Evaluating Board Effectiveness

1
Evaluating Board Effectiveness

• Trustee Education
• NCLS Consultant Services
• May 2007

2
What we will cover tonight

• 1 What is an evaluation and why do it?
• 2 Evaluating Individual Trustees and Officer
  Effectiveness
• 3 Seven Areas to Consider in Evaluating Board
  Functionality and Effectiveness

3
You have an important job

• Each trustee has unique talents and skills
• Each trustee is entrusted with the stewardship of
  the library
• Serving as a library trustee is a huge
  responsibility
• Serving as a trustee can be a great source of
  satisfaction

4
Why Bother?

• Evaluation and Assessment is a best practice
• Public trust depends on good governance
• It is a NYS Public Library Minimum Standard

5
What purpose will it serve?

• Offers board members an opportunity to reflect on
  their individual and group responsibilities
• Identifies different perceptions and opinions
  among board members
• Points to questions that need board attention
• Serves as a springboard for board improvements
• Increases board teamwork

6
Is it time for a Board Self-Assessment?

• How do you know?
• Ten questions to ask

7
When and how often?
An annual review of board effectiveness should be
part of the board calendar
8
Individual self-assessment

• As individuals,
• trustees may want to review their own performance
  to mark their progress and note areas where more
  information or training is needed

9
Fulfilling Assigned Roles

• Chair (Board President)
• Vice-Chair (Vice President)
• Secretary
• Treasurer

10
Seven areas to consider when evaluating board
effectiveness

• Are your meetings well run?
• Is the board governing or managing?
• Are you providing maximum benefit to your
  community?
• Is the library well integrated into the
  community?
• Does the board consider the philosophy of public
  libraries in all policies, plans, an decisions?
• Does the library have the capacity to carry out
  the mission and the plan?
• Does the board annually review the functioning of
  the organization, including the above six
  questions?

11
1 Are your meetings well run?

• Is there an open atmosphere?
• Do agendas, reports and documentation adequately
  prepare you for discussions?
• Do you follow Board By-Laws, Open Meetings Law,
  and Roberts Rules?

12
2 Is the board governing or managing?

• The boards role is to create plans and policies
• The implementation of those plans and policies is
  the role of the director

13
3 Are you providing maximum benefit to your
community?

• Do the services your library provides match the
  needs of the various segments of your community?
• Do you have communication mechanisms in place for
  you community to give input?

14
4 Is the library well integrated into the
community?

• The library needs to be a visible partner in
  community activities and organizations
• How is the board communicating with community
  leaders?

15

5 Does the board consider the philosophy of
public libraries in all policies, plans, and
decisions?

• Commitment to intellectual freedom
• Equity of access to information
• Confidentiality of patron records

16
6 Does the library have the capacity to carry
out the mission and the plan?

• Do you have adequate personnel, materials, space,
  and funding?

17
Does the board annually review the functioning of
the organization?

• Check on the progress being made on the goals and
  objectives laid out in the librarys long-range
  plan
• Are quantitative and qualitative metrics in place
  to measure outcomes?

18
Creating a board evaluation

• Review sample
• Take this back to your library and use to
  evaluate the effectiveness of your board

19
Making good use of what you learn

• A good evaluation will give you a picture of the
  current strengths and weaknesses of the board
• This information can help you plan ways to
  strengthen the board
• If you don't have the energy or the will to
  follow up on what you learn, you'll just be
  wasting everyone's precious time

20
Areas for improvement

• Once you have identified areas for improvement
  regularly assess progress
• By working as a team you will become a stronger,
  more effective board

21
Conclusion

• We explored various areas and criteria to assess
  the effectiveness of your board
• Taking an interest in board effectiveness is
  every trustees responsibility
• Your goal should providing quality services for
  the community coupled with a goal of continuous
  improvement

22
Thanks for coming!

• Contact your NCLS Consultant if you need more
  information or assistance on this topic