Board book follies
During today’s session “Building Effective Senior Management Teams,” Kerry Stackpole, CAE, mentioned a survey he had done at a past organization. His group surveyed the board, and among the questions asked was “When do you read the board book?” Ninety-seven percent—yes, 97 percent—of the board responded that they read it on the plane.
I bet this isn’t uncommon. But how can a board really have a strategic, informed discussion about materials they hadn’t even looked at 10 hours before a meeting? What can be done to get boards more engaged—and what can be done to the board book itself to draw them in before the plane takes off?
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Comments
Perhaps the fact that we still create board "books" has something to do with it.
Posted by: Jeffrey Cufaude | August 12, 2007 6:25 AM
Absolutely. Maybe we should take the question back a step farther: How can we communicate the information the board needs to have for board discussions in a way that engages and excites them? The traditional format doesn't work--what would be better?
Posted by: Lisa Junker | August 12, 2007 8:40 AM
Don't be too quick to judge. One ought not assume review of the Board "book" on the way to the meeting is necessarily a bad thing---at least they're reading it. (smile) That said, I'm a fan of having a little cogitation time for important issues and new ideas. In my experience engaged and excited Board members are most always prepared and well informed about key matters. They accept the responsibility and take it upon themselves to be informed. Could it be the nomination and orientation process that is failing to deliver suitably motivated and engaged volunteer leaders?
Posted by: Kerry Stackpole | August 27, 2007 12:19 PM
Very good point, Kerry. A truly motivated volunteer would at least try to slog through a board book in advance of a meeting, and your nomination and orientation processes should be optimized to locate motivated volunteers and get them excited about leading your association.
But I still think there's something to be said for finding new and better ways to brief board members before a meeting--that don't involve a two-inch-thick binder of single-spaced reports (or a website that delivers those same reports electronically). Are there other formats that can provide the same important information in a more intrinsically engaging way?
Posted by: Lisa Junker | August 27, 2007 2:17 PM
Delivering meaningful and relevant information to a Board creates a real paradox. On the one hand, there is the perception by some Board members that quantity equals quality. This approach is characterized by the attitude of "show me all of the data, let me judge what's important or not." On the other hand, succinct Board packages oftentimes lead Board members to wonder (sometimes aloud) about what they are not being told or shown, creating suspicion (mostly unwarranted in my experience) the executive is hiding something.
The whole matter of informing Board members cries out for a deeply engaging and vivid discussion between the exec and Board about what specific outcomes the Board wishes to monitor and measure. Then, staff can development and deliver reports showing various means to monitor and measure outcomes. Undoubtedly, the report writing will require further testing and revision to get it right, but it sure beats the alternative doesn't it?
Posted by: Kerry Stackpole | September 21, 2007 9:45 AM