Self-assessments key to effective board retreats

On Board Online • June 30 2014

By John Carroll
Leadership Development Manager

Is your governance team among those considering holding a board retreat this summer? Good idea. NYSSBA recommends every board engage in a retreat annually (at least) to reflect on the board’s performance and take steps to improve how the board functions. Even if your board is functioning well, retreats are great preventive maintenance for your team and can help to keep the focus on student achievement.

But what is the best way to conduct a retreat?

As I discussed in an article in the June 9 issue of On Board, the board should start with a self-assessment. Answering questions in some form of survey or self-inventory will identify the successes you have had as a board and the key issues affecting your team.

The board president sends a form to all members with instructions on how to complete it and when to return it. Once everyone has filled out the form, the board president (or neutral party if there are sensitive issues) should compile the results and develop a composite or tally sheet.

You may be surprised at what your board colleagues say! From the results of this evaluation, your board can plan a retreat that will lead to a course of action to improve the performance of the board-superintendent team. I’ll provide a brief overview of how to do this.

First, a board self-assessment should be routine; the board should have a policy or procedure that commits to an annual use of a self-assessment instrument. The policy should, at the very least, indicate when the survey will take place and detail key responsibilities, timeframes and deadlines for completing the self-evaluation.

This will bring some basic structure to the process and ensure that it does, in fact, happen. Failing to do an annual self-assessment can lead to the assumption, invariably incorrect, that everything is fine and there is no need for a retreat.

It’s good practice to share the results with all board members prior to the retreat to let everyone know what the key issues will be on the table. Generally, a retreat will last anywhere from two to four hours, however some boards hold an all-day retreat as part of a more intensive board development.

Items that everyone checked as needing attention deserve high priority at the retreat. But what if only one or two board members cited a given item as a high priority? The person conducting the retreat – an outside facilitator or the board president – should ensure that time is managed in such a way that any issue flagged by at least one person as high priority is addressed in some way.

This has the benefit of bringing to the surface latent issues that may not always be apparent to everyone on the team.  Addressing minority viewpoints is critical to building good rapport among board members. This can be particularly important for new or relatively new board members who may be reluctant to raise issues unless they feel welcome to do so.

The discussion at a retreat should be open, candid and respectful. The facilitator should set the ground rules for the retreat that include allowing only one person to speak at a time to make sure everyone’s voice is heard and that time is managed well. Taking notes on each item will help to make sure the discussions are productive and have a positive impact for everyone.

A work plan or “next steps” list should be developed from the notes. Normally, the facilitator, along with the board president and superintendent, will confer at the conclusion of the retreat to develop a summary of the discussion and what action is expected to be taken.

A retreat should not focus solely on problems and deficits. A retreat is a time to celebrate your board’s successes and identify what you do well as a team. The strengths of the team and each individual board member form the foundation on which you will build future success.

As long as the purpose of the meeting is team-building and no topic constitutes decision-making on school business (e.g. setting district goals), the retreat can lawfully be conducted in private. Consult your school attorney if there is any question regarding whether the agenda is appropriate for a retreat.

We haven’t touched on the fact that a retreat is an opportunity to discuss interpersonal dynamics. This might involve the way board members interact or how board members interact with the superintendent.

While people need to be able to speak their minds, the goal is not to resemble a group therapy session. Rather, the goal is to air views and come up with better ways of doing things.

In the next issue of On Board, I’ll cover one of the most popular topics of a board retreat – operating protocols.