Stakeholder management has been very much on my mind this week in the run up to the Charity Leaders’ Exchange event which I am chairing this Thursday.
As I blogged about last week, how you take people with you in difficult times- whether they are funders, beneficiaries or your board- could be critical for your charity’s future. Incidentally, there are some great resources about stakeholder management on KnowHow Nonprofit. And if you want to share some ideas and get advice from an expert panel it’s still not too late to get a last minute ticket to the Charity Leaders’ Exchange event tomorrow.
With that in mind, I’ve spotted a blog by Mike Myatt on whether a consensus is always desirable in teams. This is an interesting question for organisations to ask themselves. Of course the ideal is for everyone to be happy. But Myatt asks whether this is realistic or even desirable. He argues that consensus is one step away from groupthink and the damage that can cause to an organisation and its culture.
When I moved from the corporate to the charity sector almost half a decade ago, I was struck by the egalitarian nature of the culture, and how there was a greater emphasis on listening to different points of view. I love that the sector has these values and they are one of the many reasons why I was drawn to working for a charity. But to get it right, I think that balance is important. I agree with Myatt that consensus should not be a goal in itself.
Recently, I was speaking to a director from a national charity. He revealed that the consultancy arm of his charity had got into financial difficulties, to the point where it was likely to have a serious effect on the charity’s future sustainability. He raised this with the CEO and board but they were reluctant to acknowledge the problem. Undaunted, he continued to voice his concerns, advising that the consultancy service would, regrettably, need to be closed down if the rest of the organisation were to survive. Eventually his CEO realised the value of this advice and acted on it. If the director had focused solely on consensus, it’s possible that this organisation might be another casualty of the cuts.
My take on this is that charities need to balance good stakeholder management with embracing constructive challenge. Culture is fundamental to this, as Myatt says. Has your organisation got the balance right?