Board orientation refers to a process for helping newly elected directors contribute fully, and as early in their term as possible, to the governing work of the board. Very often it takes the form of a special meeting designed to provide information to these directors about their responsibilities and the operations of the organization.
Is it enough to assume that the goal, simply stated, is to transfer important information and respond to questions from new directors? From an adult education perspective I think board orientation could benefit from the articulation of some specific learning objectives and then possibly a process that is broader than a single orientation session.
Conducting an orientation for new board members is widely regarded as an essential part of good governance practice. It is often the executive director or CEO, where there is one, who is the person who conducts the orientation. He/she knows the most about the workings of the organization typically having been there longer than most board members.
Non-profits that formalize board orientation and have a given thought to the things that board members need to know deserve a star. There are a number of useful online descriptions of the topics that could be covered.((See for example the board orientation advice offered by National Council of NonProfits, and BoardSource both from the USA. Also see Susan Fish’s excellent 2016 piece on this topic on the Canadian site Charity Village))
Some learning objectives
Years of experience working with adult students in the context of university continuing education has left an indelible mark on my own practice. It is clear that many people do not learn best when treated as empty vessels to fill up with information. Board orientation, like any other adult learning opportunity, should enable integration of new information with a person’s expertise and life experience. It should involve time for reflection and discussion.
Good adult education practice also stresses the value of articulating learning objectives as the first step in program planning. Lots of help in crafting good learning objectives is available.((For a guide to writing learning objectives see Developing Learning Outcomes: A Guide for University of Toronto Faculty, published by the Centre for Teaching Support and Innovation)) Taking such advice to heart, here are some suggested board orientation learning objectives.
Through the process of board orientation, our new directors will be able to:
- Describe their roles, responsibilities and time commitment to governance work both around the board and committee table and away from it
- Outline the current goals, opportunities and challenges facing the organization as a whole
- Appreciate the core values of the organization and how these manifest themselves in its work
- Identify the organization’s key stakeholders including staff, volunteers, members, funders, clients, partners, the public
- Describe the structure of the organization in terms of programs and staff responsibilities
- Describe how their own background, knowledge, experience and skills will contribute to the current work of the board and the challenges of the organization
- Appreciate the background, experience and skills of some of the other directors
- Describe how board meetings are currently run and decisions are made, and what governance objectives the board has set for itself
- Outline the polices that exist that describe the financial and HR standards that have been set
- Appreciate how this board functions similarly or differently than other boards they have served on or are serving on
Referring to Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, this list is heavily in the cognitive domain of learning.((Bloom’s Taxonomy of learning objectives is a resource intended to help improve teaching and learning practice, especially in colleges and universities. An good example is this guide published by the Teaching Centre at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta)) Where the objectives touch on current organizational and board challenges, as well as any hopes and fears about board service they may hold, they also contribute to the affective domain.
The objectives are certainly complex. And even there may be some missing.((Should one include learning objectives related to ability of a new board member to describe the organization’s mission and goals, or to remember the priorities in the strategic plan? Consider though if your mission and goals are more for public consumption than for inspiring board members or helping them to differentiate your organization from others)) But the list is already a bit long I think. There is value in focusing on the really important ones. What is critical to a board’s functioning may differ some from one organization to another and over time. Crafting objectives also involves some effort to put yourselves the shoes of your new directors. What might they want to know?
Any list of learning objectives is an improvement over just a list of topics. This is because objectives tend to speak more meaningfully to new board members as well as to those leading the process.
Orientation Activities
Realizing all of these learning objectives would be hard to achieve if board orientation were to involve a single group session. The term “on-boarding” has come into vogue as term for a broader approach to integrating new people into an organization’s work and culture. Perhaps it applies here.((Consultant Mike Burns uses the term “on-boarding” in his 2016 post on board orientation. His blog, Nonprofit Board Crisis, which reflects on non-profit news stories in the USA, is a good one)) A broader approach might be to distribute your learning objectives across a number of activities:
- Board recruitment
- Orientation workshop session
- Meeting with executive director and board chair
- Tour of offices or program sites (and introduction to staff)
- Mentoring of new directors
- Mid-year board education session (whole board)
I am not suggesting that every non-profit employ all these orientation activities, just more than one of them. The activities and the learning objectives associated with them can be used to create a table that can be employed as a board orientation planning matrix.
- Board recruitment
It is a good idea to align director recruitment and board orientation. Using the learning objectives as a guide, one can make a checklist of key pieces of information to be provided, and questions to be asked and invited of each board candidate. To me, the following four objectives might be the ones to shape the recruitment conversation.
- Describe their roles, responsibilities and time commitment to governance work around the board and committee table and away from it
- Outline the current goals, opportunities and challenges facing the organization as a whole
- Describe how their own background, knowledge, experience and skills will contribute to the current work of the board and the goals of the organization
- Appreciate how this board functions similarly or differently than other boards they have served on or are currently serving on
- Board orientation session
Conducting a special meeting or workshop session is the most common expression of board orientation. It might be a two or three hour event that includes lunch or a potluck hosted by the existing board. If there are only one or two new board members it might involve an afternoon long meeting with the executive director and board chair. Many of the learning objectives can be met in whole or in part, by this special session. Indeed the objectives aligned with this activity might even serve as a session agenda.
If your organization has a board manual that goes to new directors you will want to give some thought to where it fits in the orientation process. How will it, or parts of it, help realize particular learning objectives?
Getting to know all members of the board is really important to new directors, and maybe even to existing ones. This is part of objective seven. Do not rely on board meetings to accomplish this. You might start by making the board orientation session open to all board members. Alternatively, the session might be ended with a “meet and greet” full board gathering.
