Let’s be honest. Most association board members, executives and staff do not look forward to performance reviews. Most executives and board members I’ve spoken to about performance reviews are not satisfied with the methods in place and the person being reviewed feels like there’s a surprise waiting for them. And, the surprise is usually an unpleasant one.
This post outlines a performance review tool L&M has used for more years than I can remember – always with positive and constructive results.Continue reading→
If you’re frustrated at the end of board meetings because you feel that you’re not focusing on the right issues nor making the most of your scarce board-meeting time, perhaps the following best practices can get your board back on track.
The Right Allocation of Time
Recognizing that an organization’s board of directors has the exclusive franchise for the organization’s future, then the majority of your time should focus on the future when your board is in session. Yet, the board is also responsible for oversight, which is not the future, but current programs and activities. What’s a board with limited time supposed to do?Continue reading→
I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong. I’ve been on the wrong side of an important association board practice for many years.
Because I had the good fortune to work with two exceptional board leaders and clients – Harry Mason with the SCSI Trade Association (STA), and Marlis Humphrey with the former Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Forum – I saw that each organization would be denied Harry’s and Marlis’s talents as board leaders if term limits had been in effect.
An executive director-level change in any organization can be disruptive to staff and board members. Uncertainty looms large and with the uncertainty comes anxiety. With anticipation and planning, such an important change doesn’t have to be painful.
Organizations with a current strategic plan can ease this transition, especially if the strategic plan includes a succession plan for the executive director. If your organization lacks a succession plan, especially when confronted with the sudden loss of your executive director, it can be traumatic, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, it can be an opportunity.
Sometimes, even the best boards and seasoned executive directors clash and have trouble staying in their respective “responsibility lanes” as the organization’s leadership team. An excellent example might be when boards get directly involved with selecting and overseeing staff when they have a successful chief staff executive for such purposes. Why might a board involve themselves in what is clearly a management responsibility? Simply. It’s what they are familiar with, despite the fact that it’s a responsibility they can and should delegate.
Certainly, if the working relationship between the board and executive director is noticeably broken, that situation should be addressed as soon as possible. An outside management and governance coach is probably worth bringing in. Even if everything is working smoothly between the board and the executive, an annual refresher can help keep the working relationships strong and the organization running smoothly for the coming year.
Board work is like any other team endeavor: “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships” (Michael Jordan).
Boards are teams and how they decide to engage with one another to fulfill their responsibilities determines how successful they will be. This article is about four pillars of successful boards based on my nearly 40 years of experience supporting and serving on nonprofit governing boards.
The four pillars are offered as a framework for success, not a prescription to be applied to fix an acute problem . It is entirely possible for two different boards to implement these four pillars different ways, but still encompass the fundamentals of each pillar as applied to their culture and situation.
Is peak performance important? Can training and ongoing assessments of performance make a difference in outcomes? Absolutely yes to both questions. Board training does make a difference. It’s almost absurd to even ask these questions, yet one study found that more than half of board members in a national survey stated that their respective organizations did not effectively prepare them for board service.[1]
The above referenced study is both useful and interesting. It’s useful because it provides evidence about how board members experience their time and contributions serving on nonprofit boards of directors. It’s interesting because it largely confirms what most experienced executive directors know from practice. The simple truth is that every nonprofit board can have the onboarding and training they need to improve their contributions and their satisfaction serving in these important roles.
