Board Self-Assessment is one of the fundamental leadership practices well-performing nonprofit boards employ to ensure the long-term success of their governance. It requires the board members to step back and reflect on their effectiveness. This allows board members to tackle issues that could otherwise cause frustration and friction.
There are a variety of ways to conduct a self-assessment for your board that range from interviews and surveys to facilitation-based discussions. The best approach will depend on the size of your board, the resources you have available and the depth you’d like to include in the assessment.
Once you have decided on the method, make sure to clearly define what you plan to accomplish through the Corporate Communications evaluation. For instance, do you seek to improve governance, match governance to organizational goals, or enhance accountability? Once this is determined you can then pick an evaluation tool.
Certain tools let you evaluate your results against other hospitals and health systems while others focus on the governance practices of your company. Whatever you decide to use it is crucial that the tools used are impartial and do not call out specific directors. This will create a safe environment for honest feedback.
A lot of boards also have peer review processes that allows board members to review their co-directors. This can be a beneficial and productive exercise, but it’s important that the process remains private. Some directors may be hesitant to criticize a director due to fear of repercussions. In this scenario it is generally better to let the facilitator read the responses to determine which information is relevant to share with the board.