Board Self-Assessment is a critical board function that offers an excellent platform for analyzing and discussing the strengths and weaknesses of governance. It’s a method for the board to take a step back and evaluate its own effectiveness, which will lead to improved governance.
Developing an effective board assessment process requires planning, time and involvement of the board members. The first step in determining the scope is to determine the audience for the evaluation. This could be the entire board, a particular committee or even a director. A good plan should also determine the evaluation method. Common methods include surveys, interviews or discussion groups that are facilitated. Once the scope and evaluation methodology are decided, it’s time to start designing and disseminating questionnaires.
Some boards choose to conduct the test internally or hire a third-party consultant. A third party consultant can provide a thorough and fair analysis, which is particularly crucial if your board does not have the time or resources to conduct the assessment on their own.
While it is essential for board members to assess themselves, it is equally important for boards of nonprofit organizations to look at the group as in its entirety. It is easy for nonprofit boards and their evaluation facilitators to get caught up in assessing the individual’s responses and not take the time to evaluate the board in its entirety.
A successful self-assessment is able to help boards better understand their expectations of each other, discover deficiencies in board composition and align the expertise of the board with the organizational strategy and address investor concerns regarding diversity and turnover, and improve the effectiveness of board procedures and practices. In their proxy statements, companies that are public disclose the results of their board’s assessments.
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