Blog Entries - tips for effective boards
Tip #93 How Many Board Policies Should a Board of Directors Have?
In my consulting work with boards of directors, I have worked with boards that have few to no board policies and with boards that have over 400 board policies. Imagine being on a board with over 400 policies. Can you be
Tip #92 Determine Your Organization's "Why," Its Purpose
Having a clear understanding of your organization’s purpose or why it exists is critical to your organization’s success. And, without an understanding of what constitutes your organization’s success, how can you
Tip #91 How to Use a Consent Agenda?
A consent agenda is a board meeting mechanism designed to achieve efficient use of board meeting time. Significant amounts of time can be saved for more important matters. A consent agenda is a section of the board
Tip #90 What's the Board's Role regarding Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Justice?
Let’s begin with very brief descriptions of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Justice. Equity: People have equal access to the services and benefits offered by organizations. Diversity: People are respected
Tip #89 "The Board Speaks with One Voice." What Does This Really Mean?
The statement “The Board Speaks with One Voice” can be misleading since it can be open to different interpretations. One interpretation of “speaking with one voice” is that a group that is “speaking with
Tip #88 Should Boards Think Systemically?
What does it mean to think systemically? I’m not talking here about thinking systematically, that is, in a logical orderly fashion. Of course, that’s important. Rather, I’m talking about thinking in terms of
Tip #87 Should Boards Be Concerned about Unintended Impacts?
Boards should be concerned about their organizations producing intended impacts relating to their board-determined organizational purpose. But what about other impacts that are perhaps mostly
Tip #86 Sample Agenda for Impactful Board Meetings
The following board meeting agenda is a sample agenda for a board that uses the Policy Governance® model of board operations. However, even boards not using this model may find in this sample agenda ideas that can make