Effective organizations make sure that the board has regular interactions with all of the members of the organization's senior leadership team, but only one staff person should report directly to the board.
Senior staff members are usually expected to staff relevant committees. For example, the business manager may staff the Finance Committee, and the director of development will staff the Development Committee.
Staff can expect to have any or all of the following board-related responsibilities:
- Work with the committee chairs to plan committee agendas.
- Type up committee minutes, notes, and action steps, and distribute them to appropriate committee members.
- In conjunction with the committee chair, create necessary committee documents for committee meetings and full board meeting packets.
- Keep the CEO informed about committee work, obstacles, and progress.
BoardOnTrack Recommends
Each year, the CEO should clearly articulate expectations of board/senior staff interactions. In addition, the CEO should make sure that all of the senior staff receive regular professional development with regards to creating and maintaining and effective board. BoardOnTrack membership can serve as a great starting point for this professional development--senior staff members can take the online assessments and create a self-paced professional development plan with the training library videos and the articles in the resources tab.
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