This is a question we hear over and over by Board Chairs and CEOs who want the rest of the board members to do more than just show up to board meetings. Here are some tips for getting your board members actively involved in the work or the board so you can maximize your impact:
1. Provide Clear Job Descriptions and Expectations
One of the best strategies to actively engage your board members is to have well-defined, written job descriptions that describe their roles and responsibilities as a trustee of your organization, along with service expectations. By having these basics in place, you will provide a clear pathway for trustees to use their talents to make an impact. See our examples in the links below.
2. Utilize Their Skills and Expertise
Your board members each have unique skills and expertise that can be leveraged for committee work or special board projects. By developing a skills inventory, you can strategically assign roles and responsibilities to each board member so they can be valued contributors. Keeping an updated inventory of these skills can help with board recruitment as well. The Members Report in BoardOnTrack provides an automated system for tracking the collective expertise of your board, along with diversity and term limits, so you can be more strategic in recruiting new trustees as needed.
3. Assign Tasks Using the Goals Tracker
Once you’ve established your skills inventory and have determined what each board member will be working on, use the Goals Dashboard in BOT to manage tasks and track progress.
4. Involve all Board Members During Board Meeting
You can get your board "fired up" and excited to be on your team by including them as contributors or presenters at the regular board meetings. The board chair can collaborate easily using the agenda tool in BOT. Once the agenda is in draft mode, committee chairs and other project teams can contribute to the agenda with progress reports.
5. Create Opportunities for Teamwork
Engage the board as a team by creating opportunities for cross-committee collaboration. Here are a few examples:
-
Have the Finance and Development committees work together to create a 5-year special programs budget.
- Ask the Academic Committee and Governance Committee to collaborate to provide board training on student performance indicators.
Here are some steps you can take to get your board fired up and keep them connected in between board meetings:
• Add a personal touch by sending your board members a monthly communication with school or student highlights, news or invitations to your school’s events. If there is a monthly newsletter, make sure the board is on the mailing list• Curate some short articles for your board members each month, that cover topics that are relevant to your mission, vision or strategic goals. Provide high-quality and relevant information that will help your board engage in meaningful dialog.
- Sample Job Description for the Full Board.pdf100 KB
- Sample Guilt-Free Board Member Expectations.pdf100 KB
Updated