Board self-assessment is a key practice of leadership that top-performing boards employ to ensure long-term governance. It requires the board to step back from day-to-day business and candidly reflect on its effectiveness. This allows board members to tackle problems that could otherwise result in tension and frustration.
There are a variety of ways to conduct a self-assessment for a board, from interviews and surveys to facilitated discussions. The best method depends on the size of the board, the available resources and how deep you’d like to include in the assessment.
Once you have decided on the method, make sure to clearly state what you want to accomplish by the process. Do you want to increase accountability, improve governance, or align governance with the goals of your organization? Once you’ve determined this you can then select an evaluation tool.
Some tools allow you to evaluate your results against other health care facilities and hospitals and others focus exclusively on your organization’s governance practices. Regardless of what you select, it’s important that any tools you use are impartial and do not call out director individuals. This will help create a safe environment for honest feedback.
Many boards utilize a peer-review procedure, which requires directors to review each one another. This can be a beneficial and productive exercise, but it’s essential that the process is kept private. It can be difficult for certain directors to speak out against the other director, if they are worried that they’ll be accused of it back at them. In this instance it is typically better to let the facilitator go through the responses to determine which insights are relevant to be shared with the board.
