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How to Conduct a Board Self-Assessment

Self-Assessment of Boards is among the most important leadership practices that well-performing nonprofit boards employ to ensure the long-term success of their governance. It requires the board to step back from their day-to-day activities and review its 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 on your board including interviews and surveys to discussion groups that are facilitated. The best method is based on the size of the board, available resources and the amount you want to take into the assessment.

Once you decide on the method, make sure to clearly state what you want to accomplish through the assessment. For example, do you intend to improve governance, align the goals of the organization to governance, or increase accountability? Once you’ve decided this, you can select an evaluation tool.

Certain tools allow you to analyze your results against other hospitals or health systems while others focus solely on the governance practices of your company. Regardless of what you select it is essential that the tools used are impartial and do not call out individual directors. This will create a space where honest feedback is possible to be given.

A majority of boards have a peer review process, which asks directors to review each other. This can be a beneficial and productive process, however it is crucial that the process remains private. Some directors may be reluctant to criticize a director due to fear of https://novalauncherprime.pro/corporate-governance-in-europe-special-poins/ repercussions. In this situation it’s usually better to have the facilitator go through all of the comments and determine which information is relevant to discuss with the board.