Trustee Toolkit

All new board members should participate in an orientation process shortly after election to the board. To design your board’s orientation process, consider these best practices.

The dashboard or “balanced scorecard” has become a staple of effective governance. Charts and numerical data provide a comprehensive picture of organizational performance. Here are some questions to assess whether your board’s dashboard is as good as it could be.

Responsibilities and expectations for board chairs are identified and defined.

CEO goal-setting and evaluation is a fundamental responsibility of a governing board. These questions are designed to help boards assess their CEO evaluation process and determine if any improvements are necessary.

Board policies do various things. Some describe how important processes, such as board self evaluation and CEO evaluation, are carried out. Other policies address standards of conduct such as a conflict of interest policy. Still others clarify delegations of authority such as the levels of authority granted to subsidiary boards, board committees and the CEO.

To expedite the conduct of routine business during board meetings in order to allocate more meeting time to education and discussion of substantive issues.