Is your board happy with its performance and how it functions?
If yes, that's great...or is it?
Boards that maintain the status quo instead of identifying ways to grow and enhance effectiveness put organizations at risk.
If your board avoids difficult discussions or resists change, governance or additional structure, it might not be the asset you think. It may even be a liability.
But how can you tell for certain? You'll find the signs in these four areas:
Homogenous boards are not healthy for organizations. In fact, boards lacking diversity fall victim to groupthink and foster cultures that alienate people who could otherwise help your organization achieve its goals.
Effective boards are comprised of members from a mix of ages, genders, races and ethnicities; who also have diverse expertise, style and professional and lived experience.
Determining how much diversity your board actually has and addressing less than ideal board composition will help prevent your organization from missing out on opportunities and falling behind.
Just because board members show up at meetings and contribute financial support doesn't mean they're engaged. These actions are merely the cost of entry.
What matters most is how proactively and assertively they work to advance your organization.
It's no wonder disengaged boards have trouble recruiting and retaining board members. People who participate and have positive impact are turned off by passivity.
Also take note if your board avoids or doesn't enforce term limits, has no plan for board leadership succession and can't clearly articulate expectations for board members.
Why? Engagement is fostered and supported by governance structures and practices and is difficult to maintain without them.
It's imperative for a board to examine its performance at least every two years. This includes conducting self-assessments or having a small group of board leaders assess each board member annually.
Assessments also help surface differences or tensions between board members and provide a mechanism for candid conversation and remediation.
A board simply can't improve and grow without formal and regular ways to give and receive feedback about performance, participation and culture.
A board’s role in setting strategy is to identify priorities; establish goals and objectives; find resources and funding; and measure outcomes. When it isn’t active in these steps, organizations lose focus and fail to deliver mission and impact.
Plus, it's easier to monitor progress and risk as the organization's plan evolves if the board is involved early on. This is because board members will continue to focus on strategy during their own conversations and sessions, keeping the board in its oversight and governance roles.
