Roles and Responsibilities of the Board

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Roles and Responsibilities of the Board

• Edwin C. Thomas, M.Ed., MPA
• Director, Governmental Research and Service
• Institute for Public Service and Policy Research

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Keys to Effective Boardsmanship
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Reasons for ineffective Boards

• Inexperienced members
• Lack of training members have little knowledge
  of mission, statutory authority, ordinances,
  policies. rules and procedures
• Unskilled chairperson
• Uncommitted members poor attendance
• Unprepared members failure to study issues and
  materials
• Lack of trust and teamwork
• Lack of communication
• See Attachment 1 in your handouts

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Being Effective Starts Before You Agree to Serve
Prospective board members do themselves a service
and show that they are serious about the
commitments they make by asking some basic
questions before agreeing to serve. Long time
members might also benefit from an organizational
review that answers these questions. See
Attachment 2 in your handouts. Do you know the
answers to all these questions?
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Tips for New Board Members

• Assume your position with an open mind. Leave
  all your preconceived notions and hidden agendas
  behind.
• Realize that you dont know everything
• Expect to be in the minority of board decisions
  sometimes
• You are just one voteyour issues can only be
  successful if you can convince others
• Do not surprise your fellow board members
• Have fun and enjoy the opportunity to be of
  service
• See Attachment 3 in your handouts

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Principles of Boardsmanship

• Understand the difference between governance and
  management
• Respect your fellow board members time
• Bring all relevant information to the board
• Consider the opinions of others
• Have your say
• Vote your conscience
• Represent board decisions honestly
• Move forward
• Build the organization by example
• Source The Wyoming Library Boards Association
  (www.wyla.org/boards/principles.shtml)
• See Attachment 4 in your handouts

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Roles and Responsibilities of the Board
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The Policy Governance Model

• Created by John Carver in the 1970s
• A fundamental redesign of the board role that
  emphasizes values, vision, empowerment of both
  board and staff, and the strategic ability to
  lead leaders
• In this model the board leads by crafting
  policies of four types ends, executive
  limitations, board-executive relationship, and
  governance process

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The Board Job Description The Three Contributions

• Providing Policy Leadership
• Assurance of Executive Performance
• Establish and Maintain Linkages with the
  Ownership

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The Board Job Description The Three Contributions

• Providing Policy Leadership
• Assurance of Executive Performance
• Establish and Maintain Linkages with the
  Ownership

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Areas in Which the Board Must Set Policy

• Ends to be Achieved
• Means to the Ends Executive Limitations
• Board Relationship with Executive and Staff
• Governance Process

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Areas in Which the Board Must Set Policy

• Ends to be Achieved
• Means to the Ends Executive Limitations
• Board Relationship with Executive and Staff
• Governance Process

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Ends to be Achieved

• What good will the organization do?
• For whom?
• Ends policies typically take the form of vision,
  mission and values statements
• The boards highest calling is to ensure the
  organization produces economically justifiable,
  properly chosen, well-targeted results

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Areas in Which the Board Must Set Policy

• Ends to be Achieved
• Means to the Ends Executive Limitations
• Board Relationship with Executive and Staff
• Governance Process

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Executive Limitations

• While the board prescribes the Ends, it remains
  silent about the Means to those Ends except to
  state clearly what it will not put up with
• The board establishes boundaries within which the
  executive and staff must function and then lets
  them do their jobs
• The boards control over staff Means is to limit,
  not prescribe

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Areas in Which the Board Must Set Policy

• Ends to be Achieved
• Means to the Ends Executive Limitations
• Board Relationship with Executive and Staff
• Governance Process

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Relationship with the Executive Director (CAO)

• Board has one employee
• The executive director (CAO) is accountable to
  the full board, not an individual board member
• Relationships between individual board members
  and the CAO are collegial
• Board establishes limits to the CAOs authority
• Within those limits, the CAO has complete
  discretion
• Board must be clear about its expectations.
  Telling the CAO how to manage would be a
  never-ending process.
• If the board tells the CAO how to operate, it can
  no longer hold the CAO accountable for the
  results.
• Board should evaluate the CAO annually

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Relationship with the Staff

• Board must never give orders or direction to the
  staff
• The staff should not be allowed or encouraged to
  complain directly to the board
• This does not mean the board members should not
  talk to or observe staff

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Areas in Which the Board Must Set Policy

• Ends to be Achieved
• Means to the Ends Executive Limitations
• Board Relationship with Executive and Staff
• Governance Process

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Governance Process

• Board Discipline
• Communications and Coordination
• Teamwork
• Use of Committees
• Speaking with one Voice
• Representing the Whole
• Ethics and Decorum

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The Board Job Description The Three Contributions

• Providing Policy Leadership
• Assurance of Executive Performance
• Establish and Maintain Linkages with the
  Ownership

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Assurance of Executive Performance

• Monitoring is conducted only against existing
  board-stated criteria in Ends and executive
  limitations policies
• If you havent said how it ought to be, dont
  ask how it is.
• Monitoring is more than a review of activity
  reports and balance sheets

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The Board Job Description The Three Contributions

• Providing Policy Leadership
• Assurance of Executive Performance
• Establish and Maintain Linkages with the
  Ownership

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Establishing and Maintaining Linkages with the
Ownership

• From whom do we obtain our authority?
• To whom are we accountable?
• The board is accountable to the owners
• Who is the ownership
• Are the owners and consumers the same?
• An example

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Establishing and Maintaining Linkages with the
Ownership

• Why are linkages important?
• How much time do you spend establishing and
  maintaining linkages?
• Strategies for establishing and maintaining
  linkages