We had a similar situation a couple years back where there were some who wanted to run the show but not do the work. They pipped down when we offered to allow them to chair the next event so they could put their ideas to work!
Our board meets once a month at 9:30. Committee chairs are invited to the board meeting to report on their progress. They don't have to come to every one, just when they have progress.
For instance our School Spirit chair will come when her committee has selected the items they'll sell and has their order form done. We approve it as a board before she goes forward with sending them out or ordering the items.
Our Family Fun chair meets with her committee at whatever time is good for them and just comes (or sends a respresentative) to the board meeting when they've selected their dates, what the event is and so forth. We then approve it, or give our feedback for her to take back to the committee.
It's not neccessary for the baord members to attend inddividual committee meetings as long as the board is kept informed and approves what the committee is doing.
Some chairs are veterans and we as a board can give them a budget and just let them run with it. We keep in contact via email.
Others are new and need some direction. Usually there's at least one board member that chaired that committee in the past who'll join the committee to give direction, or at least be available by phone and email to help.
Keep in mind what is going on this year and going into board elections nominate those who are available to help.
I don't understand why someone wants a board seat if they aren't free to help when the help is needed.
Give your committee chairmen more authority to make decisions. If they are in charge of the fall carnival, let them be in charge of the fall carnival. They can (and prob. should) run major decisions by the exec board via email. They can send update emails to the exec board every so often. But let her run with it. If there are 2 or 3 co-chairs let them meet whenever is convenient for them. The exec board does not need to be there.
Only MAJOR decisions must involve the exec board (budgets, contracts, major purchases) let the volunteers run the show.
I've found that having a clear and solid agenda works wonders! On the agenda we list the items to be covered, the time limit for each, assign a time keeper and bring a kitchen timer:
5:45-6:00 - Gathering time/general chit chat
6:00-6:05 - Approve minutes from last meeting and choose time keeper
6:05-6:10 - Discuss any agenda changes
6:10-6:25 - Fall Fest Discussion
6:25-6:30 - Fall Portrait Wrap Up
If the timer rings and the discussion is still going on, it's the President's choice whether to allow an extra 3-5 minutes, or give members 1 minute to silently write down their questions to continue the discussion after the agenda has been completed. Keep resetting the timer for everything. It can help to have an older child keep the timer since they won't get quite so side tracked by the discussion. Sometimes people don't like it because they feel like they had a good idea that got lost, so that's why we'll give them a minute to jot down some notes. It gets that stuff out of their heads and helps us move forward. We don't necessarily always love it, but we like that its respectful of everyone's time and gets us out at a reasonable hour and we get our stuff done.
You might be trying to meet too much. As you transition from the executive board doing all the work to spreading it out among committee chairmen you might have to do a bit more handholding until the chairmen are comfortable with their new roles.
During my three years as president, I only called one special meeting. All of the rest were regular monthly meetings.
It's not a working mom vs stay at home mom issue or an indication of how you're doing your job as president. People just hate meetings. If you can find a way to minimize the number of meetings, everyone might just cheer up.
Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same."
"The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat but in the true perfection of one's character."
When the committee/officers must meet -- when the work cannot be conducted any further over the phone or by email -- would lunch hour meetings be an effective compromise?
Help Me! This is my second year as president. Our bylaws allow two years in the same office. It seems no matter what I do, one of the officers is always upset with me. I don't work outside of the home. The other officers do. I feel like the majority of the work falls on my lap which I expect since I am the president. This year we are really spreading the work around to committee chairs persons with lots of volunteers. Alot of our chairpersons don't want to meet in the afternoons or evenings but then the officers can't make the meetings during the day. This works well for me because I don't want to take up valuable time from my family to meet unless it is for the regular evening pto meetings. When I do plan afternoon meetings, the officers are always rushing the meetings and I feel I have a hard time pinning them down. What do I do? Do I just leave them out and have executive board meetings during the day with the officers that can be flexible enough to meet with me and my "worker bees" or do I make my "worker bees" upset and meet in the evening when my officers will grudgingly meet for executive board meetings? The principal is very flexible. He has agreed to meet whenever. I feel like there is just unnecessary contention in the air and I really just want to focus on doing a good job and leaving the school/teachers better than we found it. Everyone else says I'm doing a fabulous job. Can anyone relate? I have talked to them about all this but it hasn't helped.:confused:
