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Want to take your business to the next level? Ask a Business Coach!

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Retired Community Manager

Want to take your business to the next level? Ask a Business Coach!

Welcome to the AARP Online Community! Now through September 15th, we are joined by Business Coach Keith Hall. Please ask your questions by reply post below--all are encouraged to participate!

Ask yourself, is now the time to advance your business? Are you ready to hire employees, secure more funding, or perhaps in need of a new marketing and sales plan but not sure to do it all? Business Coach Keith Hall is here to help.  Ask him how to grow your business!

 

1140x655px-Keith Hall_Staff Photo_1.jpg

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Retired Community Manager

Hello @sa3182, thank you for joining us today! You've come to the right place. We welcome you to ask a question of Keith (aka @KeithH119895) by replying to this post.

 


@sa3182 wrote:

How do I ask a question for Keith?


 

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Business Leader

Happy August 1st and congratulations on being part of the most powerful economic force in this country...Small Business Owners.   I am so happy to be here to help with this process and to be part of the extensive support services provided by the AARP.  

 

In fact, the one thing that I hope you never forget no matter how deep the paperwork gets on your desk is that you are never ALONE.  You have resouces.   

 

Its gonna be a great contest and I am here to help in anyway that I can.   

 

Keith

 

 

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Business Leader

I was visiting with an AARP member who just started a wood working business called Big Canary Woodworking...their tag line is "Great Furniture, and CHEAP CHEAP!"  Hahaha!!  One question he had was whether or not he is reguired to have a separate bank account for his new business.  Interesting question and I thought maybe some of you guys might have the same one....

 

There is no formal requirement by the IRS or any other entity to have a separate bank account but it may be the BEST first thing to do when starting a new business.   Keeping everything separate for record keeping is a great idea...AND, the bank becomes your disacter recovery system, since they will maintain a digital copy of every transaction that runs through the account.  So it is a great idea to have a separate bank account for the business and make a commitment to depositing every dollar that you make into that account and pay for every single expense out of that account.  You will be glad you did.  

 

Keep up the good work @BigCanary!!!

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Retired Community Manager

Thank you, Keith (@KeithH119895). We appreciate having you here in the AARP Online Community. Looking forward to having an enriching discussion!

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Newbie

I'm the CEO of a 501c6 based in the US but International in membership (over 35 countries). I have over 20 members on the Board of Directors, representing a dozen or more different countries. They cannot seem to agree with each other on anything important, but all seem to feel that we should be getting more "work" accomplished from the Association's office staff (a relatively small office). On that, they all agree - let's blame the office for the lack of progress.

 

It seems that when I give them the long list of projects we have succesfully completed and are working on, the incredible progress we have made, they seem to never be impressed or satisfied. It's what I see represented by their common question, "Yes, but why haven't you finished ....?" 

 

After every board meeting, we try to ignore the disrespect for the office, we pat ourselves on the back because no one else will, and we end up taking our frustrations back to the office. 

 

Is there a good book I should read on how to get the Board to work for the Association instead of them trying to micromanage the office?

 

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Business Leader


Hey @gr9810 :

 

I am sorry to hear of your issues within the board room.  I guess my first comment is that you are certainly not alone....I hear this same concern from a number of entities all around the country.  

 

As unpopular as this may sound, I am NOT a big fan of getting a book to read and expecting that to be the main answer.  Even if you can get every single member of the board to read the same book, it will still lead to, most likely, at least 21 different opinions as to what it means.  

 

I would recommend two different approaches, to be done at the same time.  First, at your next full board meeting, consider having a full agenda item with significant time allotted to review your entities overall governance policy.  If you don't have a governance, then this is a great time to introduce that concept.  Within that policy, the board should include a formal recognition of job responsibilities, conflict disclosures, reporting processes, etc.  In reviewing those governance policies you should be able to communicate lines of communication.  And even more importantly, when issues arise, you will now have a Board approved document to call upon in resolving issues without it feeling like a confrontation but solely compliance with a written board policy.  Obviously, it would be a great idea to have another member of the board propose and promote the governance policy and its implementation rather than it coming from a member of management.

 

Second, I would schedule a full day board meeting around a team building and communication seminar type project.  Bringing in a professional such as a business psychologist or team building professional would be critical.   In my opinion, this is similar to getting the book that you originally mentioned but is like having the author of the book actually read it to the group.  

 

The bottom line here is that the only real solution to this issue is improving the overall communication among the group .  There is no doubt in my mind that you have done your best to facilitate that very thing, and now it is time to bring in a professional to help. 

I hope this helps and gives you an option for moving forward.   If you need more detail or would just like to visit further, just let me know.

 

All the best,
Keith

 

@gr9810 wrote:

I'm the CEO of a 501c6 based in the US but International in membership (over 35 countries). I have over 20 members on the Board of Directors, representing a dozen or more different countries. They cannot seem to agree with each other on anything important, but all seem to feel that we should be getting more "work" accomplished from the Association's office staff (a relatively small office). On that, they all agree - let's blame the office for the lack of progress.

 

It seems that when I give them the long list of projects we have succesfully completed and are working on, the incredible progress we have made, they seem to never be impressed or satisfied. It's what I see represented by their common question, "Yes, but why haven't you finished ....?" 

 

After every board meeting, we try to ignore the disrespect for the office, we pat ourselves on the back because no one else will, and we end up taking our frustrations back to the office. 

 

Is there a good book I should read on how to get the Board to work for the Association instead of them trying to micromanage the office?

 


 

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