Board members play an essential role in governance, fostering accountability, and determining the organization’s destiny. However, managing such a vast group of personalities at all stages of their careers can be challenging particularly in a live setting like the board meeting.
One of the most difficult issues for boards is navigating how to supervise management without micromanaging or interfering. To help, it’s important that board members are aware of the difference between high-level policy decisions and lower-level management policies. It is also important that the board has a good relationship with management and has clearly outlined the ways it will communicate its deliberations with management.
To make this easier an effective practice is to schedule regular phone calls with board members for 7-10 days prior to the next board meeting. This allows the board to preview issues that will be on the agenda, and ensures that no bad news will be announced at the meeting.
A final key is to make sure that you develop policies that clarify responsibilities between the board, management and the medical staff. Effectively implemented policies decrease the amount of “busy work” during each board meeting. This can free valuable time for strategic activities.
To ensure that the board can be effective as a partner in the oversight process, it’s important that it’s comprised of individuals who have broad knowledge across all aspects of the organisation. This includes finance and sales as well as marketing and operations. It is also helpful for the members to have experience in different areas than healthcare. This allows the board to draw knowledge from different sources and make the most effective decision for the business.
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