Want to take your nonprofit to the next level? Your board can help you do that. A strong nonprofit board offers insights and resources that help the organization solve complex problems and achieve bold goals.

However, recruiting smart leaders and planning productive meetings isn’t enough. Developing an effective board requires strategic engagement and consistent communication.

Your board members won’t be able to offer meaningful help unless your organization makes them feel connected, appreciated and informed. And for them to feel this way, you have to invest in thoughtful onboarding when they join your team and outreach throughout their time of service.

Each board member must understand how their strengths intersect with your needs. They require tools that allow them to share their passion for your work. And they need an authentic relationship with your organization that motivates them to roll up their sleeves when it matters most.

Build a Strong Foundation From the Beginning

Set clear expectations. Ask your board members for help with co-creating a board performance policy. The policy should outline the key ways you expect each member to support your nonprofit. Be explicit about how you would like them to use their resources to elevate your work. Include a copy of the policy in your board toolkit, explained below.

Provide a board toolkit. As part of on-boarding, give new board members the tools to understand and promote your work. Providing digital and print materials such as:

• Your nonprofit’s elevator speech
• One pagers on fundable programs
• Attractive and inspiring flyers and brochures
• Merchandise featuring your brand
• Social media content to share on their channels

Since social media is a key way for them to engage their networks, include social media tools such as suggested post copy, graphics and photos for social posts, profile cover photos, and profile frames. Give your board members content they can use throughout the year and special assets for holidays and campaigns.

Explain their role in your culture of philanthropy. Ensure that your board understands the importance of fundraising to your organization’s financial health and community leadership. Explain the key role everyone plays—including board members—in meeting your fundraising goals. When you share fundraising updates with them, emphasize the connection between your achievements and their individual efforts.

Build authentic connections. Create opportunities for your board members to build relationships with the people inside your organization. This will help them forge a deeper connection to your mission. It will also help them better understand various facets of your work.

Familiarize board members with the populations you serve. The best way to do this depends on the nature of your work, but board volunteering days can make a big impact, emotionally and intellectually.

When appropriate, invite them to staff activities like lunch and learn seminars, happy hours, or quarterly meetings. However, if your board will be in attendance, be sure to notify staff beforehand and give them background information on the members who will be there.

Keep Them Engaged Over Time

Develop a board communication plan. Map out an annual calendar that outlines when and how you’ll communicate with your board. This will ensure this key group of stakeholders doesn’t fall through the cracks as you reach out to key audiences. It will also keep you accountable to sending them regularly scheduled updates.

Don’t just share major announcements and board meeting materials. Reach out with compelling news and updates from across your organization. Your communications will keep them interested while also reducing any blind spots they may have about how you operate.

Create an email newsletter. Make an email newsletter one of the key communications in your board communication plan. Your board members are already accustomed to building and maintaining relationships via email, so use this important channel to share helpful tools and information with them. By repurposing your nonprofit’s existing communications when possible, develop a brief, attractive newsletter with content such as:

• Relevant news stories
• Recent press releases
• Top-performing blog posts
• Short, simple program updates
• Major fundraising achievements
• Expressions of gratitude (highlighted below)

Keep asking for input. Request your board members’ help when you see a connection between their resources and your needs. Just be sure your leadership team is aligned on the ask before you reach out.

For example, ask board members for help with donor identification and cultivation. Be open, letting them know that you would be grateful if they’d strategically reach out to any contacts who may have an interest in your cause. Invite them to participate in conversations with like-minded donors. They can strengthen your outreach to donors with similar backgrounds.

And if other opportunities come up where board members can make a meaningful difference, don’t be afraid to ask. If you don’t ask, they may not realize how they could be supporting you.

Honor and thank your board. Weave gratitude into all of your board communications. When new members join, proudly announce their appointments internally and externally. This will demonstrate your appreciation to new members, acquaint staff with the board, and elevate your organization’s thought leadership in the public eye.

Share success stories with your board often, connecting mission impact with their dedication and support. Help them see themselves among the heroes in your organization’s story.

