Now That I'm a Board Member, What Comes Next?

How do you prepare board members for their role? Who explains what the board’s expectations of its members are? How do your board members get to know the roles, expectations, and issues of the board? Most boards hold an operational orientation for new board members. Few, if any, discuss HOW the board operates, it's mores and procedures and most of all, the expectations that board members have for the board and one another.

My first board meeting was shortly after I assumed a new position in a small town in the southeast. My boss had told me, as the area manager of a utility company, that 40% of my job was community relations and the other 90% was providing good customer service (yes, it doesn’t add up). I had been in town for a month and was named to the board of directors of the local chamber of commerce. I had no previous board experience, had no knowledge of how the board operated and had yet to have my orientation.

My first vote on that board was the same day as my first board meeting. The subject was a controversial recommendation that the utility, my new employer, provide service to a remote part of the county. When I arrived at the meeting, the board chair took me aside and explained how this recommendation would be good for the region and that I should, as a show of good faith to the board, vote in a positive way for the recommendation. I didn’t have a good feel for the board, the politics involved, the impact that the measure might have on my company nor the history of the issue. I voted “abstain”.

That action almost got me fired AND removed from the board! I had innocently betrayed both my employer and my new board. Why? I failed because I wasn’t given the opportunity to ask some fundamental questions. I wasn't clued in on issues, protocol, board purpose, roles, goals and expected behavior. Pre-board member orientation, information vetting, process and purpose and goal and role discussion should have taken place long before I was even named to the board.

Setting expectations is a key to board harmony. It is much more difficult to act in a way that results in disharmony if expectations are explained before taking the position. 

Before I was appointed to another board, the chair “interviewed” me and explained what the duties of a board member were. Those included attendance at monthly board meetings, budget review, oversight of the program – all typical board “responsibilities”. A few months later, I was approached by the Development Coordinator (fund raiser), wondering why I had not contributed my financial obligation. Unbeknownst to me, there was a financial contribution that was expected as a condition of becoming a board member. Unfortunately, there was nothing documenting this requirement (there is now).

People become board members for a variety of reasons – some professional, some emotional, some personal. One role of board governance is to ensure that expectations are clearly defined and to provide those expectations to all prospective board members. Those expectations should cover the purpose of the board, the role of the board and its board members, the goals of the board and the behavioral norms that the board has adopted. The paid staff, while able to do so, should not be relied upon for this discussion. The explanation of expectations is the responsibility of board leadership and should reflect their formal documents – board policy, by-laws, strategic plan and board norms to which the leadership can refer. These expectations should also be reviewed again during the new board member orientation meeting, and should again, be delivered by board leadership, not the paid staff. After all, it’s board behavior, roles and goals that are being discussed.

As your board addresses prospective and subsequently, new board members (which happens on a continual basis), this process will help them understand, "WHAT NOW?".

Contact us and let us help you.

A Clearly Defined Role for a Board is Vital  

(The third in a series of insightful thoughts about the importance of agreement of a board’s Purpose, Roles, Goals and Behavior)

Are all your board members rowing in the same direction? Don’t worry if they’re not. There is a fix to this, and this fix holds true whether your board is elected, appointed, or is a volunteer board.

It is an honor and a privilege to be a board member.  The position comes with a responsibility to understand the agreed upon purpose of your board. If board members know their board’s purpose, they can understand their roles, base their goals upon their roles, and ultimately exhibit consistent behavior that allows the organization to move forward.

“A successful team is a group of many hands and one mind.”

-    Bill Bethel

Purpose establishes the WHY of a board. Roles establish the RESPONSIBILITIES of the board members. Without a clearly defined and agreed upon board role, individual board members may embrace an agenda different from the rest of the board, impairing the ability of the administration from carrying out their duties and responsibilities.

Board members need to understand the impacts and consequences of what can happen when their perception of roles differs from the board’s.

The role of the board and the role of the CEO/Executive Director/Superintendent are similar and may overlap, but are can not be the same. The board must insure that they are not taking on the responsibility of the paid staff. Doing so can diminish the effectiveness of the staff by forcing them to defer decision making to the board.

