Board Self-Assessment is one of the most important leadership practices that well-performing nonprofit boards employ to ensure that they have a long-term, effective governance. It requires the board to step back from its day-to-day operations and reflect on its effectiveness. This allows board members to tackle issues that might otherwise cause frustration and conflict.
There are a myriad of ways to conduct a self-assessment of your board, ranging from interviews and surveys to facilitated discussions. The best method depends on the size of the board, available resources and how deep you want to take into the assessment.
When you choose the method make sure you know the objectives of the Corporate Communications Policy assessment. Do you wish to improve accountability or improve governance? Or match governance with organizational objectives? Once you’ve decided, you can then choose an evaluation tool.
Some tools let you evaluate your results against other hospitals or health care systems, while others are focused solely on the governance policies of your organization. It is essential to ensure that the tools you select are impartial and do not single out directors. This will create an environment where honest feedback can be given.
Many boards utilize a peer-review procedure, which requires directors to review each other. This can be an extremely useful and efficient procedure, but it’s vital that the process is secret. Some directors might be reluctant to criticize an individual director for fear of repercussions. In this instance it is generally better to let the facilitator read the responses to determine which insights are relevant to be shared with the board.