"Our board needs training!" says the voice at the other end of the phone. A litany of board issues spills over the phone lines. We discuss each one, the root causes as well as the symptoms. Clearly there is much to be done.

Then I am told the following:

"There's one more thing. We only have 2 hours on a Saturday morning. The board president is out of town that day, but he said to do the training without him, because that is the only date we could all agree on. The board will have their business meeting first, then you will be up."

Sound like a recipe for disaster? Sadly, I'd bet every consultant reading this article is laughing out loud. (They may have just gotten off the phone and heard those words verbatim!)

When boards seek education, they are balancing that need with many other priorities - their time, their budget, their perception of the effectiveness of Board Training.

To help your board along, here are 7 insights for laying a smooth path to a great educational experience for your board.

Tip #1: Determine Outcomes Up Front
What do you want to be extraordinary when the education program is done? What do you want the board AND the organization to be able to accomplish that you cannot accomplish now?

It is not enough to know what you DO NOT want (We are sick of not having a quorum; we are tired of not knowing our job; we are frustrated that we can't seem to get anything done...).

Aim at positive outcomes: What positive difference do you want this education effort to make? For whom? If you do not know what success will look like when you are done, it will be impossible to target your education efforts to achieve those goals.

Tip #2: Decide Which Kind of Board You Want to Learn to Be
Boards tend to see their organizations in one of two ways. These perceptions will guide everything about the outcomes your board reaches for in its education program.

Most boards see their organizations as "nonprofits", a quasi-legal term referring to the organization's tax status. These boards tend to think of governance as a complicated set of rules related to operational oversight. They therefore seek an education program that will focus on the board's legal, financial and other "risk management" roles.

Other boards believe they are governing Community Benefit Organizations. Those boards want governance education to teach them how to hold themselves accountable not only for their legal obligations, but more importantly, for the benefit the organization has promised to provide to the Community.

For your board's education program to be as effective as possible, your board will want to decide ahead of time: Do you want to learn only the bare legal minimum of the job? Or do you want to learn how to hold yourselves accountable for the end results the organization has promised to provide (including but certainly not limited to that bare legal minimum)?

Tip #3: Learn the Real Reason You Were Recruited
If you are a board member who comes from the business world, you may believe you were recruited for your business acumen, your business success, your business wisdom. Your board might also think that is why they recruited you.

However, after spending some time on the board, frustration begins to set in. "I was recruited for my business sense, and yet no one seems to want to hear it. If that's why they recruited me, why do they resent what I tell them?" The more you try, the more you wonder if your business skills are valued at all - and further wonder if those skills even apply in this setting!

It is important, then, as you seek education for your board members, to understand the real reason board members are recruited. Just as it is when employers recruit employees, your organization did not recruit you for what you have done elsewhere. You were recruited for what you have the capacity to do for the organization!

Your business success indicates you have the capacity to succeed, to learn, to adapt. And whether they realize it or not, those are all the innate qualities you were recruited to share with this very different kind of organization.

Once you realize you were not recruited simply for the skills you already have, you will be more open to learning how you can apply your leadership skills to this very different animal. And who knows - you might bring back a whole new set of skills to your business workplace!

Tip #4: The Doctor-Patient Team
Consider the following scenario:

You are a bright person, competent in your field, president of your Rotary, a success in every way. You are heading to the doctor because something just doesn't feel right - a bunch of symptoms that won't go away no matter what combination of remedies you try.

Would you approach this situation by telling the doctor your own diagnosis and then demanding the doctor only do what you instruct him to do? Or would you share your symptoms, and then carefully weigh the doctor's own diagnosis and prescription, discussing options and charting a course together?

We immediately see the first option as silly. But this is precisely the situation consultants often face when they are asked to work with boards.

Given what we noted in #3 above, it is not surprising that many board members feel they know precisely what the organization needs. I wish I had a dollar for every time a board member confided, "I dont really need this. I've been on boards so long I could teach this stuff!"

After the work is done, of course, these are the same individuals who tell us the session opened their eyes to issues they had never considered. Every consultant who educates boards has similar stories.

The best doctor-patient relationships function as a team, each adding his/her experience and wisdom to come up with the most accurate diagnosis and prescription. The same holds true for the effort to build your board's / organization's health.

Spend time with prospective trainers, to provide both your symptoms and your desired outcomes - your desired state of health. Then listen with an open mind to both their diagnosis and their thoughts about reaching for your organizations health. As a team, you can then determine the best way to address it all.

Tip #5: Please Don't Tell Me You're Using an RFP...
There are so many reasons Requests for Proposals are counterproductive for most consulting work. Here are just a few.(For further information about the dangers of RFPs, CLICK HERE)

a) An RFP assumes you know enough to ask specifically for what you need.

b) RFPs rarely focus on the difference the work is expected to make, instead listing tasks to be done, and deliverables, such as a plan, a workbook, a training.

c) RFPs assume an us-and-them relationship between organization and consultant - not a team effort.

d) If an RFP is aimed at outcomes, a thoughtful response might be many many pages long. Who will read all those responses?

e) Lastly, what kind of consultant will take the time to provide an in-depth response to such an RFP, knowing there is a limited chance they will get the job? Answer: Mostly those consultants who have time to respond because they have no other work to do. Is that the consultant who will help your board reach its potential?

Tip #6: It's Not in the Budget
"It doesn't matter what it costs, because there is no money in the budget to cover this work." This argument typically arises before a consultant is even sought, precluding even the discussion of board education.

In truth, this is a far larger issue than just money. It is even a bigger issue than the board not valuing education. It is the biggest issue of all - that your organization does not value its board.

Why is that the biggest issue of all? Because the board is accountable for every single thing the organization accomplishes (does well) or fails to accomplish (does poorly). An organization that sees no value in keeping those individuals in top shape may (and I stress may) survive and do marginally competent work.

But such an organization will never reach its potential to provide the level of community benefit it has promised to provide. It will never even reach its potential to ensure legal compliance. And that organization is therefore far more likely to land on the front page of the local paper, with board members looking perplexed, saying, "We had no idea..."

So is it worth even 1% of your organizations budget to know the seat of your organization's accountability is educated about its work? If your organization has a $1million budget, 1% is $10,000. If that number made you gasp, then it is time to discuss with your board the value of keeping your board educated.

Remember, if Board Education is not in your budget, there is only one reason for that: You have not put it there. So budget to keep your board in the know. And then raise the money to make sure that education happens, not just this year, but every year.

Tip #7: Turn Your Board's Culture into A Culture of Ongoing Learning
That brings us to the crux of Board Education; it should be ongoing.

Imagine this:

Your board is a learning machine. At every turn, board members face issues with a spirit of curiosity. They expect to learn at every meeting. They do not expect to know the answer to every issue raised, but to learn the answer alongside everyone else at the board table, who is also learning.

This can happen when your board determines its mode of operating will always be a learning mode. That board members will be open to discovering, exploring, experimenting. That they will shy away from recruiting new board members who "know it all" and will aim towards recruiting people with an oversized spirit of intellectual curiosity - people who want to know, want to find out, want to figure out how things can work better.

The more your board can create the environment of an ongoing Learning Community, the more you will be able to accomplish, for the organization and for the community at large. The more your board will always feel engaged, focused, energized.

And the more all the rest of your board's education program (including all these tips) will fall right into place.

* In addition to her other credentials, Hildy Gottlieb is on the Duquesne University faculty in the Masters Degree program in Community Leadership.