Four Rs for Board Member Goal Setting

Board members’ service is most effective when they feel they are making a tangible

contribution to the organization, and they find meaning and satisfaction in their work. Providing a structure and setting aside time for your board to set individual goals are powerful and underutilized opportunities.

Ideally, your organization is setting its goals for the next fiscal year based on its strategic plan, or in lieu of a strategic plan, it is setting annual goals and identifying priorities. In turn, professional leadership and the staff will set goals at department/team and individual levels. Some of the organization's goals will be assigned to the board as well.

However, board members often have limited opportunities to reflect on their individual contributions and to engage in setting goals they want to accomplish as part of their board service. (Board retreats and board evaluations are also important reflective practices to incorporate into your governance process.) While the organization’s needs ultimately drive the directors’ individual goals, to ignore directors’ growth is to overlook an opportunity to increase the satisfaction and the meaning they derive from their service and ultimately promote stronger contributions to the organization.

The process can be quite simple. A four step goal setting process is to Reflect, Recommit, Revise, and Remind.

1.      Reflect

Have directors ask themselves:

·       Where have I successfully contributed?

·       Where can I be particularly helpful in the next year in light of the organization’s upcoming priorities?

·       Where would I like to make contributions in the future?

Ask them to write down their answers. There is no need for them to share their reflections, but the act of jotting down their thoughts makes it concrete.

2.      Recommit

Then have directors ask themselves:

·       What time do I have to give to this board?

·       Of the things I want to do for this organization which are most important to me? Which are most important to the organization’s success?

Being realistic about the time they can commit, as well as which potential goals are most exciting and important, helps them prioritize.

3.      Revise

Now is the time to take those desires and turn them into goals. Prompt the board:

·       Write down your goals. Then make them simpler.

No matter the context for goal setting – personal or professional – people tend to overestimate what they can accomplish and, when it’s hard to achieve, get discouraged if they fall short. They also underestimate what they can achieve if they follow-through on well-conceived small goals. Coach board members to create realistic goals where successful completion will benefit the organization and form the basis for successive efforts.

4.      Remind

Having goals is the first milestone. Working on those goals is the next step. Accountability and support improve the likelihood of successful completion. Have board members:

·       Set deadlines and reminders. Maybe it’s setting a recurring task or a blocking calendar time periodically to do work for the organization.

·       Consciously think about increasing accountability by sharing these goals with their committee or with board leadership.

And if you’re part of the professional team or an officer on the board ask yourself, what encouragement, reminders, and support can I provide to help the board member move these items forward?

An organization is just that – an organized, interconnected group of people working together for a cause. Bringing your board members more deeply into their work by helping them think about, articulate, set, and follow-through on personal goals can be done simply, and effectively, and enhance their contributions to the organization’s success.