Follow your board members online to stay in-the-know about what’s going on in their lives. Connect with them on LinkedIn and create Google alerts for their names so you don’t miss anything. Congratulate them on their accomplishments to show that you are invested in their success.

Commit to Invest in Your Board

An effective board helps a mission-driven organization reach new heights. But to build an successful board, you must develop cohesive communication and engagement plans.

It’s crucial to reach out to your board with transparent, informative and authentic communications. And you need to provide every member with tools and opportunities to share your work with their communities.

The good news is that if you invest in creating an environment where your board can thrive, you’ll also be helping your nonprofit’s mission thrive.

There are volumes written on staying engaged with your professional work, how to motivate employees, and communication in the workplace. That’s great for businesses, but how do nonprofits keep volunteer board members engaged in their work? Busy professionals who are donating their time to a cause want to do well in their board service, but they may need a little help. Here are some ways to keep them excited, involved, and effective with nonprofit board work all year round, even if they are remote or only meet quarterly.

Make It Personal

Humans are hard-wired to pay more attention to human faces than any amount of text or audio presented in a meeting. If many of your board members are remote or rarely meet in person, it is crucial to maintain that human element in your communication and meetings.There are a number of ways you can do this. Provide a people directory with everyone’s photo to help new members feel familiar with the other board members. If you have remote meetings, ask everyone to use their video cameras during the meeting. You might be surprised at how much this simple measure does to personalize the experience.

Create even more rapport by developing a buddy or board mentor system. Sometimes just the accountability of knowing even one person will be working with you on specific goals or looking for your attendance at the meeting is enough to get that extra effort from a board member. Additionally, it is a great opportunity for members to learn from each other and discuss how they can advance initiatives. This works especially well at knitting a geographically far-flung board closer together.

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Have you ever heard the advertising adage that a person needs seven impressions of your brand before it “sticks” in their mind? Obviously, you don’t want to bother your board members seven times about every initiative, but it is hard to underestimate the value of multiple nudges. Some board members will favor email while others may prefer to keep tabs on goals with your board portal. Regardless of the medium, don’t be shy about sending a variety of updates, reminders, and nudges for key deadlines. The first reminder might catch a board member at a busy time, but the second could allow them to take action on the goal.

It isn’t enough to just communicate regularly, however. It is also helpful to make the communication as specific as possible. Many people will ignore an email to the whole board, but it is much harder to sleep on an email that starts out with their name and has information specific to something that board member is working on at that time. Be sure to keep it balanced between reminders or asks and recognition or celebration. If every time you contact your board members it is to nag them about some initiative, they will quickly learn to dread (and eventually ignore) your communication. Everyone appreciates someone noticing their hard work and small successes. Get to know your board members well enough to know if they’d appreciate a public shout-out or prefer a personal note.

Progress Should Be Visible

Similar to our propensity to react to human faces, people love visually scannable information when possible. There are two big advantages to this. First of all, with publicly visible graphs or charts, it is simple for your busy board members to glance at the dashboard and see how things are trending. You could send a three page report that no one has time to read, or you could provide three visuals that get eyes on them every time.

Second of all, visuals have a wonderful way of “gamefying” board service.Is it halfway to your big event and only a fraction of the tables are sponsored? Time to kick it into high gear. Are you just dollars away from reaching the campaign goal? Every board member wants to be the one that closes the gap. Celebrate progress and ask for help as transparently as possible with a real-time, visual representation of your goals.

Keep It About the Mission

We all know about creating “mission moments” in a meeting to keep board members in touch with the effects of their work. You can take this a step further to increase the connection. Have board members take turns every month reporting on a specific chapter or organization and some interesting results they’ve had in the recent past. Board members also feel more connected to something that they can articulate themselves. Research activities you can do with your board, such as practicing elevator pitches of why they’re invested in the organization, brainstorming sessions on the vision of the nonprofit, or interviewing each other about how they came to the organization and summarizing it in a sentence or two for the board. Not only do activities like these get board members thinking about why they volunteer their time for board service, it also offers great discussion material during meetings about the direction of the organization.

Connection Is Crucial

It can be a huge challenge to keep a group of perhaps spread out, busy, volunteer board members thinking about their board service between meetings. It’s not impossible, though. With some effort around building rapport, making information easily digestible, and motivating for progress, your board can stay a productivity machine all year long.

