A Quick and Courteous Way to Give Every Board Member a Voice
At every board and committee meeting, provide green and red straw vote cards (green means “yes” and red means “no”). Any board member can ask for a straw vote at any time. Sometimes the loudest, longest-talking board member is the only one holding up a red card—and the instant feedback will help her see she’s not convincing anyone!
TOOL #22: STRAW VOTE CARDS
Use red and green straw vote cards to discern if you have consensus or division on big and small issues—and save valuable time!
Tool #22 in the new resource, ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance, is one of four tools in Part 6, “Ideas for Better Board Governance,” in this jam-packed 271-page resource. Many boards use these straw vote cards to “check the pulse” of the board before a vote is taken.
Examples:
• After adequate discussion on an issue, the chair might ask, “Is there consensus that it’s time to vote? If you’re ready to vote, raise your green card. If not, hold up your red card.”
• Ready to vote? “It’s been moved and seconded that we ask the Governance Committee to research the benefits of moving from 12 board meetings per year to just six.”
• “Mr. Chairman, we’ve been discussing this topic for over an hour—but not every board member has weighed in yet. Could we do a quick show of cards to see if most agree—or disagree—with the motion on the table?”
We were introduced to this time-saving tool by our friend and colleague, Bob Andringa, who notes: “The card saves time by testing the group’s leanings early on in what could otherwise be unnecessarily long discussions.”
He adds, “The straw vote cards allow everyone, even the most extreme introverts, to have a ‘voice’ by going visual. And when anyone can test an idea by a show of cards, they help keep board members more alert to the dialogue. And they can add some fun to your meetings!”
As a bonus, this tool also includes four additional facilitation techniques to engage board members at every meeting—including how to leverage the first 30 minutes of every board meeting to set the tone for deep engagement.
Order the tools book from Amazon by clicking on this title: ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board, by Dan Busby and John Pearson. The book gives you full access to all 22 tools and templates—formatted as Word documents so you can customize the tools for your board’s unique uses.
BOARD DISCUSSION: Think about our last board meeting—and your thoughts when driving home from the meeting. Discuss: “Was I needed at that meeting? Did others engage both my heart and my head—or were there low or no expectations that I would add value?” And reflect on this: “Did we sense any holy moments—that clearly demonstrated our ministry is governed by eternal values and obedience to God’s direction?”
MORE RESOURCES: In Lesson 18 for the Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom Blog, Holly Duncan writes, “The best leaders are the best listeners. There is a direct correlation between one’s willingness to listen to others and one’s willingness to listen to God.” Read her guest blog, “Do Not Interrupt! Don’t assume board members know how to listen.” Click here.
Policy: The Board’s Chief Occupation—Not an Occasional Board Chore
Governance Guru John Carver preaches, “Governing by policy means governing out of policy in the sense that no board activity takes place without reference to policies. Most resolutions in board meetings will be motions to amend the policy structure in some way. Consequently, policy development is not an occasional board chore but its chief occupation.”
So do you need a flashlight and emergency provisions to search for all of your board-approved policies over the last five decades? Good news—there’s an easier way!
TOOL #17: BOARD POLICIES MANUAL (BPM)
Use this tool to create a Board Policies Manual (BPM)—and finally, you’ll have all your policies in one document and always updated.
Tool #17 in the new resource, ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance, is one of three tools in Part 5, “Policies and Board Responsibilities,” in this jam-packed 271-page resource. This tool features a 15-page template that will help you include all board-level policies in one simple and clarifying document.
In their very practical and helpful book/tutorial, Good Governance for Nonprofits: Developing Principles and Policies for an Effective Board, Bob Andringa and Fred Laughlin deliver an “add-water-and-stir” template for creating your customized Board Policies Manual (BPM). This living, dynamic document is designed for frequent reference at every board meeting and can be edited for policy adjustments when growth (or decline) or other factors mandate policy changes.
In “Part 1: Introduction and Administration,” the authors list six reasons your board should adopt a BPM:
1. Efficiency of having all ongoing board policies in one place
2. Ability to quickly orient and educate new board members and key staff about current policies
3. Elimination of redundant, or conflicting, policies over time
4. Ease of reviewing current policy while simultaneously considering new issues
5. Opportunity to guide the Chief Executive, senior staff, and new board members through clear, pro-active policies
6. A modeled approach to governance that other organizations might utilize
When your Governance Committee takes on this project, encourage them to use the companion book, Good Governance for Nonprofits, with helpful color commentary on every section and sub-section of the BMP template. This one tool—when properly implemented—will save your board members precious time over the next several years—and help streamline your board meetings. Honest!
Order the tools book from Amazon by clicking on this title: ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board, by Dan Busby and John Pearson. The book gives you full access to all 22 tools and templates—formatted as Word documents so you can customize the tools for your board’s unique uses.
BOARD DISCUSSION: At our recent board meetings, did discussion on some agenda topics go on and on and on? Was the discussion tied to an outdated policy or the lack of a policy? Is it time to gather all of our policies into a BPM?
MORE RESOURCES: Bob Andringa writes, “For every hour spent on creating and maintaining a Board Policies Manual, at least three hours of board and committee meetings will be saved before too long. It’s a ‘living document,’ always reflecting the latest wisdom of the board.” Read his guest blog, “Do Unwritten Board Policies Really Exist?” from Lesson 4 in Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom, by Dan Busby and John Pearson. Click here to read more.
