It's Time for Your Board to Hit the Reset Button

When we all look back on "Covid" time, what will we remember? Isolation? Masking? Disagreements about vaccinations? Take-out? Zoom?

What we remember is the lost time chatting with colleagues. Just chatting. Meetings were held virtually, often from the privacy of our home. Shirts were required, but that’s about all. Cats, children, and sirens played a large part of our meetings. Sure, it was comfortable – sitting at your kitchen table, discussing things with your fellow board members. But having to raise your hand and push a button to be heard may have taken the steam out of your thought.

Let’s face it – not all decisions can be made quickly. Some of the most important time of any meeting is the 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after the meeting, when we speak to friends and colleagues, compare thoughts, discuss last night’s ball game or whatever decisions you are about to make, and generally, gain one another’s confidence.

Covid took all that away. Meetings were shorter and more abrupt. Sometimes, the ability to speak freely was removed by technical issues. The inability to schmooze did cut down on the discussion and rendered quicker decisions, but often without knowing and understanding why a decision was being made. Yes, this is a generalization. Many of us still covet the quicker decision making. But there are drawbacks.

For boards, whether they be volunteer, appointed or elected, this quicker decision-making may have polarized your board. It may appear to others that you have “taken sides” – not necessarily due to the subject being discussed but because of the necessarily shorter time that you took to make a decision. And if you were required by open meeting laws to stream your meetings, the public watching may have been disenchanted at the (relative and perceived) lack of discussion. Sure, the political climate had something to do with that but no virtual meeting can take the place of in-person, face-to-face conversation.

So, what do we do? How can we regain the trust of our colleagues and those we serve?

Our suggestion is to hit the reset button. Start by having a frank discussion about why your board exists. What is the purpose of the board? Not the purpose of the organization that you serve but the purpose of the board. Make sure you all agree on the board’s purpose. This will galvanize your board toward a common objective, enable efficiency in your decision making, unify the team and encourage trust.

Once your purpose is identified and agreement is reached, discuss your roles as board members. Don’t dwell on the past – look to the future. Roles may be forgotten during the chaos of a crisis. Write them down.

Next, talk about the goals that you have as a board – not past goals, 2020 is over – future goals. What does the board want to accomplish going forward?

Finally, talk about your behavior. Were there elements of behavior that were detrimental to the board? In the heat of the moment, we often let emotion drive our behavior. What was the impact of your behavior on your organization?

Let us help you RESET your board!

Our Conversation With Joel Goldberg

We were fortunate to sit down with Joel Goldberg for an episode of "Rounding the Bases", his podcast about culture and leadership, with a baseball twist. 

We had a lively conversation about today's issues and the need for agreement of a board's Purpose, Roles, Goals and Behaviors, and how BOARDynamics can help a board achieve this agreement.

Contact us as our schedule is filling.

We look forward to helping your board!

You can follow Joel at:

Facebook: @goldbergkc

Instagram: @joelgoldbergkc

LinkedIn: @goldbergkc

Strategic Planning or Defining the Board's Purpose - 

Which Comes First?

 

Strategic Planning – these two words strike fear and uncertainty into many people’s minds. Visions of endless “input sessions”, constant wordsmithing, discussions that tend to migrate away from the real purpose, and in the end, a document that is “binder-ized” (replete with those plastic fingered spines that prohibit effective page turning), with fancy graphics and big words but is placed in the “Strat Plng” file, and rarely consulted.... until you must do it again. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Why does this happen? The people doing the planning are often the same people who must IMPLEMENT the plan. There is a huge difference between the overriding strategy and the way this strategy is accomplished. Boards are responsible for establishing the high-level strategy – not figuring out how to do it. That’s the responsibility of the paid staff.

How does this impact boards? Boards are often made up of DOERS – people who have accomplished things, who have achieved, and who have been successful at getting things done. Board members are generally results-oriented, like to look at data, and need reassurance that their PLANS are coming to fruition. A consequence of a board with a results orientation is to turn strategy planning into a discussion of how to get it done. Is this what you want your board to do? What impact does the board doing tactical planning have on the administration (the people who you pay to achieve results)?

WHAT’S A BOARD TO DO?

First, identify the PURPOSE of the board. Make it a clean, short description. Remember, you are talking about the purpose of the board, not the organization.

No fancy words. One example might be

“The purpose of the board is to oversee the organization by hiring the executive director, providing policy direction, fiduciary oversight and be an advocate for the organization.”

Once the purpose of the board is established, define the roles of the board members. What is your focus? What kinds of things should board members be involved in? The roles of board members should generally follow the purpose of the board. If oversight is the purpose of the board, should board members be discussing the color to paint the building? If hiring the executive director is one of the purposes of the board, do your board members get involved in every hiring decision? If your board is responsible for fiduciary oversight, should board members be examining every receipt? Allow your purpose to guide your role.

What about goals? Should board members have goals? The simple answer is “yes, every board member should have goals”, but the goals that individual board members have should be for themselves. The goals of a board should be SHARED goals. A board member might want to “learn how to be a better fundraiser”. That is her goal, for herself. The board may have as one of its goals “become a more effective board”. That is a board goal that each board member should agree to.

SPOILER ALERT – PURPOSE COMES BEFORE PLANNING

Board members want to be a part of getting things done. That’s what they are used to doing outside of the board room. Remember, the strategic planning that most boards do is high level, not operational. Without understanding, and agreeing, on the purpose of the board, it is impossible for the board to develop strategy. If the board hasn’t determined their purpose and role, the strategic planning process will get bogged down.

WE CAN HELP

BOARDynamics can coach your board to gain agreement of your purpose, roles, goals, and behavior. We bring a vast set of unique experiences on elected, appointed and volunteer boards. Contact us and let us help you!