About Boardable:

Boardable is an online board management portal that centralizes communication, document storage, meeting planning, and everything else that goes into running a board of directors.

So you want to join a nonprofit board. Whoa, back up, really? That’s terrific, but can we explore the why before we get to the how? Hopefully you are driven to seek a seat at the table in order to take personal action using your experiences, skills and connections to solve a problem or address a challenge in your community or anywhere else on the planet. Think hunger, homelessness, poverty, a particular health crisis, uneven educational opportunities, unsafe relationships, aftermath of wars, as a start. Let’s begin with the assumption that you are joining others driven by the same degree of passion. If they aren’t . . . that is a topic for another day. You are going to develop an intimate knowledge of how your fellow board members analyze opportunities, how they communicate, what talents they bring to the table, and how you might learn from them, and utilize their connections to expand your own network. These are good things, and you will be bringing your own value adds to share.

Do you know what it means to be a board member for a public charity? Do you understand the fiduciary, fundraising, volunteering and advocacy responsibilities that are expected by law and by the public? Not all boards introduce and onboard with the same degree of clarity, so you need to know what kind of a board and what kind of participant you want to be. There are online resources to learn more and help you answer these questions, and in some communities you will find organizations that offer related workshops for preparing to become a nonprofit board member.

When you join a nonprofit board, you will have motivating ideas of how you can support the organization and even what you might gain by doing so. You may rightfully anticipate the connections you can make to further your ability to put your passions to work with a team of like-minded individuals. Board service can expand your business and community networks, as you learn from others with a variety of experiences that have shaped their attitudes and paths. You may see board participation as a chance to stretch your leadership style in ways that everyday life and work experiences don’t readily offer. You may be hoping for a place to leave legacy footprints, making a purposeful difference where it matters most to you. The right board match can help you achieve these goals.

On some corporate boards members can be compensated for their participation. “Compensation” looks very different and special for nonprofit board members. As a nonprofit board member you are expected to make a financial contribution, beg your friends to donate as well, spend hours (mostly evenings) in meetings, buy tickets and tables to events, and operate often without an exit strategy of when to step away from this “privilege.” If you are not deterred, then thank you! Nonprofit board service can be the most intense, important and satisfying volunteer commitment you can undertake. And quite honestly, there are many, many benefits you should enjoy as a result.

Don’t shy away from the win-win of board service. If you are going to spend that much time, energy and philanthropic dollars, you better get something in return. It can be a warm feeling in your heart, a warm lead to a new customer, or the satisfaction that you actually took action to solve a thorny problem. Go for it.

Now as for how to join a board, please keep in mind that there are a variety of nonprofits just as there are a variety of for-profit businesses. How you proceed to join a “Fortune 500” nonprofit board will be different than the path to joining one that is a startup. The bigger the budget of an organization, the broader its geographic reach, the more “prestigious” the current board, the more likely it is that you will need to be willing to write a big personal check or deliver a sizable donation from your company on a regular basis. You may already be a significant donor. You may already have a large reputation for direct involvement in the organization’s mission or in a related area.  The closer to a Fortune 500 type nonprofit, the more likely it is that you will be head-hunted for the board because nonprofits of this size and scope understand that many others are fishing in the same pond for potential additions. They have determined that it is worth the investment to professionally search for key thought leaders and those who could add cache in some way. If you want to be considered for one of these boards, you likely already know how to go about it.

The path to joining any nonprofit board, but certainly one of a small to mid-sized or startup organization, must start with passion. Ask yourself, “What do I care about; what keeps me up at night?” and then look for organizations working on solutions. If your passion is solving a problem that is halfway around the world, you are honestly less likely to find a board opportunity in your backyard, but you can certainly find ways to donate money or volunteer your time. For example, Google “solving water pollution.” You will find organizations that tell you how to donate, volunteer and advocate to this end. This may never lead to a board position, but you might find your engagement to be equally satisfying.

