Procedures to Improve Boards

© Copyright Carter
McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Vast majority of content in this topic applies to for-profits and nonprofits. This book also covers this topic.

Sections of This Topic Include

• Global Governance
• For-Profit Boards
• Nonprofit Boards

Also consider
Related Library Topics

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In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

• Library’s Boards of Directors Blog
• Library’s Nonprofit Capacity Building Blog

Global Governance

• Enhancing Board Effectiveness

For-Profit Boards

• Corporate Governance Matters: Lessons for Practitioners
• Enhancing Board Performance through Dynamic Board Development
• A 12-Step Program to Truly Good Corporate Governance
• Cornerstone of the Board: Lessons on Creating or Rebuilding a Board

Nonprofit Boards

• Board-Training-Team-Building-Not-Fix-Boards
• Here’s Some First Steps to Start “Fixing” a Broken Board | Boards of Directors
• Principles-to-Restore-Boards
• How to Improve a Board By Understanding the System of a Board | Boards of Directors
• Board Orientation vs. Training vs. Development | Boards of Directors

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Possible Models and Structures

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Sections of This Topic Include

• General
• Nonprofit
• Policy Governance

Also consider
Related Library Topics

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In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

• Library’s Boards of Directors Blog
• Library’s Nonprofit Capacity Building Blog

General

• Board Leadership Structure (for-profit)
• The Board of Directors: Composition, Structure, Duties and Power (for-profit)
• The Basics Of Corporate Structure
• Transforming board evaluations — the board maturity model
• Is a “Working Board” an Immature Board? | Boards of Directors

Nonprofit

• The CompassPoint Board Model for Governance and Support: Part 2 (nonprofit)
• Board Composition and Structure | Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
• Some New Nonprofit Board Models
• Governing for What Matters (Community-Driven Governance) -Part 1
• The CompassPoint Board Model for Governance and Support (nonprofit)
• Some Unique Nonprofit Board Models (Part 1 of 2) | Boards of Directors
• Some Unique Nonprofit Board Models (Part 2 of 2) | Boards of Directors
• Is a “Working Board” an Immature Board? | Boards of Directors

Policy Governance

• The Policy Governance® Model – an Overview
• Tool Shed – A Checklist for Determining the Extent Policy Governance is Being Used by the Board
• On Directorship – Home

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Life Stages of Boards

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Sections of This Topic Include

• Nonprofit Boards
• For-Profit Boards

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to This Topic

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

• Library’s Boards of Directors Blog
• Library’s Nonprofit Capacity Building Blog

Nonprofit

• Stages of Board Development (nonprofit)
• Board Passages: Three Stages in a Nonprofit Board�s Lifecycle
• Working Board vs. Governing Board (nonprofit)
• The Nonprofit Consultant Blog: The Five Stages of Nonprofit Board Fundraising

For-Profit

• The Board of Directors in the Early Stages (for-profit)
• The Role of the Board of Directors in an Emerging Growth Company (for-profit)
• Five Phases of Board Development (nonprofit and for-profit)

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GovernanBroadbent Report (Canadian Governance)ce Codes and Reports

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Governance Codes and Reports

• Committee on Corporate Governance (Hampel Report)
• Internal Control Guidance for Directors on the Combined Code (Turnbull Report)
• European Corporate Governance Institute
• UK Corporate Governance Code
• Companies Act (basis for much UK corporate legislation)
• Review of the Role and Effectiveness of Non-Executive Directors (Higgs Report)
• Broadbent Report (Canadian Governance)
• Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance (Cadbury Report)

Also consider
Related Library Topics

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In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

• Library’s Boards of Directors Blog
• Library’s Nonprofit Capacity Building Blog

›Return to All About Boards of Directors

For the Category of Boards of Directors:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

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General Advice

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Vast majority of content in this topic applies to for-profits and nonprofits. This book also covers this topic.

