The work of any non-profit board is governance and determining matters of strategic importance to the organization. The board's work is accomplished at meetings. Successful and productive meetings are every board member's responsibility so it is important for all members to be on time, be prepared,  engage in open, honest communication and help create an atmosphere where it is okay to disagree.

Earlier posts have focused on meeting tools such as consent agendas, norms and indicators or metrics.  If you have used any of these techniques I trust you are seeing more focused and productive board meetings.
To continue the conversation about effective board meetings, I'd like to discuss meeting evaluations. There are a number of meeting evaluation tools available, or you can create your own.  Since every organization has a unique culture and way of working, it is important to identify an evaluation tool that "fits" your group.

Did your group accomplish what you set out to do in your agenda?; did the process make sense?; and what about relationships - how do people feel about how members treat one another?

One simple and very effective technique is to take 5-10 minutes at the end of the board meeting and ask board members to rate the meeting on a scale of one to ten, with one being awful and ten being superb.  The chair simply does a round-robin and everyone verbally gives their number and why they gave the meeting that ranking.  Someone might say, "I rate it a 6 because while we accomplished a lot, we did stray from the agenda and there were side-bar conversations."

Again, if your group's comfort level is with verbal evaluations, there are other questions that can be asked in a round robin at the end of the meeting, such as:
    What did we do that really worked well?
    Did anything happen that we do not want to repeat?
    Are there bad habits we seem to fall into?

If your group prefers a written evaluation format, you can periodically distribute a written meeting evaluation form which includes statements  like:
                                                                                                                             Good                   Needs to Improve

Meeting started on time.

Meeting was business like, results-oriented and we functioned like a team.

Members were prepared for discussion of agenda packet material.

Discussion was confined to agenda items only.

Policy issues, rather than daily management issues were discussed.

Controversial items were handled successfully and to the satisfaction
of all members.

Printed materials were easy to understand and use.

Meeting was appropriately guided by board chair who did not
dominate the discussion.

Members were able to differ without losing
regard for the right of each to have his or her own views.

Board members listened to one another.

When action was taken, assignments were made and accepted.

Meeting room was comfortable and conducive to board activity.

For items that members indicate need to improve, it is helpful if they are asked to include suggestions for what those improvements should be.

Regardless of the type of evaluation you use, the key point is that you assess your board's meeting behaviors and eliminate the time wasters, the drifting off topic and concerning yourselves with matters that are the executive director's responsibility.  And remember that the meeting should take place at the meeting and not in the parking lot afterward.

Until next time,
Pat

www.management-strategies.org