The closer your interests are to local problem solving, the better the chances of eventual board service.  You want to get to know an organization from the inside as early as possible to confirm that this is a place where you want to invest your time and resources more deeply. Maybe you already have your eye on a local nonprofit. Explore their website and see who is on the board and who is in leadership on staff. You may already have connections so that you can learn more about how the board operates and what the expectations of a member. In the meantime, note any volunteer opportunities posted on the website or reach out to see if there are ways that your skills (marketing, HR, accounting, legal, etc.) could be utilized on a committee or special project. See if there is an event where you could participate in its planning or execution. Ask if there is a need for advocates to speak out or write on behalf of the organization. All these activities will give you a chance to get to know the organization and, equally important, give the board and staff a chance to know you and what you can bring to the table.

If you have the interest but don’t have connections or don’t know where to begin, don’t despair. Read local media with an eye to organizational leadership commenting on issues you care about. Use LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to see which organizations and people are engaged. See if there is a volunteer connector organization or local affiliate of Points of Light in your area and explore volunteer opportunities. Ask local thought leaders in government, civic organizations, business networking groups, and faith-based institutions for names of nonprofits doing good work and introductions to learn more.

After spending thoughtful time, if you are still interested in joining the organization’s board, let it be known. Usually a conversation with the Executive Director, Board Chair, Governance Committee Chair or a key program officer will get the ball rolling, but it doesn’t guarantee an instant or eventual place at the table. The best boards aren’t just looking for warm bodies with deep pockets, to be crass. The best ones are looking for new additions who are passionate about the mission; can fill particular skills and knowledge gaps around the table; bring diversity of opinions, backgrounds and experiences; understand what their role will be; recognize they will be expected to make financial contributions and introductions to others; anticipate that there will be personal and professional fulfillment; and are ready to roll up their sleeves and make a difference.

Not every date leads to a permanent lasting relationship, but good things will always come from getting to know key nonprofits and the boards that lead them. Enjoy the search for a great board to join. It’s out there, and the benefits are going to be as personally rewarding for you as they will be to the nonprofit.

Members of a nonprofit board of directors are wonderful people. They are often accomplished professionals, visionary leaders, and passionate supporters of the cause. Interestingly, these characteristics of excellent directors can also set the stage for tension in the boardroom. Let’s look at four tips for defusing any conflicts.

Clearly define roles and rules of conduct.

The most effective boards and meetings have one thing in common: clear expectations. Board conflict prevention starts with everyone knowing who is in charge and what is expected. I encourage boards to actually make a board member commitment “contract” that spells out the roles and responsibilities of being a director. There should be a similar description for each of the board officers, too. That way, no one is confused about who should be reporting on which areas and who is responsible for certain decisions. Make sure there are also procedures spelled out for meeting discussions and votes. If everyone is aware of the rules ahead of time, it is much easier to address conflict later.

Be hard on ideas, not people.

This is a great mantra I learned from our board governance coach, Kim Donahue. It’s all about cultivating a culture that can pick apart ideas as needed without making it personal. This is a fairly intuitive way to behave, but reminding board members about it in a fun informational session can go a long way towards boardroom decorum. Additionally, make sure that your board is building in enough social time to grow real trust and respect between members. It is much easier to express an opposing view if you believe that your fellow board directors all have the organization’s best interest in mind.

Enlist the troublemakers.

I use the word “troublemakers” loosely here to mean the people who might be more inclined to dominate a discussion or always be the first to offer their opinion. Sometimes this happens organically as other directors look to a few strong leaders to see how they feel about an issue before weighing in. If you find your meetings always revolving around the opinions of one person, elist this person to lower tension in the boardroom. Try pulling them aside and saying something like, “Brenda, everyone values your point of view so much. I wonder if we could try an experiment in this meeting. I really want some feedback from the others on this agenda item, so it would be interesting to see what would happen if you withheld your ideas for a minute to see what they come up with.” Win the more opinionated board members over to your side and you might find that the people who were previously a challenge become the peacekeepers.

While some dissent is healthy, everyone needs to come together after a vote.