Sections of This Topic Include

• For-Profit
• Nonprofit

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to This Topic

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

• Library’s Boards of Directors Blog
• Library’s Nonprofit Capacity Building Blog

For-Profit Boards

• What Boards Should Be Doing Right Now
• Five things board directors should be thinking about
• Developing Insightful Oversight
• Why Boards Need to Change (for-profits but nonprofits should read)
• Visionary Board Leadership More Important Than Ever in Wake of Corporate Governance Scandals
• How to Make Sure the Board of Directors Participates in the Project for Change
• Credible Board Leadership | Boards of Directors
• Focus v. Fashion – get your board OFF the latest fad | Boards of Directors
• Corporate Governance Adrift
• Practical Tips for Boards in Times of Crisis | Boards of Directors
• How to explain corporate governance shortcomings | Boards of Directors
• Monitoring Board Performane

Nonprofit Boards

• A Good Board Practices Checklist nonprofit
• Critical Path for the Board | CompassPoint
• Guide to Not-for-Profit Governance
• Why Boards Need to Change (for-profits but nonprofits should read)
• Board Leadership, Bold and Brave | Boards of Directors
• Encouraging Visionary Board Leadership
• Questions From A New Executive Director/Founder | Boards of Directors
• 5 Strategies to Create Active Members on Your NGO Board | Nonprofit Capacity Building
• Ideas to Generate Participation in Committees
• How to Make Sure the Board of Directors Participates in the Project for Change
• Why Boards Micro-Manage and How to Get Them to Stop
• The Canadian Association newsletter – Viewpoint
• Nonprofit Boards: On Saying No to Problem Board Members | Fast Company
• Associate Article – Good Governance and Crisis
• Developing a High Performing Nonprofit Board

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For the Category of Boards of Directors:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

• Related Library Topics
• Recommended Books

Board Evaluation

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Vast majority of content in this topic applies to for-profits and nonprofits. This book also covers this topic.

Sections of This Topic Include

• General
• Conducting
• Self-Evaluation
• Using Results

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to This Topic

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section
“Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The
blog also links to numerous free related resources.

• Library’s Boards of Directors Blog
• Library’s Nonprofit Capacity Building Blog

Evaluating the Board and Members

One of the most powerful practices for Board members is to evaluate the quality of their Board operations. Many times, Board members do not know what they do not know about their own Board. For example, they might be terribly ineffective because they all have fallen into a rut in their operations — and they have not even realized it. Or, they might have gotten side-tracked into attending to certain urgent matters (for example, the latest crisis reported by the Chief Executive Officer), and are ignoring very important matters (for example, strategic planning that would have avoided those crises altogether).

Board members who claim that they do not need evaluation and Board training are like obese people who claim that they do not need advice about eating because, after all, they are already experts at eating. Experienced and highly effective Board members have learned that it’s critical to regularly conduct short, practical evaluations of the quality of their Board operations and then to attend to the results of those evaluations during the year. Evaluations need not take a long time — many times, even 15 minutes a year from each Board member to complete a short questionnaire, followed by half an hour to discuss results, can be transformational for a Board.

Here are a variety of free Board self-evaluation tools. Aim to select a tool that asks at least as much about the actual occurrence of activities on your Board as about how members feel about the Board. It’s good practice to have a small team of Board members review and select the best tool. It’s often best if each Board member completes a tool on his/her own, rather than together in a group. Also, the best time to do a Board evaluation is now. Don’t wait until new members have learned more about the Board — that’s like waiting until you feel fine before seeing the doctor. Keep in mind that Board members of nonprofits are volunteers and their time is often very limited, so pick a tool that Board members will even have enough time to complete.

General

Evaluating the Board of Directors

Conducting

)

Once Again: How Should Nonprofits Conduct Board Evaluations? (general guidelines; nonprofits)

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For the Category of Boards of Directors:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

• Related Library Topics
• Recommended Books

Nonprofit Boards

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Vast majority of content in this topic applies to for-profits and nonprofits. This book also covers this topic.

