iRetired — Tales from the Museum (Part 1)
Most managers will never have any idea of how easy their lives are. Not unless they get exposure to the voluntary non-profit sector. By this, I really mean an organisation entirely staffed by people who give their time and effort and energy completely free of charge, including the people who are entrusted with running the organisation.
In 2018 I answered a rallying call from our local village heritage association — the official name for our village museum. As a member of the board of trustees, it was my first real experience of being in a position of responsibility without any authority and of management by committee. With over thirty years of corporate experience, it was a rude awakening. The first meeting I attended, in the bleak midwinter, lasted for close to four hours. Ten new trustees started that day, complementing the existing two remaining committee members who were left after the previous committee resigned because ‘change is bad’…
I had volunteered my services primarily because of my background in IT and general management consultancy. My specific expertise was in business process improvement and organisational change management. At 55, I was one of the younger members of the group. That first night, I aged 20 years!
In much of its recent existence, the museum seemed to have been run as a hobby for some of the ladies in the village who had too much time and not enough business acumen. Unbelievably it had once been an accredited museum, but the bar to gain accreditation at the time was unbelievably low compared to today. The board had gained a bad reputation, and volunteer turnover was high with accusations of bullying and intolerance. Even in that first meeting, where some previous volunteers had come forward, you could still sense the slightly toxic atmosphere.
When I got home that night, I wrote to my friend, who was the treasurer at the time. I suggested a few simple changes to the meeting format; a published agenda, a proper facilitator and a fixed time box. After a few email exchanges, everyone agreed to this, and I became the meeting facilitator. The next meeting was scheduled for a maximum of 90 minutes with a view to future meetings lasting no more than 60 minutes. My first goal was accomplished.
The next few months passed by without much incident. But it was clear that among the new intake, there was already a division between the older, mostly retired committee members and the younger working members, used to the discipline of either the business world or academia. Despite my best efforts, time management started to become an issue, and meetings were starting to get longer. Agendas were ignored, and few people came prepared to talk about anything except their personal gripes — mostly with each other. There appeared to be a power struggle in the making, with one member of the committee attacking the chairperson with increasing vigour and ferocity and the chairperson trying to defend herself rather than ignoring the ad hominem comments. More than once, I had to step in and insist on a time-out.
Like many committees, this was a talking shop and produced little more than hot air. One by one, the new trustees resigned. Meanwhile, the operations and actual work were being performed by a small group of individuals, but not according to any plan or even a clear strategy. These were referred to as “management bullshit” by the main antagonist. I put forward a ‘transformation plan’ which was supported by the younger trustees and the chairperson but passively rejected by the remainder. Each suggestion from any of the younger members went the same way, but no alternatives were ever offered, nor any genuine reasons for rejection other than “it’ll never work in our situation”.
While all the discussions were taking us round in circles, there were pressing issues to deal with. The building needed some significant improvements — new floors, new windows, and new damp coursing. All of which needed funding from our diminishing cash pot. Fundraising became an issue because we had no business plans to share — because, of course, plans are management BS.
Luckily, a local benefactor came to the rescue and donated enough to get the new floors put down. The place was emptied while the builders came in, and the doors were closed. Once the floor dried, the contents were returned to the centre, ready to rebuild the displays.
And then came COVID. And the doors have been closed ever since.
Next time — the COVID years and revolution in the air…
Please note that I will not disclose names or places in any of the articles in this series! It’s also entirely possible that “recollections may vary”!
I am a semi-retired independent management consultant specialising in organisational change management and better Ways of Working. I’m from the UK but based in Prague in the Czech Republic. I mainly write about developing better ways of working, working in the Apple ecosystem, and my adopted home in Prague. I’m still fairly new to Medium (so please be gentle with me!), but if you’ve enjoyed this, please check out some of my other articles or even follow me if you’d like to be notified when I publish new material.