Is your Chair a problem? Do they let your organisation down?

Just to be clear, we're talking about Chairpersons here, not the things you sit on - though it wouldn't do any harm to sit on one or two voluntary sector Chairpersons we've come across!

The two main problems encountered by groups with their Chairs are either the Chair is too hard, even dictatorial, or too soft and ineffectual.

In the first case, it's worth a reminder that the position of chair doesn't carry extra power over other committee members. Decisions should always be made by the whole committee, in the best interests of the organisation. Leave personalities out of it. If the Chair takes decisions without consulting the committee or tries to force others to their point of view, bring it up as an item for discussion at a management meeting. You could call it 'Communication', allowing discussion on all aspects of communication, without making the Chair feel everyone's getting at them. In many cases they may not be aware of how their actions affect others, or may feel they're only doing what's right for the organisation. Get everyone to agree to keep others informed of what they're doing and to seek a vote on policy issues before taking action.

If all else fails and the Chair continues to behave like Attila the Hun with a headache, there may be no choice but to propose a formal motion of censure on them. Hopefully this may cause them to mend their ways or resign to make way for someone else. The most extreme solution is to vote to remove somebody's membership, meaning they can no longer continue on the committee. If it really comes to this, be sure that you're doing it for the good of the group, not for personal reasons. Sometimes it may be the only way forward.

The ineffectual Chair is just as much of a problem because they hold the organisation back, shy away from decisions and allow dominant members to have too much say in meetings. For the good of the organisation this needs to be tackled in much the same ways as above. Or it may be that they would benefit from some training in assertiveness or running meetings. Talk to us at CVS. We're currently developing a Trustees' Forum where all these sorts of things will be addressed.

Too many organisations allow the problem to fester for too long without tackling it. In all cases, a quiet word before taking more serious action should be the first step. "But I don't like to - the Chair's my friend," is something we hear all the time at CVS. Don't forget - your best friends are sometimes the only ones who will tell you if you've got a problem.

(from Network News, Jan/Feb 2003)

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