Self-Assessment of Boards is among the fundamental leadership practices top-performing boards of nonprofits employ to ensure the long-term success of their governance. It requires the board to take a step back from day-to-day business and candidly reflect on its effectiveness. This allows the board to actively tackle areas that could be major sources of frustration and tension.
There are a myriad of ways to conduct a self-assessment on your board including interviews and surveys to guided discussions. The best method depends on the size of the board, the available resources, and the level of detail you want to take into the assessment.
If you choose the method, make sure to clearly state the goals you intend to achieve by the process. For example, do you want to improve governance, match governance with goals of the organization, or increase accountability? Once you’ve decided this, you are able to select an evaluation tool.
Certain tools let you compare your results with other health facilities and hospitals and others focus exclusively on the governance practices of your company. It’s crucial to ensure that the tools you select aren’t biased and don’t discriminate against directors. This will create a secure environment for honest feedback.
Many boards utilize a peer-review process, which asks directors to assess each one another. This can be a valuable and productive process, but it is crucial that the process remains private. It can be difficult for some directors to criticize an individual director when they are afraid that it will come back on them. In this scenario, it is often better to let the facilitator review the responses to determine which information is relevant to be shared with the board.