Education
There’s Always One: Difficult Board Members And What To Do About Them
While not all businesses require a board of directors, many managers benefit from taking this additional step. After all, a board is on hand to empower a manager towards making fully compliant, financially sensible decisions, and can help with everything from networking to strategy. Those board members are also legally responsible to do right by your business, meaning that they should always be an asset to business success, rather than an obstacle to overcome.
Unfortunately, just as great board members can help your cause, difficult ones can do the opposite. This is an issue that might not be visible at first, but if one person on the board continually disagrees with others, or seems to go out of their way to pick fault, then it’s a sure sign you’re dealing with a difficult board member. The question is, what can you actually do about it? Keep on reading to find out.
# 1 – Master the Art of Negotiation
Negotiation skills like those taught in an mba online program offer broad business benefits, and they could prove essential to resolving board discord. After all, the process of dismissing a board member is far from simple, so your ultimate goal here should be to smooth the waters.
When negotiating with a difficult individual, remain respectful and open to their opinion, while highlighting the need to prioritise your organisation over things like individual opinions. The ability to remain calm and objective yourself should help to alleviate confrontations, ground board discussions, and generally help to talk that difficult member off the ledge.
# 2 – Address the Issue Front-On
You may also need to address things head-on if issues continue. It’s especially important to be proactive if a board member is becoming disrespectful or abrasive towards others during meetings.
In this instance, arranging an in-person, private meeting is always best, as this allows you to have an honest conversation about your concerns. During this meeting, try to use solid examples of problematic behaviour, be honest about your worries, and stress the importance of improvements moving forward.
# 3 – Reiterate Their Role
If you’ve tried other methods and seen no improvement, then it doesn’t hurt to simply take a little time to firmly but fairly remind that board member of their role, and point out any areas where their performance is falling short of that, or overstepping the mark. This is a step away from actual removal, and will hopefully be enough to make that individual aware of why their behaviour is problematic.
It’s also possible that this step will be enough to make that person aware of responsibilities they may have either forgotten or overlooked when filling this role. If their behaviour still doesn’t change after this reminder, then at least you can be sure that you’ve done everything possible before starting to consider routes for dismissal.
Board members can bring undeniable business benefits, but one bad egg can ruin all of that unless you deal with the issue in these key ways.
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