5 Tips For Board Development

5 Tips for Board Development

Build an effective and empowering board to help your organization become a leader in customer success.

Introduction to Board Development at Stimler Advantage
As part of its work areas and services, Stimler Advantage guides organizations to develop sound board governance, create empowering documentation and policies, recruit new board members, and build productive committees to help your organization’s board to operate effectively and efficiently. Board development work is informed by the Stimler Advantage 5 S’s Framework. 

5 Tips for Board Development
A strong board is essential for the success of any corporate or nonprofit organization. An optimized board can propel an organization forward with strategic guidance, financial oversight, and critical support for its mission. It can also help to build awareness and social capital, strengthening the organization’s public image.

Here are five tips for board development:

1. Recruit well-suited people and board dimensions. The first step in building a strong board is to recruit the right people. When recruiting board members, it is important to consider their commitment, experience, skills, and resources aligned with the organization's mission. It is also important to create a board that is able to bring the multifaceted dimensions of expertise needed that give the board breadth and depth across its activities, products, and services. Critically, board members should represent the communities and customers they serve presently and those they wish to serve in the future. 
2. Provide training and support. Once you have recruited board members, it is important to provide them with training and support. This will help them to understand their roles and responsibilities and to develop the skills they need to be effective board members. Training and support may include activities such as online courses, reading lists, retreats, and workshops. It is the responsibility of the board and organization leadership team to ensure that its board members are informed and prepared to help it succeed and thrive. 
3. Set clear expectations, responsibilities, and roles for board members. Have the essentials in place, such as a detailed board charter, position descriptions, and committee charters. Have clear policy and value board statements, which all board members agree to and support within the organization and externally with the community, customers, partners, and stakeholders.
4. Have ongoing and regular communication powered by digital tools. Tools include email newsletters, manuals, knowledge bases, meetings, and meeting minutes. Dedicated digital tools for peer-to-peer communication, like chat via mobile and web apps, can also keep conversation threads together with other more formalized communication channels. Regular board messages and meetings are essential for productive communication and collaboration. Whether through asynchronous or synchronous methods, board members should be actively engaged in nurturing the organization's progress, make decisions in its best interest, and constantly have an eye on the future. Messages and meetings should be well-structured, digitally documented, and time-managed to maximize the board members' valuable presence and time when interacting with the organization. Work with your information technology team to ensure that board and leadership communications are secure for confidentiality, privacy, and security.
5. Evaluate the board's performance. It is important to evaluate the board's performance on a dynamic and ongoing basis. Establish key objectives and results (OKRs) and key performance indicators (KPIs) for your board members' activities. Actionable, clear, and dynamic metrics informed by data and digital dashboards will help keep everyone on the same page and hold board members accountable for their performance. This will help to identify areas where the board can improve, and to ensure that the board is meeting the needs of the organization. Board governance, management, and oversight are critical components of a healthy and functional organization. 

By following these tips, you can build a strong board that will help your organization to fulfill its mission, vision, and values.

Here are some additional considerations for board development:

• Create internal and external board profiles and digital dashboards that communicate transparently to the organization and its constituents who the board is and what it does.
• Board members are not replacements or stand-ins for employees and contractors. Make sure your board members have a clear separation of roles and responsibilities focused on board activities and supporting staff in fulfilling their duties.
• Ensure that board members and positions regularly change, as defined in the board charter and position profiles, to keep the organization engaged, fresh, and responsive amid dynamic economic, environmental, and sociocultural challenges.
• Be open to welcoming persons with different backgrounds, career pathways, and experiences to join the board while ensuring that candidates are qualified with defined and documented criteria.
• Engage the board in dynamic strategic planning rather than annual or multiyear plans or strategies. Dynamic strategic planning is an ongoing and regularly updated process, while annual strategic and multiyear planning are periodic events that may leave an organization unprepared for the challenges and situations of a constantly changing world, as these latter methods lack the agility, flexibility, and responsiveness that dynamic strategic planning provides.​
• Create a board culture centered on and passionate about the organization’s well-being, informed by its past, but always focused on its present needs and future opportunities.

With the five board development tips and additional considerations, you can build an effective and empowering board to help your organization become a leader in customer success.

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