When a Board’s internal problems keep it from moving forward in its responsibilities to the school, the Board President and Executive Committee must act.
The various forms of “Board paralysis” tend to have embedded in them three themes: members who (1) bring their own agendas; (2) have a bureaucratic mind-set; and/or (3) focus on their own children’s issues rather than on the best interests of all students.
As the Board President or another Executive Committee member, ask yourself, and then your Board-leadership colleagues, start with this series of questions. These queries are designed to assist you in identifying the source(s) of the paralysis and to offer remedies designed to keep your school moving forward.
1. Do we have a planning document (strategic or long range plan)?
If not, expect strong-minded individuals to bring their own strategic or long range plans along with them to every Board meeting. If there is no organizational plan, dominant individuals will simply develop their own plans and become outspoken advocates for them.
2. Do we “profile” our Board, based on our strategic or long range plan? Do we then explain to each new Board member exactly how she or he will be expected to contribute to the plan’s fulfillment (i.e., the role she or he will be expected to play as a Board member)?
If not, you can expect Board members to decide for themselves what their roles should be, and to work to fulfill those self-defined roles, regardless of the direction the Board as a whole may have set.
3. Do we prepare an annual Board agenda from which our committee charges are drawn? Do we then structure each full-Board meeting around a proposal for action submitted by one of the committees (e.g., your annual budget-approval meeting, in which the whole meeting revolves around action on the proposed budget document)?
If not, you can expect your meetings to be dominated by sleep-inducing committee and administrative reports (as distinct from proposals, which set the stage for action).
4. Does our new-Trustee orientation session teach new members what responsible Board membership looks like, both internally (in Board meetings) and externally (with constituents)?
If not, expect well-intended blunders and indiscretions to begin immediately and continue unchecked until your Executive Committee or Committee on Trustees is forced to intervene.
5. Do we have an annual Board retreat (perhaps in conjunction with the annual new-Trustee orientation session) during which we focus on our Board-level purposes, procedures, and methods?
If not, expect confusion all year long, even among individuals who are not “problem members,” regarding regular Board-meeting purposes, procedures, and methods.
For 10 more questions and antidotes concerning Board paralysis, click here.
Once you have identified the sources of paralysis on your Board and the appropriate remediation, make these strategies part of your annual Board review and planning processes. You cannot allow your Board’s forward momentum to be compromised as you strive to build the school’s future.
For a comprehensive approach to the critical topic of strategic planning/strategic financial planning in private-independent schools, check out our publication The Strategic Planning Book.
