"Losing staff could be detrimental to the projects we worked on, and there was a growing dissatisfaction with how meetings were run. These mostly one-sided discussions left the quieter half of us feeling pushed aside, like our thoughts didn't matter much. If things stayed this way, I worried the good people on our team would start quitting one by one."
"A few of us decided to try something, a small experiment in sharing power. We rotated who held the plastic clipboard used to jot meeting notes. Whoever held it for that session set the agenda items, kept track of time, and made sure the conversation stayed on track."
"Management followed up the next day with polite but pointed emails, saying they were concerned this new approach might drag things out even more, especially when we had tight deadlines coming up and couldn't afford confusion in our own process."
A struggling nonprofit faced staff retention issues and meeting dynamics where quieter voices felt excluded. Leadership was concentrated and one-sided, threatening program quality and team trust. Several staff members initiated a power-sharing experiment by rotating who facilitated meetings and set agendas. The first rotation revealed challenges: the inexperienced facilitator struggled with time management and agenda control. Management responded with concern about efficiency and tight deadlines. Internal doubts emerged about whether rotating leadership would worsen divisions or help. The experiment faced significant pushback from both management and team members uncertain about its viability.
#organizational-leadership #power-sharing #nonprofit-management #meeting-facilitation #staff-engagement
Read at Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice.
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