CAN YOU MEASURE HOW EFFECTIVELY A BOARD WORKS TOGETHER?

How well does your board work together? We have commented here before about the importance of agreeing on PURPOSE, ROLES, GOALS and BEHAVIORS, but are these measurable?

Without a metric, how do you know that you are improving? How do you know that your expectations are shared among your board members? When new members join the board, how do you know that THEY concur with the established parameters under which you operate?

BOARDynamics took this challenge and created the BOARDynamics Concurrence Index. The BOARDynamics Concurrence Index is meant to be relative - that is, not necessarily comparable to other boards but a measure of your board's progress toward concurrence.

The BOARDynamics Concurrence Index is a numeric measurement of a board’s unity and agreement in relation to its PURPOSE, ROLES, GOALS and BEHAVIORS.  It measures processes that the board uses (Structural) in governance, and board members’ perceptions, understanding and adherence to the specified board purpose, roles, goals and behaviors (Behavioral).

Scoring of the index is weighted in favor of Behavioral dynamics.  Structural measures are intended to indicate procedural fidelity.  A board can achieve Behavioral concurrence without having Structural measures in place, however the likelihood of undesirable outcomes increases without Structural benchmarks.

The BOARDynamics Concurrence Index should be utilized to measure a board’s concurrence at a given point in time.  As issues arise and as the board makeup changes, the index scores may vary.  The importance of the index is the consistency of measurement and the understanding by the board of the impacts on the organization that these measurements represent.

Use of the BOARDynamics Concurrence Index should be viewed as suggestive.  Each board should weigh the importance and value of change, though improvement only occurs with deliberate action. Every board has different views, perspectives, and challenges.  The index should be recalculated if 1) board membership turns over significantly (25%), 2) issues impacting the board change dramatically or 3) more than 2 years have passed since the prior review of purpose, roles, goals and behavior.

BOARDynamics will make aggregated results available to our clients after significant data is accumulated.  Individual board index results will be kept anonymous, and only the board’s respective results will be provided.  Further breakdowns by board types and category will be available.

CONTACT US IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN IMPROVING - AND MEASURING - YOUR BOARD'S AGREEMENT OF YOUR PURPOSE, ROLES, GOALS AND BEHAVIORS.

New Board Members: How to Alleviate "The Rookie Syndrome"!

A show of hands: How many of you will have new board members this year?  This may come about due to the election in November, or new board appointments.  In any case, you will have people joining your board who will not have a clear grasp of the purpose and roles of your board.  Many will have absolutely no idea of the expectations of their new position. 

In some organizations, new board members get their orientation using the "fire hose" approach in which they are given every document within the organization and are expected to digest it and be up to speed by the next board meeting. (!) As a brand new board member, it can be difficult to know what questions to ask because of the amount of new information.  Its overwhelming! 

Your new board members will bring to their new role a list of preconceived ideas of what they think the job entails. They may view themselves as well-versed regarding the expectations of the position, but come to realize that their initial ideas were off-target.  Hopefully, in time new board members will get up to speed, realize they cannot control some of the things they thought they could, and get an idea of what is expected behavior.  But this can be a long and painful process for all concerned!

The board "Rookie Syndrome" can be addressed by being proactive and sensitive about helping both prospective and new board members understand the purpose of the board and subsequently, their roles.  While not commonplace, some organizations offer a "So You Want To Be A Board Member" session. The catch to this is that sitting board members MUST themselves have a clear understanding and agreement of the board's purpose, roles, goals and expected behavior. 

BOARDynamics offers you a solution.  We help a board come to agreement on their Purpose.  Once that is established, Roles are defined under the umbrella of their purpose. Then, establishing board Goals and subsequent Behaviors are discussed and agreed upon.  We can also help you facilitate informational sessions for prospective candidates as well as orientation for new board members to help you have the most effective board for your organization.  

We Make Boards Better!  

Call us today!