Nonprofit Boards

• Overview of Roles and Responsibilities of Corporate Board of Directors of Corporate Board of Directors (includes nonprofits)
• Board and Staff Responsibilities
• The Legal Responsibilities of Boards
• Nonprofit Corporate Governance: The Board’s Role – The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation
• Board of directors – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Guide to Not-for-Profit Governance (good overview of roles)
• Policy Name: Role of the Board
• What Exactly is the Board’s Role?
• Roles and Responsibilities of the Nonprofit Board | Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
• Overview of Board’s Role in Nonprofit (table depicts role of Board)
• System of Nonprofit Board

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In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

• Library’s Boards of Directors Blog
• Library’s Nonprofit Capacity Building Blog

›Return to All About Boards of Directors

For the Category of Boards of Directors:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

• Related Library Topics
• Recommended Books

For-Profit (Corporate) Boards

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

For-Profit (Corporate) Boards

• Overview of Roles and Responsibilities of Corporate Board of Directors
• Board and Staff Responsibilities
• What Do Boards Really Do? Evidence from Minutes of Board Meetings – The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation
• Business Basics – The Board of Directors
• The Basics of Corporate Governance – Hutchison PLLC
• Board of directors – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• The Basics Of Corporate Structure
• Overview of Board’s Role in For-Profit (table depicts role of Board)
• System of a For-Profit Board

Also consider
Related Library Topics

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In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

• Library’s Boards of Directors Blog
• Library’s Nonprofit Capacity Building Blog

›Return to All About Boards of Directors

For the Category of Boards of Directors:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

• Related Library Topics
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Comparing For-Profit and Nonprofit Boards

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Comparing For-Profit and Nonprofit Boards

• How Nonprofits Differ From For-Profits – and How They Are the Same
• For-Profit and Nonprofit Boards: More Similarities Than Differences?
• Nonprofit and For-Profit Boards — a Comparison
• Nonprofit and Corporate Boards: Same or Different? | CompassPoint

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to This Topic

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

• Library’s Boards of Directors Blog
• Library’s Nonprofit Capacity Building Blog

›Return to All About Boards of Directors

For the Category of Boards of Directors:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

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Overview: Board Operations and Systems

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Vast majority of content in this topic applies to for-profits and nonprofits. This book also covers this topic.

Sections of This Topic Include

• Recurring, Annual Operations
• Overall “System” of Board
• Operations

Also consider
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In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

• Library’s Boards of Directors Blog
• Library’s Nonprofit Capacity Building Blog

Recurring, Annual Operations

Boards meet their responsibilities usually by conducting certain major activities at certain times of the year. Often, the bylaws specify when certain activities will be conducted. Activities include, for example, conducting regular Board meetings (every month, two months, etc.), conducting the Board self-evaluation, evaluating the chief executive, reviewing and updating Board and personnel policies, conducting strategic planning, recruiting new members, holding an annual meeting, reviewing and authorizing the yearly budget, conducting fundraising (in the case of nonprofits), etc. The following sample Board Operations Calendar lists typical recurring activities of the Board and suggests the timing for these activities.
Sample Board Operations Calendar

Overall “System” of Board Operations

Below, in the links about systems, are handy one-page depictions of the various inputs to the operations of a Board, the Board processes that influence those inputs, and the various outputs from Board operations. This information gives a concise “snapshot” of the recurring activities — the loop of activities — in a Board. The links about where Boards “fit” are to one-page depictions that indicate the role of the Board in the overall planning, development, operations and evaluations in the organization.

For-Profit Boards

• Depiction of the system of a for-profit Board
• Depiction of where Board activities “fit” in for-profit organizations

Nonprofit Boards

• Depiction of the system of a nonprofit Board
• Depiction of where Board activities “fit” in nonprofit organizations

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For the Category of Boards of Directors:

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Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

• Related Library Topics
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