It could mean many things, but most importantly, it means recognizing the commonalities and distinctiveness of boards and the unique culture that is created and cultivated by them. Understanding how a board comes into being and its group dynamics reveal underlying beliefs and assumptions, which dictate its behavior and affect organizational performance.
Four Phases of Board (and Group) Development
Boards come into existence in different ways. They are legally required and depending on the size, complexity, and maturity of the organization are essential for proper administration and governance. Like organizations and groups, boards have a cycle consisting of four distinct developmental phases – Creation, Organization, Stabilization, and Stagnation.
The cycle looks like this:
Assess Your Board's Development
These four phases – Creation, Organization, Stabilization, and Stagnation – are universal. The best way to manage them is to make sure boards have the capacity to assess where they are in the cycle of development and to request assistance before it becomes necessary. The optimal time for board development to maintain a level of excellence is when the board is in the phase of stability. During this phase, survival anxiety is low and the capacity to learn is high. The first danger signal for any board is an emphatic belief that it needs no help to continue in this phase.
This knowledge of board development and dynamics is especially useful in helping boards that are being dominated by personalities rather than being guided by policies. Assessment of the board's development invites it to step back and evaluate its functioning in a non defensive manner.
Areas that merit conversation are membership, norms, communication, authority and power, inclusivity, management of conflict, and leadership. We recommend setting aside sufficient time at a board meeting to explore one of these areas.
For example, when discussing membership the board could ask questions that encourage open honest evaluation of group dynamics. Questions to help in the evaluation include:
1) Who talked during the board meeting? 2) Did everyone speak? 3) Are any members allowed to dominate the discussion? 4) Is everyone engaged in making decisions? 5) Were there times of conflict and tension? How were these handled? 6) Did members feel they could voice their thoughts and opinions without fear of retribution or of being ignored? 7) Is the board comfortable with silence or do members rush to fill the space?8) Who talks/listens to whom? 9) Who is being marginalized/excluded? 10) Are there norms for how to deal with power and status differentials and with friendships or professional relationships between members?
Each board can come up with a set of questions that are most relevant to it and the organization.
Becoming a Capable Group
Nonprofit organizations seek the best and brightest for board service, and we commend this. We also want organizations to be reminded that putting together a group of competent individuals does not translate into a competent group. Attaining the latter requires intentionality and hard work. Valclev Havel says, “Consciousness precedes being.” In the case of good board governance, consciousness of the board's group process and dynamics precedes it capacity to become a capable governance group.
The board is the primary instrument through which an organization sets policy and direction and acquires the trust of a community. The capacity for self-observation and analysis of board dynamics is vital. Not only is a hallmark of group maturity and ethical behavior, it is essential to excellence in governance leadership.
Author: Katherine Tyler ScottFrom Leading Ideas, newsletter of Trustee Leadership Development (TLD). Used with permission of TLD.
Katherine Tyler Scott is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Ki ThoughtBridge and author of several publications on governance leadership.