Dealing With Poor Attendance

Most management committees have problems, from time to time, with fairly regular non-attendance by one or more members.

The chairperson is responsible for dealing with poor attendance; they need to find out what the governing document/constitution says about attendance and apply the rules. Keeping a register of attendance at board meetings and publishing it annually often helps to improve the situation.

It is always a good idea to find out the reason for the non-attendance.

• It could be there is an issue in the member’s work or personal life which is temporarily absorbing much of their time and energy. The chairperson could suggest that the member takes a break from being on the Management Committee for an agreed period such as 3 months.
• The member is busy and attendance at the management committee meetings is never a priority. If meetings never or rarely become a priority for a Management Committee member, the Chair needs to tell him/her that it is time to step down.
• The member received little induction or support when they first joined and is finding it difficult to participate effectively. The Chair could reassure the member that her/his experience and skills are very much needed and organise a belated induction programme. The Chair could also arrange for a more experienced member of the committee to be his/her mentor and facilitate their participation at management committee meetings.
• Meetings are not purposeful or productive so the member does not see much point in attending. The meetings should review their practice re: planning their meetings & utilise an Agenda to formalise the meetings structures. Click here to download suggested format for Agenda.
• Meetings are so unfriendly and rancorous that the member does not want to be part of it. The Management Committee may need some support from an external agency/person to address their particular issues.

If the management committee is not functioning effectively, the chair could initiate a governance review, ideally facilitated by an objective outsider with knowledge of governance issues – such as a support agency. The achievement of the charitable objects and the interests of the charity’s beneficiaries are paramount. The interests of the management committee and the staff are secondary.

Some suggested solutions/tools/approaches:

• Code of conduct
• Role descriptions
• Review who’s on the committee and recruitment strategies (this can also link with the skills & diversity audit, advice on ‘when you should leave’ etc)
• Review length of tenure
• Review how meetings are run, their frequency, alternative means of communication etc.
• Info on how to avoid situations where certain individuals dominate activities
• Team-building – e.g. training or away days; focus members around key projects or goals like strategic planning
• Ensure shared focus around role in relation to the organisation’s vision, mission and values.