1 Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Meaningful Board Meetings

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Silent Start

How do you spend most of your time

at board meetings -

Looking back or looking forward?

Our Goal – More Effective Boards and Board Meetings!

Dysfunctional

Functional

Responsible

Dramatic disengagement,

conflict

Of no real

consequence

Compliant

Anticipate,

plan, see

opportunities

Unconscious Conscious Enlightened

Exceptional

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Managing Meetings

The Goal: Thoughtfully prepared agendas that provide time for meaningful discussion.

Consent agendas

Generative conversations

Use of dashboards

Evaluation

Other tools

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An Effective Agenda is • Developed by Board Chair and the chief executive

working together

• Incorporates high-impact issues from Committee Chairs for discussion

• Gives all board members have a role to play

• Builds in time for strategic and generative issues

• Allots time for board learning and relationship building

• Is clear about the outcome you expect

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Consent Agenda

• Written set of proposals that requires board action but not discussion/debate (e.g., minutes, dates of meetings)

• Circulate to board in advance

• During meeting, remove any issues that the board would like to discuss

• Board votes approval of amended agenda and moves on to critical issues

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Other Tools • The Silent Start

Pose a question that everyone thinks about silently to set the context for your meeting

• Mission Moments Have someone (board member, staff, volunteer, client) share a meaningful moment from the past month that shows your mission in action.

• KPAWN Keeps the President Awake at Night – asking this question can lead to interesting discussions

• Electing a devil’s advocate If your board tends to agree on most things, sometimes it is helpful to elect a “devil’s advocate”

Sample Agenda Topic Time Process Outcome

Welcome and Chair’s Remarks

5 Open the meeting

Review Agenda 5 Agree or modify

Mission Minute 5 Share Focus on Mission

Consent Agenda Approval of last minutes Chief Executive’s Report Treasurer’s Report Committee Reports

10 Motion Approval

Approve consent topics

Collaboration Proposal 30 Report Discuss Agree

Decide whether to proceed with proposal

Review Agreements and Action Items

10 Commit to agreements and action items

Adjournment 2

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Meeting Evaluation

+

Participation Info ahead of meeting

Candor Fewer topics (longer conversations)

Facilitation Info items on consent agenda

Disagree Agree Suggestions for

Improvement

Minutes

distributed in a

timely manner

Agenda allowed

enough time

Supporting docs

circulated before

the meeting

All board

members were

present

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Exercise

• Determine the Outcome and Process for the example agenda items.

• Add a couple of agenda topics from your past meetings, and complete the Outcome/Process columns.

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Dashboards

• Present succinct, easily readable performance indicators

• Provide early warning indicators

• One- to two-page document with graphs, charts, tables, or columns - and limited text.

• Incorporate into board meetings to focus attention on trends

Scorecard Dashboard KEY

Minimal or no progress

Slightly off Track

On Track

Objective Achieved!

Graphic Dashboard

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The 3 Modes of Governance

Type I Fiduciary Oversee operations, monitor organizational conformance, and ratify policy.

Type II Strategic Scan environments, review/modify the strategic plan, and monitor organizational performance.

Type III Generative Explore and frame challenges, think creatively, and make sense of circumstances.

The 3 Modes of Governance Type I

Fiduciary Type II

Strategic Type III

Generative

Board’s role Steward Strategic Sense-maker

Key question What’s wrong?

What’s the plan?

What’s the key question?

Problems are to be:

Handled Solved Framed

Way of deciding

Reach resolution

Reach consensus

Reach understanding

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• Typical board meeting discussions stay in the Fiduciary or Strategic Mode.

• How could you incorporate more generative discussions into your board meetings?