EFFECTIVE BOARDS HAVE DOCUMENTED BOARD NORMS

  (The sixth 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.

DOES YOUR BOARD AGREE ABOUT:

Board attendance

The need to be prepared

Respect, professional and courteous behavior

The line between oversight and operations

Partisanship

Personal agendas

Confidentiality

Respecting the majority decision

Access to information and communication

Social media presence

Board Norms are a documented guide for board members regarding behavioral expectations.  Written, board-approved norms can provide guidance to help steer the board through difficult times, such as an individual board member's personal agenda.  It's easy for a board member to innocently swim into the tide of issues outside their responsibility.  Some members might use their office for personal interests.  A great board has everyone rowing together and understanding their purpose and roles.  Board Norms cover expectations that are not covered in bylaws or policies, or sometimes, reiterate their governing document’s direction.

Just as bylaws should keep a board focused on their responsibilities, having documented Board Norms keeps the board accountable to one another, allowing smoother sailing when issues arise.

Another huge benefit to having written Board Norms is apparent when you have new board members join the board.  They have a document listing the behavioral expectations of their position. 

Boards can be more effective and efficient when they hold themselves accountable for their behavior.  As challenges face a board, a united team always experiences smoother sailing than one that has its oars pulling in multiple directions. 

 

Agree to it.

Live it.

Pass it on.

 

Contact us. We are board members helping board members!

BEHAVIOR MATTERS!

 (The fifth 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.

Board culture can influence board effectiveness. Boards must make sure that culture and behavioral norms are agreed upon to move themselves in the right and positive direction.

Culture manifests itself through behavior. Agreed upon behavioral norms is a hallmark of an effective board. Here are some key questions that start to capture board culture:

Does the board agree on its Purpose, Roles and Goals?

• Is there trust and respect among board members and between the administration and the board?

• Does the board speak with a single voice?

• Is information limited to a few or to all?

• Are communications clear, regular and consistent to all?

• Is board leadership determined by “best person, given the situation” or on an “it’s my turn” basis?

• Is the board focused on achieving strategic goals or daily operations?

 

With a clear understanding and agreement of behavioral norms and expectations, the board can use its culture as a lever to support the goals of the organization.  When these agreed upon expectations are documented, there is a twofold benefit. They give current board members direction and guidance, and as new members join the board, expectations are clear.

Behavior matters. Document it. Live it!

Does Your Board Have Goals?

(The fourth 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 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

Does your board have goals? Can each member clearly articulate your board’s priorities? Not the organizations' priorities - the BOARD'S priorities.

Board goals define how the board will add value to the organization. They’re the mutually agreed upon priorities that outline what will be accomplished.

Board goals are not the CEO’s goals. Board goals define the actions that the BOARD will take in support of the organization and CEO. The CEO’s goals are specific to the operation of the organization. Together, they set the organization on a path to success.

When not aligned on one set of goals, it’s easy to get side-tracked. The board may react to what seems important at the moment or rely on “we’ve always done it this way”, without contributing strategically to the organization’s needs.

Rather than feeling lost in a labyrinth of the day to day, common goals act as a GPS to guide you through, because what gets emphasized, gets done.

“It's not what boards do (or don't do) but how they do their work that really matters.”

-    Peter Eckel and Cathy Trower

 

RETREATS DON’T HAVE TO BE 

“HOURS I’LL NEVER GET BACK”

 

We’ve all been involved in some sort of group get-together, labeled a “retreat”. These are generally billed as no-pressure, casual meetings, usually off-hours, with lots of food and snacks, where we're supposed to speak freely, have discussions without distractions, and come away with an understanding of ......what?

Frankly, many of the retreats we have attended have been disappointing. Some were simply poorly planned. Some brought in “experts” who spent time lecturing, using age-worn consultant parlor tricks of sticky notes, multi-voting and breaking off into small groups to discuss things (which inhibits the whole board from hearing everyone’s thoughts). Others were ambiguous in their purpose. And in some cases, our fellow board members resented the time spent.

Retreats can be helpful, if planned properly. Timeliness, preparation, relevance, engagement, and documentation of your specific outcomes are the keys to a successful get together.

When is a good time to get your board together for a retreat? That’s an easy one – the best time for a retreat is BEFORE A SITUATION ARISES THAT REQUIRES A SOLUTION! That’s kind of obvious but many boards use retreats to find fixes to today’s issues.

It’s also important that each board member know what the subject will be and have spent time considering their own thoughts about the subject.

What constitutes a relevant retreat? This is a hard one. Relevance is different for every board but generally, we believe that boards should consider overarching subjects for their retreats.  Retreats provide a great way to discuss your board's purpose, roles, goals and behaviors.

Every board member needs to have their opinion heard and their story told. The leader of the retreat can have a huge influence on engagement. Lectures from “the mount”, “sit and get” and “small group discussions” don’t provide engagement. Instead, they encourage group-think.

Retreats can be meaningful time spent to have an honest conversation about your organization.  We specialize in boards. We are board members. No parlor tricks, no fancy speeches. Just a focused discussion with the board regarding your purpose, roles, goals and behaviors.

Will you have new board members joining you? Spend time NOW to define and affirm your purpose, your roles and goals, and especially your expected behavior.

We can help your board!  Contact us soon, as our schedule is filling fast.

Proud Members of The Northeast Johnson County Chamber of Commerce

Deb Settle and her staff are professional, engaged, and committed to 

making NEJC business and communities grow and thrive!

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