Board self-assessment is a key leadership habit that high-performing boards make use of to ensure long-term oversight. It requires board members to step back and critically examine their effectiveness. This allows board members to discuss issues that might otherwise cause frustration and conflict.
There are many ways to conduct a self-assessment for your board that range from interviews and surveys to guided discussions. The best method is based on the size of the board, available resources and how deep you want to take into the assessment.
Once you have decided on the method you want to use, make sure to clearly define what you plan to accomplish with the assessment. For instance, do you want to improve governance, align governance with organizational goals or increase accountability? Once this is determined you can then pick an evaluation tool.
Certain tools let you compare results against other health facilities and hospitals while others concentrate solely on your organization’s governance policies. Regardless of what you select, it’s important that any tools used are impartial and don’t make any mention of the individual directors. This will help create a safe environment for honest feedback.
Many boards utilize a peer-review procedure, which requires directors to review each other. This can be a beneficial and productive procedure, but it’s vital that the process is confidential. It can be difficult for some directors to criticize the other director, if they are worried that it will be retaliated against them. In this case it is typically better to let the facilitator review the responses to determine what information is relevant to share with the board.