Taking Board members on and remaining onboard

It is common practice for people to be named to Board of organisations, especially nonprofits without being able to discharge the duties of such appointment. Such inability is usually as a result of a number of factors, the chief of which is low awareness of the functions and obligations of board membership. There is also the fact that some board members see their appointment as some form of favour extended their way by the founder who usually makes the initial nominations for the purposes of meeting regulatory obligation for incorporation.

It is important that Board members started to understand the remit of that hallowed service rather than continue to treat it with levity. Organisations that are run with active board engagement are better positioned to succeed as against organisations that have dormant boards or what I would refer to as board by name and nothing more. Unfortunately many organisations have the latter type of board and are struggling to stay on course the vision and mission lane. As it is with, for profits so also is it with not-for-profits. However, not for profits are in more precarious situations because unlike the, for profits, they are hardly regulated in certain jurisdictions because of their historical antecedents and rights based approach to development as the third sector.  It is common to see people populate their CVs with information of board membership even when they cannot in truth remember when last they attended a meeting of any of the boards not to talk of carrying out the oversight which is their obligation in law and practice. It has become urgent for organisations to develop sustainable programmes for building the capacity of boards if they plan to be and remain competitive.

To ensure that they are taken and remain on board, boards need  to take the following steps:

ü  Seek primary guidance from the vision, mission and objectives of the organisation

ü  Be professional in carrying out its duties and seek technical expertise where necessary

ü  Lead the organisation’s strategic plan and implementation process through effective oversight of the executive

ü  Accept its short comings while acknowledging its strengths

ü  Be part of the team without compromising their  independence

If your board is not doing all of the above, it is not yet on board and need to be brought on board for the organisation’s benefit. Most organisations need board audit as starting point for determining the missing gaps in their board capacity.

I invite reactions on how what else makes a board stand out. 

This article was written by John Onyeukwu, CEO of Capacity Building Global Associates, He can be reached on jonyeukwu@outlook.com –www.about.me/onyeukwu

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