|
 Board Effectiveness QUIZ - Answers Below |
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| Copyright ReSolve, Inc. 2000, 2005©
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Ask
yourself the following:
| Q: |
 |
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What
percentage of time at each board meeting is spent talking about things that
have already happened (staff reports, financial reports, etc.)? |
| Q: |
When you talk
about past issues, is it to quantitatively monitor progress, or just "report
activity?" |
| Q: |
What
percentage of time is spent talking about the impact the organization will make
on the community? |
| Q: |
Can you
clearly articulate your board's priorities for what the organization should
accomplish this year? What portion of those goals have to do with strengthening
your organization vs. impacting the community? |
| Q: |
True or
false: Our board discusses such important matters for guiding the
organization that the organization would have no overall direction without
those discussions. |
| Q: |
When you
review the budget, how do you know whether or not you should approve it?
|
| Q: |
Of the total
budget for your organization, which items were discussed at length? Do any of
those items comprise less than 1% of your budget (on a $1million budget, that
would be $10,000 or less)? What percentage of the budget was passed without
comment? Why? |
| Q: |
Does your
board spend most of its time reacting/responding or setting the stage/creating
the future? |
| Q: |
2 part
question:
Part 1: Fill in
the blank: When our board has tough decisions to make, we always base those
decisions on ________________.
Part
2: Would you want your answer to Part 1 posted in your lobby? |
| Q: |
True or
false: Our board discusses such important matters for the future of our
community that I feel horrible missing a single meeting. |
How many
of the following would you agree with?
| Q: |
Our board
spends a great deal of time on trivial items. |
| Q: |
We receive
reams of paper before each board meeting, but I don’t think anyone really
reads it all. |
| Q: |
The
information we receive at board meetings comes to us because the board has
determined this is what we want to monitor. |
| Q: |
The
information we receive at board meetings comes to us because this is the
information the staff thinks we should have. |
| Q: |
The staff
complains that the board micromanages, but we’re just doing our
job. |
| Q: |
Our board
discusses issues, but in the end we pretty much approve whatever the staff
requests. |
| Q: |
Our board has
one board member who is authorized to relate board information to the
staff. |
| Q: |
We
haven’t done a review of our executive director in at least 2
years. |
| Q: |
We review our
executive director every year, but we have no quantifiable criteria by which to
measure his/her performance. |
| Q: |
I’ve been
on this board for a little over a year, and I’m finally getting a sense of
how I can contribute. |
| Q: |
I’ve been
on this board for a little over a year, and I’m STILL not really sure
where I fit in. |
Answers:
You don't
need an answer key to know how you did. If you are talking about the past more
than the future; rubber stamping or otherwise duplicating the staff's work;
discussing tiny budget items but letting the big ones slide; and overall
feeling that you aren't sure what else you should be doing, then you don't need
a quiz to know that there has to be a better way.
|
If your board is accountable for
the whole organization, how do you keep track of it all?
|
Monitoring:
The Heart of Board Accountability and
Effectiveness
 |
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| COMMUNITY-DRIVEN INSTITUTE |
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