 Disagreement is a part of discussion, but everyone should understand that the vote on the motion should be the end of that discussion. The board will vote yes or no, and all board members should know that is the time to accept the decision of the board. This can sometimes be difficult for board members who disagree. Consensus means that even though I may disagree, I can support this decision because the majority of board members believe it is the right thing to do. It is not a bad idea to remind board members that the decision of the board should be supported by everyone in the room. Being considerate of dissenting opinions will go a long way toward resolving any differences.

Conflict in the boardroom can take time to resolve.

Don’t be discouraged if it seems like certain disagreements keep flaring up over and over. There will be times that people simply don’t like each other that much, and that’s okay. As long as you have started implementing the four steps above, you will be on the way to reining in any disputes. Don’t be afraid to periodically take a step back and ask board members what is working and what isn’t. With some careful thought, board feedback, and proactive practices, your board will be on the right track.

About Boardable:

Boardable is an online board management portal that centralizes communication, document storage, meeting planning, and everything else that goes into running a board of directors. Founded in 2016 by nonprofit leaders and founders, Boardable has a mission to improve board engagement for nonprofits. Boardable is based in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Your boss just asked if you’d be willing to be nominated for a seat on the board of the local YMCA. You are flattered to be asked. You enjoy working out at the Y. You think this is great – maybe board members get to attend classes for free! You tell your boss you are interested, and a meeting is set up with the YMCA executive director.

As the meeting draws closer you realize you are unsure about what it means to be a board member. What exactly are the roles and responsibilities of a board member?

Your first responsibility is to find out the expectations of a board member and ensure you can meet those expectations. Learn all you can about the organization. Are their mission and values consistent with yours, such that you will become a passionate advocate for the organization? As a board member you’ll be asked to make your service to this organization your priority for the next several years.

You have a responsibility to give them your time, talent and treasure, the three “T’s.” What is the time commitment of a board member? You have a responsibility to prepare for and attend all board meetings. In addition to board meetings, both in person and remotely via conference calls, a board member is expected to participate in committee meetings/calls. There may also be events and community activities that board members are asked to attend. Understanding the time commitment prior to agreeing to serve is important. If a board member does not fully participate, they let their fellow board members and the organization down.

Giving your talent is your next responsibility. A well-planned board recruitment strategy results in a diversified board with skillsets needed to fulfill the mission of the organization. That likely means board members with finance, investing, communications, marketing, legal, human resource, strategic planning, event planning, fundraising, technology and/or programming expertise are needed at various times. When you meet with the organization’s director prior to agreeing to be nominated, determine if your expertise fits with a skillset needed on the board.

The last “T” represents your treasure or the financial commitment that comes with serving on the board. Every non-profit expects the board to take a leadership role in fundraising. Asking others to give without setting the example is difficult and may make the potential donor question why they should give if the board is not giving. Some boards have a minimum donation they ask from all board members. Others may ask each board member to give to their personal capacity.

So: you’ve met with the executive director, you know you can meet the expectations and enthusiastically agree to serve. Your first meeting is approaching, and in reviewing the pre-meeting materials, you feel a bit overwhelmed and start to doubt yourself. The financial statements look like they are in a foreign language. There is an investment presentation included that is confusing. The agenda includes program topics you were not even aware were part of the organization’s offerings. Don’t worry there is a board orientation before your first meeting. And you have been assigned a mentor who has requested a call prior to the meeting.

Set up a time to speak with your mentor. They will help you navigate the board meeting and help you feel comfortable. Also, you can ask them questions prior to meeting that you might be afraid to ask during the meeting.

Your First Meeting

Prior to your first meeting review all the materials provided in advance. Ask your mentor or the executive director any questions. Attend the orientation where you will likely hear about the history of the organization, review the financial statements, be provided with key documents such as the by-laws and key policy statements, meet staff and hear about which areas they are responsible for, and meet the officers of the board. The officers may explain the committee structure and their responsibilities. They may invite you sit in on the committees so you can decide which committees you would like to serve on. Or they may appoint you to a committee that fits your skillset.

Hopefully during the orientation, they will explain your roles and responsibilities. The primary legal responsibility of every board member is referred to as “fiduciary responsibility.” A board member should never do anything this or may be perceived as violating fiduciary responsibility or duty. It is your responsibility as a board member to serve as a fiduciary of the organization to ensure to the best of your ability its long-term viability.

The Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute website (http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fiduciary_duty) defines fiduciary duty as follows:

A fiduciary duty is a legal duty to act solely in another party’s interest. Parties owing this duty are called fiduciaries. The individuals to whom they owe a duty are called principals. Fiduciaries may not profit from their relationship with their principals unless they have the principals’ express informed consent. They also have a duty to avoid any conflicts of interest between themselves and their principals or between their principals and the fiduciaries’ other clients. A fiduciary duty is the strictest duty of care recognized by the US legal system.

In your situation as a board member, you are a fiduciary for the organization who is the principal in the above definition. Whenever you are acting as a board member, you should ask yourself if you are acting solely for the benefit of the organization.

Most well-run organizations conduct their meetings in accordance with parliamentary procedure outlined in The Eleventh Edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised. Often an organization’s by-laws specify that meetings and conventions be conducted in accordance with the latest edition of Robert’s Rules of Order. Prior to your first meeting, familiarize yourself with parliamentary procedure.

Familiarity with the basic parliamentary rules for meetings will make any new board member more comfortable in making motions, understanding when a “second” is required for a motion, understanding the rules of debate, and knowing how to end them by “calling for the question,” etc. Sounds like a foreign language, but once you understand the basics as outlined in the above short book, you will understand how to take part in the meetings more effectively.

Staff vs Board Member Responsibilities

Strong committee and board performance results from a partnership between staff and volunteer board members. Effective organizations have a clear understanding of their respective roles as they move the organization forward. To be clear, the only staff member who reports directly to the board is the executive director.

Generally, the board is responsible for hiring the executive director, providing feedback to the executive director, communicating expectations, conducting annual personnel evaluations, and rewarding their performance. When external issues arise, the board has the role of analyzing the situation and working with the executive director to handle public relations and respond as one voice supporting the executive director.

The key to success in the leadership team of the executive director and the board is the ability to understand the expectations of each other and to communicate frequently. Joint responsibilities include establishing the priorities of the organization based on the overall strategic plan. They also include defining the who, what, when, where and how’s of execution of the priorities. Jointly evaluating the activities and results is also important. Was the latest project worth the effort?

The best way to build relationships is to spend time together, even if it is telephonically. No surprises builds trust. Things will not always go as planned, but if the board member is kept informed, both parties can use their specialized knowledge to resolve issues together.

Volunteers have much to learn from staff, and staff have much to learn from volunteers. Each is in their position because of their specialized experience, knowledge, and skills. Many board members have experiences gained in the for-profit world that are applicable in the not-for-profit world. However, board members need to understand that they are not the CEO/CFO or chief anything of the non-profit and that the organization’s staff are not their staff. Mutual respect is critical for a successful board and staff partnership. Both groups are passionate about the mission of the organization, and only by working together can they fulfill the mission. The following chart clarifies board vs staff responsibilities:

Remember, your responsibility as a board member is to help set the strategic direction of the organization and oversee the financial results and controls—not to manage day-to-day operations. Your role is to develop the strategy, policies and procedures for the staff to execute. Stay out of the weeds and focus on the big picture and mission of the organization. Now go forth and serve, moving your organization forward.

The real challenge for directors of nonprofit boards isn’t regulatory compliance—it’s high performance. Most who serve on a nonprofit board have a passion for the organization’s mission, and they show up filled with good intentions. Too often, however, they don’t have clearly defined responsibilities, or directors disagree with management about what those responsibilities should be, or someone defined these duties long ago, and they no longer seem relevant. Now, more than ever, directors are taking their responsibilities seriously, speaking up, and striving for results; but in many cases, the evolving relationship between the organization’s management and the board has not found the right symmetry. Finding it will depend on everyone systematically examining how board members can have both high impact and high involvement.

The key to better board performance lies in the working relationships between directors and executives, in the dynamics of board interaction, and in the competence, integrity, and constructive involvement of individual members. Most people understand what boards should be: sources of challenge and inquiry that add value without meddling—champions of the organization that make CEOs more effective but not all-powerful. The high-performance board, like any high-performance team, is competent, coordinated, cohesive, and focused. Such entities do not simply evolve, however. An exacting blueprint—a plan for both high impact and high involvement must guide their construction.

