Overview: Board Operations and Systems
© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.
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Recurring, Annual Operations
Boards meet their responsibilities usually by conducting certain major activities at certain times of the year. Often, the bylaws specify when certain activities will be conducted. Activities include, for example, conducting regular Board meetings (every month, two months, etc.), conducting the Board self-evaluation, evaluating the chief executive, reviewing and updating Board and personnel policies, conducting strategic planning, recruiting new members, holding an annual meeting, reviewing and authorizing the yearly budget, conducting fundraising (in the case of nonprofits), etc. The following sample Board Operations Calendar lists typical recurring activities of the Board and suggests the timing for these activities.
Sample Board Operations Calendar
Overall “System” of Board Operations
Below, in the links about systems, are handy one-page depictions of the various inputs to the operations of a Board, the Board processes that influence those inputs, and the various outputs from Board operations. This information gives a concise “snapshot” of the recurring activities — the loop of activities — in a Board. The links about where Boards “fit” are to one-page depictions that indicate the role of the Board in the overall planning, development, operations and evaluations in the organization.
For-Profit Boards
- Depiction of the system of a for-profit Board
- Depiction of where Board activities “fit” in for-profit organizations
Nonprofit Boards
- Depiction of the system of a nonprofit Board
- Depiction of where Board activities “fit” in nonprofit organizations
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