11. We all have a mental model for how a board
is supposed to function
12. All boards fall somewhere between over-
controlling and out of control
Managing
Board
Governing Board
Ratifying
Board
Working
Board
Disengaged
Board
13. Boards tend to fluctuate between micro-
managing and rubber-stamping
20. Board policies fit between By-Laws and
standard operating procedures
Articles of
Incorporation
By-Laws
Board
Policies
Standard
Operating
Procedures
Required by law to incorporate, most states insist on President and secretary too.
For profit corporations, owners are the shareholders. In not-for-profits, moral owners can be funders, community, recipients, or group of stakeholders.
What boards have you served on in the past?
What other agencies in your community have a board?
Time spent on the trivial
Short-term perspective
Reactive stance
Reviewing, rehashing staff work
Leaky accountability
Diffused authority.
We know how to get a sports team to work as a team
We do team-building at work to get everyone on the same page
It’s like we get amnesia when we walk into church
What are some things you would normally do for team-building?
Why don’t we do this for governing boards?
There is no other model, no competition
Traditional approach is a collection of practices
When have you observed a board governing well?
Where do new board members get their idea of what a board is supposed to do?
I think it’s from television and movies
Left is more hands on and the right is more hands off
Working board: ex launching a new CPC
Managing board ex: YFC or YL chapter with young director
Governing board ex: National ministry with 3 meetings a year
Ratifying board ex: all members are major donors/patronage board
Failing board ex: members aren’t prepared, disengaged, argumentative, toxic atmosphere in meetings
Most boards tend to vacillate back and forth depending on conditions or inclination of various board members.
How does this resonate with your experience?
Politically-based: Acts 23:1-10
Voting
Many voices
Constituencies
Power
Scorekeeping
Reactive
Policy-based: Acts 15:24-29
Consensus
One voice
Organization
Progress
Monitoring
Proactive
This document helps the board to do its work
Keep by-laws lean and mean
Keep policies as general as the board feels comfortable
Move detailed policies to the SOP manual, which belongs to the staff and does not need board approval
“That’s the way we have always done things here”
“You are going against one of our values as a church”
“You didn’t know, well it’s sort of an unwritten rule around here”
Put one person in charge of final copy
Distribute revised versions electronically
Consider posting latest and most up to date on website
Consider one bound copy in church office for voters access
Results, beneficiaries, cost
How might we craft a global ends policy for a church?
Always stated in the negative.
Organize them by worry buckets. What are some examples?
The rest of the staff should be invisible to the board.
The Chair rules the board meetings, not the organization.
I prefer Chair to congregational president for that reason.
Start from outside and work in
The global policy is always your first policy in each section
Marks of good policies:
Up-to-date
Mean what they say
Easily available
Brief
Comprehensive.
When you see something or hear of something that another board does, “borrow” the idea.
Don’t learn the hard way. Rob, pillage, and steal best practices to build a stronger board of directors.
Going electronic only is controversial. Some people prefer paper in the meetings. Some do not have the computer skills to find files quickly.
If you send reports by email, people can print their own copies or bring their laptop.
Many CEOs include backup information just in case someone asks a question. One board I worked with received a 3-ring binder every meeting.
Every board member can read the ministry and financial reports before the meeting instead of looking at them during the meeting.
Everyone must do their homework for this to work.
Place all of the reports in a pile and ask if anybody has a question about any of them. Receive the rest in one vote. Then go back and handle the questions or issues on the other reports.
Create a dashboard for the organization by including all critical numbers and charts on one side of one sheet of paper.
Use color and visual display of information.
Code some measures are green, yellow, and red. Red items invite more intensive board discussion and scrutiny.
Developing a balanced scorecard is one way to do this.
Many think a board should have an executive committee and several sub-committees to divide up the work. Better to have no standing committees at all. They invite the work to be done twice.
Story about PPC meeting and choosing a new sign.
Ad hoc committees that meet once or for a short period are useful
What are some situations when an ad hoc committee would be useful?
Budget narrative, revenue target for budget, pastor or executive director salary, writing a policy draft.
It’s tough to keep the board focused on doing board work.
Time out, throw a “T”
Stop sign on a card
Simply raise your hand
Are we engaged in board work right now or is this a matter for the staff to handle?
Every board can check the quality of their process at the end of every board meeting. Ask questions like:
Did we show a high-level of respect to each other?
Did we work together as a team to do our work?
Did we stick to board work and stay out of staff work?
Problem board members will behave better if they know they will get called on bad behavior at the end of the meeting.
How many of you have a website for your organization?
Create a special password protected area for the board. Put all the documents they need in one place.
The most recent version of the board policy manual
Minutes and other historical documents
Photo and short bio
Photo of entire board on retreat
Zoomerang or Survey Monkey charge low monthly fees. They both allow free surveys for small sample sizes.
First, type in your questions, send out an email message, then check out the charts and graphs.
A church board can survey the congregation, parents with children in the youth group, or key people in the community.
Nonprofits can survey, clients, donors, or partner organizations.
Coffee, tea, or water can make a difference.
Story about getting a bottle of water halfway through a church board meeting.
For snacks, stick with healthy foods, low sugar.
Pews and lectern are the worst setup.
Board table is next worst.
Moveable tables in a U, square, or polygon is even better.
Chairs in a circle is the most intimate setup.
Most boards spend zero time in building relationships of trust. So all too often the trustees don’t trust each other.
Boards should see themselves as a small group with a task. Start every meeting with Bible study and prayer. No board that does this has ever told me it was a waste of time.
Read a book for spiritual growth together and discuss it.
Tough issues are resolved faster if more time is spent building strong team relationships.
There is something about food that breaks down barriers. Find ways to share a meal together.
Just like a small group, board members can care for each other instead of having tense relationships and unproductive alliances.
A retreat once a year, with or without a facilitator can be well worth the time. You can work on relationship building, team building, and skill building.
You can have a one-day retreat without an overnight, but it usually works best if it is off-site.
Strategic planning is best done in one long meeting rather than a series of once a month meetings.
People in large organizations are reviewed annually by their boss and review their direct reports with some kind of system.
If the CEO is responsible for the overall health and success of the organization, then the CEO’s success factors ought to be identical to the organization’s success factors.
If the staff of an organization is in disarray and donations are falling, can a CEO still be commended for doing a good job and getting a good review for what he or she does?
Review the By-Laws once a year. Review one set of policies each quarter at an appropriate time of year.
Ends policies may require more than one session and represent the work of the board that is never finished.
Once a year, conduct a self-assessment of the board to see if you are slipping into bad habits.
Borrow an assessment tool or hire a resource person to conduct an evaluation of board process.
A perpetual calendar tells you what major items should be on the board agenda throughout the year. It helps the board stay on top of what should be covered when.
When to decide strategic goals?
When to provide revenue target and budget narrative?
When to approve annual budget?
When to review policy sections?
Train new board members before their first board meeting.
If you have written board policies, study them together and answer any questions they may have.
Have them read a book or several articles on governance.
Make sure new member is clear on his or her role on the board.
Most board chairs would love a chance to talk with a wise person about how to lead the board meetings and get advice on sticky situations