Improving Board Performance

Bryan McQueeney

Executive Director, Ride On

bryan@rideon.org

Why do we want a board?

• Legal, effective, independent

• Complex organizations demand it.

• We can do more with a high performing board than we can without.

Tell me about yourself

• Your role in organization

• How long involved

• Age of organization

• # of riders/budget

• # of board members

• What is your board IQ?

Is there a disconnect between board function and organizational needs?

How are we doing versus what do we need?

• We will examine– Board nuts & bolts– Board functions– Changing stages of life for a board– Elements of a Team – Organizational culture

You will need:

• Vision – to know where your organization is going

• Vision – to spot troublesome patterns and behavior

• To hone the ability to break problems down into small, easy-to-win, tasks

• To Be consistent

• To Be persistent

Board Nuts & Bolts

• Roles vs. Job Description

• Composition Matrix– Looking at diversity and skill sets

• The Orientation Manual– What are you expecting

• The Statement of Agreement– What will I do?

How do you attract Board Members?

• Your pool of candidates

• Find a fit between what they want and what you need

• You don’t have money so use vision and inspiration

• Create an attractive mission

• Run an effective organization

How do you attract Board Members?

• Run Great Meetings– Respect their time– Give them something meaningful to do– Give them tools and training– Give them support

Board functions

• Governance• Set Policies &

Procedures• Financial Oversight• Resource

Development• Community

Relationship Building

• Duty of Care• Duty of Loyalty• Duty of Obedience

Organizational Change over time

Stage of Life

• Imagine and Inspire• Found & Frame• Ground and Grow• Produce and Sustain• Review and Renew

Board Changes

• From friends to community

• From “who can I get” to “who is right”

• From doing to delegating• From informal to formal• From managing to

governing

Elements of a Team

In the non-profit world,

vision unifies the team.

Elements of a team

• Trust• Conflict• Commitment• Accountability• Collective Results

• Patrick Lencioni, “Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team”

Improving Team Performance

• Building Trust: Personal History stories before a meeting

• Managing Conflict: Behavior profiles self-assessment and group discussion

• Achieving Commitment: Writing down commitment; communicating commitment to outsiders; agreement on core values.

Improving Team Performance

• Embracing Accountability: team assessment of each individual’s strength and weakness

• Focus on Results: Clearly set out goals and measuring stick

What’s organizational culture?

• Patterns of activity that drive behavior and lead to consequences that are either good or bad

Examples of Organizational Culture

• Culture of programming excellence

• Culture of financial transparency

• Culture of building relationships for the long-term

• Culture of respecting roles

• Culture of accountability

• Culture of collective leadership

Organizational Culture

• Impediments to change

• Look for key behavioral patterns that tend to repeat

• Look for structural explanations of the pattern: – how decisions are made– How information flows– What values or norms are explicit and implicit

Organizational Culture Improvement

• Assign task to board member

• Assign staff support

• Set deadline

• Place on next agenda

• Accountability reinforced by praise/embarrassment if done/not done

Take this away

• Identify the problem. Then look at what your role is and change.

• Vision: This is the profit motive in a non-profit. Make the most of it.

• Build Trust: Establish a culture of learning about other team members with personal stories

• Accountability: Set Easy Goals and follow-up. Who Nags?

Take this away

• Commitment: Twice a year bring all stakeholders together to learn the course and speed

• Fundraising retreat beginning of the year

• “State of the State” at mid-year