The Board of Directors and the General Manager/Chief Operating ...

The Board of Directors and the General Manager/Chief Operating Officer 77Tom says, “I’m terribly sorry, everyone, but there’s another group scheduled tomeet here in fifteen minutes, so we need to wrap things up.”Tom eagerly begins to cover agenda item 3 of 11, the general manager’s report.He quickly outlines the results of his analysis. A board member interrupts andsays her copy of a particular page is too light to read. Two other members starttalking about how shameful it is that they are the most important decision-makingbody in the organization and they can’t even have a meeting room for an adequateperiod of time. The president steps in and says, “I think Tom has done an excellentjob at taking the pulse of our club, and I encourage all of you to take these reportsummaries home and read them. It’s just about time to go. Tom, do you have anymore comments to share?”Tom says, “I thank you in advance for the effort you will put into readingthese materials.”Floyd, a committee chair whose report is always last on the agenda, asks thepresident for a chance to speak. The president gives him the floor, and Floyd begins:“Tom has obviously put a lot of work into these summaries. He will need to hearour feedback and to begin to know what actions to take on his conclusions. If weleave him to muddle through the next month, we’ll have only ourselves to blameif he takes actions we don’t like. Let’s all be timely in reading these reports andgiving Tom our feedback.” The president agrees and hears a motion to adjourn themeeting. After a quick vote, the board members file out. Bill finds the contact lenson his seat cushion, and the board members nearby hail him as a hero.By the time Tom has gathered his belongings and vacated the conferenceroom, the next group is almost ready to start their meeting. On the way out, Tomsees a copy of his report on the bar counter. He grabs it and hopes the bartenderhasn’t read anything, especially the section about poor liquor control on the partof the bar staff.“What a disaster,” Tom thinks to himself as he shuffles back to his office. Hefeels too exhausted to think, but he makes himself call the general manager of theSchenkles Club, a sister club to the Vertigo Club. The manager listens carefully tohis story and then offers to give Tom some suggestions.Discussion Questions1. What more does Tom need to know to conduct an effective board meeting?What skills does he need to exercise and develop if future board meetings areto be effective?2. In terms of the setting, interaction with board members, and the agenda, whatwent wrong at Tom’s first board meeting?3. In terms of the setting, interaction with board members, and the agenda, whatshould the Schenkles Club general manager suggest that Tom do differentlyat the next board meeting?The following industry experts helped generate and develop this case: CathyGustafson, CCM, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina; Kurt D.