A board that clearly understands it's role is able to provide the guidance necessary for an administration to carry out the mission of the organization and make the operational decisions in a timely manner. 

“If a team is to reach its potential, each player must be willing to subordinate his personal goals to the good of the team.”

-    Bud Wilkinson

      WHAT DOES BOARDynamics DO?

We lead a board toward unified and agreed upon purpose, roles, goals and behaviors:

• REVIEW current perceptions and practices and identify areas of concurrence and differences, and the resulting impacts.
• REIMAGINE how they carry out their responsibilities, agree upon improvements and commit to implementation.
• REALIZE the modifications and commit to periodic review and improvement.

Purpose, roles, and goals develop in a linear fashion. Prior to understanding roles, the purpose of the board must be clarified and apparent. In order to develop appropriate goals, boards must understand their role. The behavior of a board is driven by all three – purpose, roles and goals. 

If the purpose of a board is misunderstood, not clearly stated, or ignored, board members will assume differing roles to fulfill their idea of purpose. Individualistic and personal roles and goals leads to board inefficiency and dysfunction.

BOARDynamics coaches boards toward concurrence of their purpose, roles, goals and behaviors through professional development. Unlike traditional consultants, we COACH, we don’t direct. We coach boards for the betterment of the organization, instead of simply providing “best practices” and hoping that inertia will lead to change.

Our passion is helping boards improve. We are board members who understand and empathize with boards, who have sat in your seats and understand what you do. All boards want to do good work and every board member should strive to improve in a deliberate and continuous manner. We provide an objective viewpoint which facilitates boards to effect thoughtful improvement.

PURPOSE LEADS THE WAY

(The second in a series of insightful thoughts about the importance of agreement of a board’s Purpose, Roles, Goals and Behavior)

 

Are all your board members rowing in the same direction? Don’t worry if they’re not. There is a fix to this, and this fix holds true whether your board is elected, appointed, or is a volunteer board.

It is an honor and a privilege to be a board member.  The position comes with a responsibility to understand the agreed upon purpose of your board. If board members know their board’s purpose, they can understand their roles, base their goals upon their roles, and ultimately exhibit consistent behavior that allows the organization to move forward.

“If Everyone is Moving Forward Together, Then Success Takes Care of Itself”

-  Henry Ford

Purpose leads the way because it is the foundation of an organization. Teams that clearly define their purpose can concentrate on the things that are necessary for success.

WHY IS SHARED PURPOSE SO IMPORTANT?

It helps the team stay focused and promotes efficiency - When a board knows its purpose, it becomes easier to focus on what matters the most. When the purpose of the team is understood and shared, members have a better understanding of how they can contribute and add value.

It makes the team passionate – Understanding and agreeing to their purpose is an important driver for teams to achieve something extraordinary.

It unifies the team - With shared purpose, teams base their decisions, thoughts, feelings, and actions around that purpose. A team with a common, well understood purpose makes a greater impact through their work, which encourages unification.

It helps the team live with integrity - Teams who know their purpose know who they are, what they are, and why they are. With concurrence of purpose, board members will assume roles consistent with that common purpose.

It encourages trust - Teams who share a common purpose encourage trust and faith, which helps members consider themselves an integral part of the team.

School boards, for instance, are more scrutinized, with higher expectations, than ever. Before board members can deal with these expectations, board members must understand and agree on the board’s purpose.

 

“A successful team is a group of many hands and one mind.”

-    Bill Bethel

 

 GET YOUR BOARD  ROWING IN THE SAME DIRECTION

(The first in a series of insightful thoughts about the importance of agreement of a board’s Purpose, Roles, Goals and Behavior)

Are all your board members rowing in the same direction?  Don't worry if they're not. There is a fix to this. And this fix holds true whether your board is elected, appointed, or is a volunteer board.

It is an honor and a privilege to be a board member.  The position comes with a responsibility to understand the agreed upon purpose of your board. If board members know their board’s purpose, they can understand their roles, base their goals upon their roles, and ultimately exhibit consistent behavior that allows the organization to move forward.

“An organization’s success has more to do with shared purpose, common principles and strength of belief in them than to assets, expertise, operating ability or management competence, important as they may be.”

-      Dee Hock