Board Self-Assessment is one of the key leadership habits that top-performing boards of nonprofits employ to ensure long-term excellence in governance. It requires board members to take a step back and honestly examine their effectiveness. This allows the board members to discuss issues that could otherwise lead to frustration and conflict.
There are a myriad of ways to conduct a self-assessment on the board, from interviews and surveys to facilitated discussions. The best approach depends on the size of the board, available resources and how deep you’d like to explore in the assessment.
Once you have decided on the method, be sure you are clear about the goals you intend to achieve by the process. Do you wish to improve accountability or improve governance? Or match governance with organizational objectives? Once you’ve determined this, you are able to select an evaluation tool.
Certain tools let you analyze your results against other health facilities and hospitals and others focus exclusively on your organization’s governance policies. It is important to ensure that the tools you select are impartial and do not pick out only directors. This will create a safe environment for honest feedback.
Many boards also utilize the peer review process, which asks board members for an evaluation of their colleagues as directors. This can be an effective and beneficial exercise, but it’s essential that the process remains private. Certain directors might be hesitant to criticize a member of the board for fear of negative consequences. In this case it’s generally better to have the facilitator look over all of the responses and determine what information is relevant to share with the board.