- Meeting with Board Chair and Executive Director
In my view both new board members, and prospective candidates, should have an opportunity to meet face-to-face with both the board chair and the executive director. It could be meeting scheduled after the first board meeting that a new director, or even a prospective director, has experienced.
A more intimate and less formal meeting can help establish some rapport and identify any expectations and issues that are specific to the candidate or their role on the board. Such a meeting might be used to highlight matters that might not get raised in a more the formal orientation session.
So, wouldn’t a new board member meet with these two key people anyway? Possibly. The goal though is not to check off the activity, it is to provide an opportunity to address some outstanding matters from the learning objectives.
- Tour of Offices or Program Sites
Providing new board members with a “tour” of your offices or program work sites can be a valuable part of any orientation. Indeed, it might even be a useful measure to consider when recruiting board members. This activity could help address learning objectives three, four and five.
A tour will depend on the nature of a non-profit’s work. Not all organizations have offices that provide a feel for one’s programs. Also, some will have a public face to their work like a food bank distribution warehouse, a community centre, or a sheltered workshop, Others, like a literacy program or a halfway house might not.
A scheduled visit by newly confirmed board members to any organization’s offices is certainly valuable as mechanism to meet staff. Consider having each new board member spend 10 minutes at one staff member’s desk, having been previously prepared them with a staff list and a few questions. Finish the tour off with a coffee break.
- Board Mentoring
The idea of existing directors mentoring new ones really pushes the scope of board orientation. This is not about agreeing that experienced board members are available to new board members if there are questions. It is about pairing up new directors with more experienced ones and setting some expectations of what the mentoring should entail.
Mentoring might be valuable in meeting learning objectives six, seven, eight and ten. A terrific resource on mentoring is the Toronto-based Maytree Foundation’s 2007 Board Mentoring Handbook by Heather McFarlane.
- Mid-year board education session
I have long advocated that boards should not only get together for regular “business meetings”. If your board meets ten times a year it could consider seven of these as regular board meetings and three as special topic meetings. One of these special gatherings could be a board education session built around one or two of the learning objectives, perhaps ones not addressed earlier or ones to be revisited.
Responsibility for board orientation
I want to say a bit about the responsibility for board orientation. As I indicated above it often falls most heavily of the executive director. Boards might want to consider a more collaborative approach. ((A more collaborative approach starts with a decision by the board on the learning objectives themselves. The board chair’s contribution to director orientation might include: a) Helping author and sign a letter of invitation to prospective board members; b) contacting new board members by telephone or e-mail to personally welcome them to the board; c) leading the portion of the orientation on the board’s role, decision-making, committees and board- staff communication. The chair should be the one to talk to new board members about the culture of the board and its unwritten rules and practices. The executive director should be responsible for orienting new board members on those matters over which she/he is responsible. This may include summarizing programs and services, staff roles, financial management, the budgeting process, core policies and procedures, as well as facilities and offices))This would see roles for the board recruitment, nominations or governance committee, the board chair, the executive director and the whole board.
An Invitation
I would welcome different, and likely improved, formulations of my board orientation learning objectives. They are at the heart of my call for some rejigging of non-profit board orientation.
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This post is based on a 2016 publication I wrote for the Institute for Corporate Directors titled A Guide to Board Orientation. The ICD promotes, across all sectors in Canada, the value of excellence in directorship and enlightens directors to anticipate, influence, and meet boardroom challenges. The post is made with their permission.
The image above is similar to many wayfaring or orientation signs located on a highway that affords notable views. This sign is located in Fundy National Park on the east coast of Canada. I took the photo on visit there in October. The 207 km2 (80 sq mi) park is set in an Acadian Forest overlooking the Bay of Fundy and is a popular destination for people interested in woodland and coastal camping and hiking.
The best way to deal with the roles of the board and the various “positions” is to write down the responsibilities involved. The Chair, Secretary and Treasurer are obliged to do certain things to ensure “good governance “. Committee chairpersons can be designated as annual position, for instance to run an annual event, manage the website or identify and plan building maintenance projects.
Money management and fundraising are always key board tasks. The Treasurer has to ensure everyone on the Board knows the rules and processes and that there is adequate paperwork.
The Secretary is the one who can make sure the group stays organized and that the matters discussed are well recorded and that key decisions are made by “motion”.
Conflicts of interest often pop up in non-profits for community groups. Far better to note that in the minutes just to make sure the membership sees that a conflict was considered and dealt with.
Peter Sheehan
Business Consultant and Community Volunteer
Margaree, Nova Scotia
I am student taking the nonprofit leadership program at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax. We are now learning about board governance. I also work in management for a non-profit in Nova Scotia.
My question is: are there factors to consider when disclosing past issues or situations when recruiting new board members? (i.e HR issues or financial) I looked through your website but was unable to find anything referring to what laws or policies on this.
Thank you!
K.M.
MSVU
Thanks so much for this question. It is a good one.
My post suggests some board orientation learning objectives. One is that board orientation should “outline the current goals, opportunities and challenges, facing the organization”. The idea of “challenges” is pretty broad and future focused. Also it does not touch on what should be revealed to board candidates.
Your question suggests, I think, that prospective board members need to know if there are “organizational skeletions in the closet”. I would agree absolutely.
For example, if a non-profit has a new executive director and the previous one left under “difficult” and damaging circumstances, a prospective board member should be told. The same would be the case if still is an unresolved staff conflict or even a resolved one that has left much emotional residue in the organization.
The same would be true of financial challenges or past financial improprieties.
Being upfront with a prospective board member means that recruitment may need some confidential conversations outside the boardroom with candidates. This underscores the value of interviewing board prospects.