Davis, is a powerful anthem to remind board members of our Kingdom roles and responsibilities.

“When I walked through the doors I sensed His presence
And I knew this was a place where love abounds
For this is a temple, the God we love abides here
Oh, we are standing in His presence on holy ground.”

I’ve been reflecting recently on the power of location. Whenever and wherever our boards meet, we’re on holy ground. God’s presence is promised. We can respond to, or ignore, the nudges of the Holy Spirit. Or we can keep one eye on our agendas, and the other eye on our smart phones. Holy ground? Where?

Good news! Many board chairs and CEOs leverage their creativity gifts to create space at board meetings so God’s love and direction abounds. Yet for others, sadly, too often the practical and pragmatic crowds out the holy.

To refocus and leverage the wonder of holy ground, consider a different location for at least one board meeting a year. For example:
   • A CEO friend arranged for a board meeting at an architect’s office. The beauty, the creativity, and the innovative use of space elevated the thinking, the camaraderie, and the praying at this unique meeting location.
    • A board chair asked a ministry partner to host a board meeting—and routine reports took on new meaning as they experienced God stories in person at this ministry to the poor.
   • I facilitated a mission agency’s board retreat on a Christian university campus. Interaction with students and profs in the dining commons was a highlight for many board members.
   • Another CEO friend recently reserved space for a board meeting at a knock-your-socks-off international exhibit, currently under construction. I’ve heard about it—and it will inspire board members to elevate their Kingdom thinking!

This month, a ministry board “took me out to the ballgame” where a meeting room was reserved for a two-hour board meeting prior to the Houston Astros’ no-hitter drubbing of the Los Angeles Dodgers. That too, I’ll reluctantly admit, was holy ground—as Christ-centered board members and their spouses enjoyed nine innings of high touch relational time. 

Matthew 18 in The Message is the holy ground promise: “When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.”

QUESTION: What would change in your next board meeting if every board member understood the theology of location—that we are standing on holy ground?