Scenario:In one of my interim assignments, I attended the trustee meeting along with the outgoing Finance Director. The Finance Director has a very uncomfortable relationship with the Treasurer and is a bit frightened of the prospect that the Treasurer is going to pick an issue to embarrass him in the meeting. Actually the meeting went well without any drama and my outgoing friend was relieved.

My Observations;

  • The Finance Report given to trustees were around 25 pages which include only one page narrative.
  • Treasurer did not have any advance knowledge what is being presented.
  • It was not easy to reconcile the top page with the supporting pages.
  • Trustees were not clear about how exactly various calculations were made and which jargon mean what.
  • The discussion was quick and some trustees were keen to finish the item ASAP.

My further investigation discovered that the 25 pages are the accumulation of various points raised by trustees in meeting in the past and Finance Director tried his best to accommodate all of these views.

Steps I took: I start with the following steps to improve the situation;

  1. Spent time with the Treasurer to find her personal preference regarding the structure and content of the finance report for the trustee meeting.
  2. I produced a draft report based on her idea which she took to the trustees for their endorsement. While individual trustees have special preferences but they settled with a new report and they felt the ownership. It was also agreed that the Treasurer would present the report while Finance Director will be assisting and supply relevant explanation in the meeting.
  3. The report was reduced to 5 pages starting with a brief highlights of issues including graphs in 1st page. In additional to budget variance reports, it also included a section highlighting major risks anticipated by the organisation in coming days.
  4. Produced a brief explanation of internal jargons used in the report.
  5. I agreed and scheduled time in advance with the Treasurer to go through the report before it presented to trustees.

Out Come: Treasurer felt engaged, trustees did not have to navigate through mountains of information and could grasp the broad picture of the organisation. My relationship with the Treasurer was amicable, and we still exchange emails.

0 Comments