The Indian voluntary sector is growing at a rapid pace. There are more and more organisations being formed by individuals to create and promote societal development. Organisations are generally formed as Trusts, Societies or Companies. Under each of these laws, every organisation is required to have a governing body (Board of Directors, Trustees, governing Council, etc.). For the purposes of this document, I will use the term Board to mean any body that holds the legal responsibility for the effective functioning of the organisation.
Organisational success and sustainability are highly dependent on the competence and enthusiasm of the CEO. Boards have long been considered nothing more than mandatory legal obligations. Yet, this observation would be unfair to many individuals who serve on boards and are extremely proactive in contributing their time and skills. The obvious question of course is this - does having a "good board" make a difference?
The process of forming a board and setting up the organisation are almost simultaneous. More often than not, in many organisations, within the sector, founder CEOs give very little thought to 'who' should be on the board. Usually, individuals who are easiest to find and least likely to decline become board members. There are no minimum standards or criteria to determine the prerequisites to board membership. It's a legal formality that is mandatory and needs to be dispensed with. Boards are rarely seen as the 'governance mechanism' for the organisation. This tends to be a happy state for CEOS who in their initial enthusiasm and energy of having started the organisation are eager to just 'get on' without having to be 'told' what to do. Boards tend to fall into the lazy mode of merely having to sign the mandatory documents, approve budgets (often which are drawn up by the CEO alone). The inevitable consequence is that boards tend to get too comfortable with the 'competent' CEO leaving her/him to continue 'running' the show! It's a happy situation for all. Changes to the membership whenever required are usually made based on recommendations of existing board members or CEOs (as in their friends, colleagues, acquaintances..) and not based on objective criteria.
As the organisation begins to grow in size and scope, CEOs are often faced
with issues of managing this growth and related organisational
sustainability. Expectations between the CEO and the Board begin to change
and both are ill equipped to handle the transition. Suddenly, board
members are expected to gear up and begin to play a more active role and
CEOs 'needing' the support they never thought would be necessary at the
time of forming the board. Board members begin to wonder about the CEO's
competence and CEOs about the Board's contributions to the organisation.
There tends to be enormous conflict in terms of roles, responsibilities
and expectations on either side. Often, conflicts are left unresolved with
both the board and the CEO reaching some unhappy/indifferent state of
equilibrium, or worse still, failing to even recognize the problem.
There are some indications that this is changing, especially in the younger organizations; here, the role of the Board as an entity seems to have been given some thought - at least its primary governance function has been recognised. Individual board members seem to be taking their roles more seriously as are CEOs in relation to the board. There does seem to be some recognition of the board as a primary governing entity.
Yet, in the majority of organisations, the proverbial question of who is getting on the boards and how, remains. A quick check to see if one has the 'right people' on the Board usually helps. Make a list of of skills and competencies required by the organisation in its board for it to be able to achieve its mission more effectively. Here is a simple grid that you might like to use to find out if you have the right profile and plan ahead.
| Indicators | Current profile | Desired profile | Plan of Action |
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Age
19-34 35-49 50-64 65 and above |
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Gender
Female Male |
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Resources
Money to give Access to money Access to other resources(foundations, corporate support) Availability for active participation (writing proposals, solicitation visits) |
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Main current role
Corporate Consultancy Academic Media Political Government service Own business Other NGOs Retired/Family/Home |
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Predominant Qualities
Leadership Team worker Commitment Proactive Mission Passion Visionary Strategist Objective |
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Predominant Skill
Financial Mgt. Law Fundraising Marketing Public Relations Communications Technology Special program focus (health, public policy, education, etc.) |
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| Member of other boards | |||
| Number of years on the present board |
Once you have the 'right' members , the next steps are:
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Make sure that expectations of each board member is articulated and agreed upon. Get all members to sign on a board agreement form.
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Reaffirm and reconfirm expectations of existing members.
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Be sensitive to issues like location, children, possible health concerns, etc. that are likely to influence a board member's decision to contribute.
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Ensure that the board member actually has the time to contribute now.
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Offer your members the time and opportunity to learn.
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It's useful to get an older member act as a 'mentor' to the new member.
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Make sure you know upfront what the board member wants out of participating in your board.
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Use the member's time efficiently.
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Recognise and acknowledge contributions being made.
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Last but not the least, if the role anticipated for the board member is not working as expected, be honest and use the appropriate means to communicate this.
