When I first started board service, I thought that sitting around having a drink and schmoozing with the board was just wasting time. I thought we needed to focus on the business of the board. It’s not a social gathering!

As time went on, I realized that getting to know the other board members as individuals was one of the most valuable things I could do to help the board do its best work. Knowing Jim’s background, understanding Sarah’s passion for the cause, hearing Leslie’s story, all made it easier for me to speak in ways that they would hear and understand. It made it easier for me to understand their positions even if we didn’t agree.

Trust.

Knowing someone’s background starts the process of building trust.  

According to Jane Wei-Skillern, David Ehrlichman, & David Sawyer –in Stanford Social Innovation Review,

“the single most important factor behind all successful collaborations is trust-based relationships among participants.”

Creating that trust is an ongoing process. Here are a few very concrete steps you can take to start building that mutual understanding that leads to trust.

  • Name plates. Make it easy for new board members to feel part of the team, and for long term members to remember the names of new members.
  • Joint new member/old member orientations. Build a rapport between new and longer tenured members by allowing them to share why they’re involved with the organization.
  • Pair new members with returning members. Build trust between new members and those who may (privately) fear they are being supplanted by allowing the returning member to mentor the new one. The new member has someone to bounce new ideas off of, and the longer tenured member can offer the voice of experience on how it will be received.
  • Annual board retreat. Use the annual retreat for in-depth conversations around substantive issues and creating time for socializing and building relationships among board members.

And on an ongoing basis,

  • Conduct regular small group conversations. Periodically use board meetings to enable small group discussions around trends and ideas in the sector, and how they might affect the organization. Because they are sector trends, they create an opportunity for thoughtful discussion that lead to more targeted discussion about organization strategy.

Building relationships among board members is crucial for successfully navigating difficult decisions. These five, very concrete steps can bolster those relationships, and turn it into the necessary trust.

Check out other board and planning related posts, and let me know if any of them resonate with YOU!.

Or get in touch and we can schedule a 30-minute no obligation call about any board concerns you might have.