Organizations rely heavily on their boards to fulfill key governance and strategy roles. These roles are critical to the success of the organization, yet often little time is spent on activities that result in increased board performance.
This approach has short and long-term implications for the organization and most of them are unfavorable.
In the short-term, the board may struggle to understand how board activities contribute to the organization’s success. Over the long-term, the board composition may not reflect the skills, expertise and backgrounds needed by the organization. This can result in disengagement, micromanagement, or an inability to articulate strategy and mission.
How should leadership avoid these pitfalls which can culminate in an ineffectual board?
The keys to recruiting and retaining a strong board are board assessment, strategy alignment and board development.
There are lots of board assessment tools and report cards on the market. However, it’s less important which tool you use as long as you have a schedule for regular assessment, full board participation and a process to address and incorporate the results of the assessment.
A board self-assessment is done to ensure that the organization is meeting goals and making progress. This board assessment might be done every two years which gives the chance for the board to incorporate and measure progress on the feedback from the assessment.
Board member assessments should be done every year to ensure that board members are contributing and their skills are aligned with organizational direction.
Finally, the board should assess the CEO or Executive Director annually. This process should rely heavily on the job description and the priorities and accomplishments that have been set for the year. The process should be mutually agreed upon and the performance goals should be clear and measurable.
The benefits of board assessment are:
The next step in creating a strong board requires that board work — meeting agendas, committees, and metrics — be aligned with the organization’s strategy. This process begins with well organized board meetings where a majority of board time is spent in focused discussion on important strategic issues.
Too often board meetings are spent reviewing reports, program updates, organizational details and non-critical updates from leadership. A highly engaged, strategic board spends its time on matters that are tied to organizational strategy and success – not the day-to-day details of running the organization.
Board members are there to act as fiduciaries and a resource - they don’t need to have program reports and financial statement read to them. It should be an expectation that each board member has received and reviewed the board packet prior to the meeting and that board meeting time will be spent discussing challenges and identifying any assistance needed from the board.
Each board committee should integrate items from the strategic plan into their committee work. This ensures that the work of each committee complements and furthers the overall goals and focus of the organization.
Finally, the board should regularly review a dashboard or set of metrics that are tied to milestones and objectives in the strategic plan.
Once you’ve assessed your board and board members and understand their skills and capabilities and aligned them with strategic needs and focus of the organization, it’s time to have a discussion about any gaps.
Most board leaders will discover that there are some things the organization needs to accomplish for which the board doesn’t have the experience, skills or resources to properly help, manage, or oversee. This skills gap will require the board to look for new members.
In looking at board development, a nonprofit board should determine whether or not the board composition reflects the communities they serve and the mission they are delivering.
A company should determine if their board has members who bring the independence, resources, diligence and discipline to move the company forward. One way to accomplish this is to tap current board members and their networks to help broaden the pool of candidates.
Board development should be an ongoing process and boards need to be purposeful in identifying candidates who may be interested in board service. This approach will build a strong foundation for your board.
Like most successful initiatives in your organization, it takes time, resources and investment.
