The Tell-Tale Agenda

Call me a governance wonk. Who else reads the agenda of board meetings like a love letter? For most of us, a board meeting agenda is a necessary evil to keep us on time and on track. A deeper look at the agenda shows that it can be a keen instrument for executive leadership in advancing a policy-making board. Consider these questions:

• Who writes your board agenda? Many board agendas are products of accumulated staff reports. It is a hodge-podge of information collected to woo and wow the board. If the agenda is an effective leadership instrument, however, it is a product of executive leadership coordinated with the board chair and nuanced by the members of the board itself.
  
• What is the focus of your board agenda? The focus of the board agenda should not be on information. Prior mailings from the CEO and staff should be read in advance by board members so that only highlights from the reports or new information will take up meeting time. Like a laser beam, then, the focus of the agenda will be upon implementing existing policy and developing new policy as needed.
  
• What is the rhythm for your board agenda? Think of your board agenda as the score for a symphony with the CEO as the composer and the board chair as the conductor. An opening sonata of devotions and the CEO report sets the theme and the tone for the meeting. While energy is high and attention is focused, important policy issues become the movements of the symphony with the rising sound of full discussion and the faster beat of final decision. Interludes between the movements give time for an executive session, a consent agenda, and a learning period for board development. A coda of benediction then closes the meeting with the members having heard the grand theme of the organizational mission played over and over again. And, don’t forget intermissions. Skillfully used, they can save the meeting.

Why is Sound Board Member Orientation often Overlooked?

Why don’t we pay attention to the orientation of new board members?

My first guess is that we usually recruit trustees from within the ranks of friends and associates who already know each other. Or, because we seek out high level leaders for our boards, we assume that orientation would be an insult because they already know so much about serving on nonprofit boards. These are fundamental errors.

Every board is unique in its by-laws, policies, practices internal dynamics, and expectations for its members. Without an orientation session in which vital aspects of board service are discussed, even the most astute new member will need several board meeting to decipher how the board works, how the members relate to each other, and what role he or she should play.

I confess that it took me a long time to learn the lesson. Finally, however, when I became the chair of a board, I worked with the president to organize a special two-hour orientation session with new trustees before their first meeting. A packet of information went out to them, including the by-laws, policy manual, board directory, and minutes for the board meetings in the past two years.

When the president and I met with the new trustee, we highlighted the distinctions of our history, theology and mission as well as explaining how the board performed and interacted. A good portion of the time was given to questions from the new trustee. Meaningful discussion followed. Later, we added the idea of assigning one of the senior trustees as a mentor for the new member in order to assume some follow-up to the orientation sessions.

What a difference it made! The new trustee quickly became engaged in the meetings and offered insights from their own leadership experience. Of course, orientation is not a cure-all. Without a long-term plan for board development, it is only a quick fix with the need for continuing growth in commitment, understanding, and the sense of meaningful participation as a member of a Christ-centered ministry.