Board Self-Assessment is an essential function of the board, and provides a useful platform for discussing and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of governance. The board can make use of it to take a look at its own performance and assess its own effectiveness. This will result in better governance.

The development of a successful board assessment process requires planning time, as well as board member engagement. The first step in determining the scope of the evaluation is to identify the audience for the evaluation. It could be the entire board, a specific committee, or a specific director. A good plan will identify the method of evaluation. Surveys, interviews or facilitated discussions are typical methods. Once the extent of the evaluation and the method of evaluation have been established, it’s time to design and distribute questionnaires.

Some boards prefer to conduct the assessment in-house while others engage an outside consultant. A third-party consultant can ensure an impartial and thorough analysis, which is important if you don’t have the time or resources necessary to do the evaluation yourself.

While it is crucial for board members to review their own performance, it is equally important for boards of nonprofit organizations to concentrate on the group as a whole. It is easy for nonprofit boards and their evaluation facilitators to get bogged Best Data Room Platforms down in assessing individual responses and forget to look at the board as a whole.

A successful self-assessment can help boards define expectations, uncover gaps in the composition of the board and align knowledge of the board with the organization’s strategy, address concerns of investors regarding turnover and diversity and enhance the effectiveness of board procedures and practices. In their proxy statements, public companies publish the results of their board’s assessments.