As is said to be true of families, a dysfunctional board will be dysfunctional in its own unique way.
But, there are at least 3 contexts that will lead a board into some form of dysfunction over time if not addressed:
- A Board Chair Unwilling to Speak Directly – speaking directly doesn’t mean that the board chair visits one-on-one with a member of the Board who is overstepping her boundaries in some way. Speaking directly can be mean speaking to the entire Board during a meeting about acceptable behaviors from all members (and unacceptable behaviors from all members). If a board chair is unwilling to speak directly about expectations and behavior, dysfunction will most likely follow.
- A Lack of Using Annual Board Evaluations – it’s not enough to conduct board member evaluations – those evaluations must be used to shape expectations, behavior, understandings, and even board meeting agendas. Evaluations can be completed confidentially or anonymously, but they must be used in public ways to make the board and board member experiences better. If there is no evaluation process or if evaluations are not seen as being important, dysfunction will most likely follow.
- An Unbalanced Executive Committee – the leadership, or executive committee, of every board is critically important to the functionality of the board. But, if the executive committee takes too much decision-making from the full board, a sense of disassociation and marginalization with other board members will emerge. To balance the roles of the executive committee with the full board, plan to meet sparingly as an executive committee and always ask the question, “is this a discussion or decision that should go before the full board?” when the executive committee engages on an issue. If an executive committee wields too much decision-making authority on behalf of the full board, dysfunction will most likely follow.
There is no cookie-cutter recipe for making a board highly-effective.
But, there are some tell-tale signs that dysfunction could easily emerge.
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