This model addresses how directors and executives need to view nonprofit directors’ involvement and their role in overall effectiveness. Sometimes boards can enjoy effectiveness, even with low involvement. Boards that have their fingers in when they shouldn’t will be only minimally more effective than boards that stay out of everything. The key lies in appropriateness of involvement.

When involvement is inappropriately low, effectiveness will be low, too. Organizations in the Passive Board quadrant experience minimal board participation in decision-making. These directors also have limited accountability among themselves and find their primary duty to be ratifying the CEO’s decisions.

Passive boards meet at scheduled times but seldom schedule anything outside of those meetings. They overlook or ignore opportunities to meet with internal and external auditors, general counsel, or key managers. They don’t seek active participation in strategy formulation or attend to the leadership pipeline. Members fail to make themselves available to the executives in the company, so the experience and expertise of the directors languishes

Boards operating in the Laissez-faire quadrant manage to enjoy some effectiveness because they have learned to be involved on critical issues. For instance, they may devote time and attention to strategy formulation but then leave implementation to the company’s executives. Directors oversee CEO succession planning but trust most of the rest of the leadership pipeline to management. If the company has hired strong executives, directors don’t need much more engagement than the Laissez-faire Board offers.

Directors on these kinds of boards maintain credibility with stakeholders because they know the difference between the important and the unimportant and show up for the important. The board certifies that the business is managed properly and that the CEO meets the board’s requirements. Many CEOs have come to appreciate and desire a Laissez-faire Board, even though it’s not the most effective of the four options.

The expression among many executives is that directors should be “Noses in, fingers out.” In other words, these executives want directors who know what goes on but who stay out of the day-to-day management of the company.

Fingers-In Boards can exist in any situation, but they tend to surface during crisis. The board becomes deeply involved in making key decisions about the company and holds frequent, intense meetings. They intrude inappropriately, compromising both morale and effectiveness. They bother people. Frequently the Fingers-In Board focuses on tactics, not strategy. They can waste an entire meeting discussing a new label or brand—something that even the VP of marketing wouldn’t ordinarily spend time on.

These kinds of directors have been known to bypass the CEO and give direction to employees. They want deep involvement with decisions. They convene frequently, often without a clear purpose in mind. They lack effectiveness, primarily because they squander their time and energy on the non-critical instead of zeroing in on the critical efforts they should be addressing.

Directors on Stellar Boards serve as the CEO’s partners. They provide insight, advice, and support on key decisions. They recognize their responsibilities for overseeing CEO and company performance. Board members conduct substantive discussions on key issues and actively define their roles and boundaries. They fill gaps in executives’ experience and expertise, so they serve as a constant source of advice and wisdom.

When Stellar Boards meet, their agendas limit presentation time and maximize discussion time. Directors and executives take advantage of informal interaction among directors. Board members are honest yet constructive. They stand ready to ask questions, challenge leadership, and oversee CEO and organizational performance. Directors tell executives what they need to know and hold them accountable for results. Board members also actively seek out other directors’ views and contributions. They prioritize well and spend appropriate time on important issues.

Top performance on nonprofit boards starts with strong leadership—persuasive management leadership and influential board leadership. Too often, however, directors assume the role of sponges who simply absorb that which management puts in front of them. One of the key responsibilities of each director involves asking questions and showing independent thinking. These questions should stimulate dialogue and guide the process of making the implicit explicit—of making knowledge pragmatic advice.

To do that, board members need to receive the agenda and related materials in time to review them prior to meetings. During the meeting, board members should request and encourage discussion, not presentations. Between scheduled meetings, management should keep directors informed of major changes and important issues.

The next major leadership duty is to move the discussion to decisions—not necessarily consensus. The discussion should uncover all kinds of differing points of view, but ultimately the board needs to ask, “How will management use these insights to make necessary changes?”
Active, compliant boards and executives no longer offer organizations enough. Companies need and demand stellar performance from both individual contributors and the board as a whole.