No one person decides anything in the groups I know/am involved. The elementary group has bylaws that allow the executive board to make decisions involving $100 or less. There is an approved budget that they work from for the rest of the programs/events, and anything outside of that is voted on by the general membership. Their budget is covers just about anything they can think of doing through the year, so there are very few occasions where the general membership has to vote on additional spending.
I think the key to working with hard-headed people is to be very honest, constructively critical, and persistant. Sometimes it's very difficult to go against the flow but, as a board member, you have to remember that the focus and motivation of your PTO/PTA is the kids and you need to do everything in your power to ensure that the group remains focused on that as well. Another great tactic is to drum up support from parents and bring their comments (or them) to the meeting.
I'm a PTA VP with similar issues. We use email primarily because we all work and that way we can get to it on our own schedule. However, when working with coordinators or committees, I like to start with a meeting, followed by email communications. It adds a personal note to the effort.
The President is a return president and is only interested in doing what we did last year with very little effort (if at all) to improve or change it. I'm struggling right now pull the board together to discuss these issues and vote on them. I get around some of it by just making it known with assertive language (not aggressive or brash) that I disagree with something or want to explore an option further before moving ahead. In my emails, I "strongly encourage" (or similar language) option xx or that we meet on xx day to discuss details on the matter. This usually works.
KLK9;137166 wrote:
2) Voting. When something is discussed, does the entire group vote, or does the president just decide and it's so?
That would be quite a dictatorship if only one person was making decisions. Those who are entitled to vote (membership) are the ones to make decisions. As a president, I personally would not want to be the one making all the decisions myself.
As far as communication, we rarely use email, etc but a phone call.
I'm new here, and have a couple questions. Our PTO is just starting up (new school/new pto), and we already have a couple challenges just in the organizational & decision making aspect. I'd like to see how other PTOs handle these topics. - For reference, we haven't officially adopted bylaws yet - although an attempt was made to just copy what another school has done in a neighboring town. For that we did agree to review and modify as it applies.
1) Board communication. (strictly communications between board members and school officials if involved)
We're currently using email, but I'm interested to know who is using a listserv/yahoo/meetup group, etc. If you are using one, how is that working. If not, please let me know why it was decided against.
2) Voting. When something is discussed, does the entire group vote, or does the president just decide and it's so? I ask this one, because it seemed today that our co-presidents have a lot of things pre-determined, and suggestions were just brushed off - nothing was voted on. I have my personal opinions on the situation, but would like to hear how other boards handle these situations.
