Make sure your association board is on track to run as smoothly as possible.
Even the best organizations need check-ups to examine how well they are running. To ensure your board is “healthy”, start with a board self-assessment.
Taking a self-assessment may not be on the top of anyone’s to-do list, but it is pivotal to the ongoing success of the organization. Use these tips to get started on your association board self-assessment as soon as possible.
- Start by asking all board members to reflect on their own role. It will help them gather their thoughts in preparation for a larger discussion about the role of the board in general.
- Define key performance indicators (KPI’s) for measuring the board’s own effectiveness, if they haven’t been defined yet.
- Agree on the processes for conducting board self-assessments as well as set an annual schedule. Consider if a smaller committee should be established to make decisions such as doing individual or peer-to-peer assessments.
- Strive for anonymous evaluations to prompt honest feedback. Manual processes and some online surveys make that hard to accomplish.
- Most importantly, create a self-evaluation process that is easy and intuitive. Provide a mobile-friendly option to help ensure a 100 percent completion rate with thoughtful answers.
- Automate if feasible. Use software, or an assessment tool, that provides insight on the progress made from year to year. This type of automation saves the administrator’s time, making the results analysis more efficient.
Done correctly, the results can truly help association boards identify issues, as well as member skills gaps. No matter the steps you take, always acknowledge the effort put into assessments and assure members their time will be worth it.
Effective boards are those who periodically and truthfully ask themselves, “How can we improve?”.