Co-ops and condo owners who choose to sit on a board will soon realize that it’s not an easy job. There are feuds to settle, decisions that have a ripple effect on everyone, books to balance, and finances with no room for error. However, despite the pressure and stress, and even though they’re volunteering for years at a it is common for people to be on boards.
As an individual volunteer, a board member is legally bound by three fiduciary responsibilities: obedience, care and loyalty. This means that the needs of the organization come before their personal or professional interests. This also means they must be proactive to ensure that the organization is in compliance with the law and their mission.
One of the primary duties of a board is to oversee the company’s program to ensure that they remain true to their mission. This requires a detailed understanding of the organization’s programs and services as well as their participants and their impact. This monitoring continues to be vital to the board’s other responsibilities https://wouldboard.com/understanding-board-members-responsibilities/ including financial oversight and strategic planning.
It isn’t easy to recognize and prevent patterns of decision-making that have been established over time. Once these patterns become so well-established that they’re a part of a board’s informal culture, they can be hard to change, and can have a devastating impact on an company. That’s why it’s so important for board members to be aware of the risks and to review regularly the manual for board members and other documents to ensure they are following good governance practices.