Home Library Translate
A A A
Share »
Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on LinkedIn
Connect »

Blog: Boards of Directors

Menu

  • This Blog's Home
  • Guest Writer Submissions
  • Policies
  • To Subscribe to a Blog
  • About
  • Feedback

Why Training and Team Building Don’t Fix Broken Boards

By Carter McNamara on April 13, 2010

Too often, when Board members struggle with attendance, participation or decision making, they simplistically resort to a Board training session or undertake team building to address their problems.  Those techniques seldom work to address those problems.

Why Board Training Alone Seldom Restores Boards

It is not uncommon that Board members want a “quick fix” to their issues merely by undertaking a short Board training session.  They have the illusion that their problems are the result of members not knowing their jobs.  That is like believing that you can stop people from arguing merely by telling them not to do that anymore.  If a training session was the solution, then members could easily solve their issues merely by downloading free Board job descriptions from the Web.  Besides, if members are not coming to Board meetings, they probably will not attend a Board training either.

Board members rarely struggle because members lack understanding of their legal roles and responsibilities.  New information in members’ heads is rarely enough to make a major difference.  Instead, members need ongoing guidance, support and accountabilities to actually use that new information.  That comes from a combination of activities, for example, evaluating the health of the Board, helping members understand what is required for long-lasting change, Board orientation and Board training for members, refining the organization of the Board, coaching the Board Chair and other leadership roles to drive changes, and then re-evaluating the health of the Board.

Why Team Building Alone Seldom Restores Boards

Team building is conducted to improve the performance of a team, or small group of people.  There are a wide variety of approaches to team building.  Too often, the approach is to improve performance primarily by trying to improve team members’ feelings, beliefs and perceptions about themselves and each other.  That approach rarely works for Boards that have major, ongoing struggles.  Actually, that approach to team building can make the situation much worse when the good feelings from team building quickly encounter the same dysfunctional structures on the Board, resulting in even more frustrated – and now cynical – Board members.

We have learned a great deal about what makes for high-performing teams.  In addition to respecting themselves and each other, all team members need to have the same clear understanding of certain structures, including:

  1. The purpose of the team.
  2. How decisions are made and problems are solved, and how communications will be done.
  3. Each member’s current roles and responsibilities.
  4. What authority and resources the team has to work with.

Lack of the above structures often is the primary cause of prolonged frustration, blaming and conflicts among team members.  Teams can be formed to be self-organizing, self-directed or self-managed, but to be successful, they must ensure that they have the above-listed structures in whatever form the team decides to take.

What do you think?

———————————————————————————
Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD – Authenticity Consulting, LLC – 800-971-2250
Read my weekly blogs: Boards, Consulting and OD, Nonprofits and Strategic Planning.

« Previous Next »

Search Our Site

Meet this Blog’s Co-Hosts

Carter McNamara of Authenticity Consulting, LLC, provides organization development and consultant training services, and is developer of the Free Management Library. [Read more ...]


Julie Garland-McLellan uses her experience and depth of knowledge in corporate governance to show boards with limited resources how to be more effective through practical governance innovation and know-how.
[Read more ...]


Nick Lindsay of Elemental CoSec, provides corporate governance, legal and company secretarial advice to a wide range of companies in the UK.
[Read more ...]

Recent Blog Posts

  • Will beneficial ownership registers spread around the World?
  • Governing an entrepreneur – a dilemma
  • Can a director serve two interests? – a dilemma
  • When a director knows what isn’t in the papers – a dilemma
  • Should the MD have a vote? – a dilemma
  • Association boards and conflicts of interest – a dilemma
  • Issues for a prospective owner director – a dilemma
  • 51% compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code
  • 10 Myths About Boards of Directors
  • How to manage excessive demands on time (from a powerful person)? – a dilemma

Categories of Posts

  • Accountabilities, Laws and Ethics
  • Basics and Overviews
  • Basics and Overviews
  • Board Committees
  • Board Evaluations
  • Board Meetings
  • Board Membership
  • Board Training and Dev.
  • General Resources
  • Recurring Activities
  • Roles and Responsibilities
  • Supervising CEO
  • Uncategorized

Related Library Topics

  • Board / Employees Roles
  • Board Basics
  • Board Development
  • Board Models
  • Board Operations
  • Board Policies
  • Board Staffing
  • Board Training
  • Committees
  • Compensation of Members
  • Evaluating the Board
  • Laws and Ethics
  • Meetings
  • Roles and Responsibilities

Library's Blogs

  • Boards of Directors
  • Building a Business
  • Business Communications
  • Business Ethics, Culture and Performance
  • Business Planning
  • Career Management
  • Coaching and Action Learning
  • Consulting and Organizational Development
  • Crisis Management
  • Customer Service
  • Facilitation
  • Free Management Library Blogs
  • Fundraising for Nonprofits
  • Human Resources
  • Leadership
  • Marketing and Social Media
  • Nonprofit Capacity Building
  • Project Management
  • Quality Management
  • Social Enterprise
  • Spirituality
  • Strategic Planning
  • Supervision
  • Team Building and Performance
  • Training and Development
About Feedback Legal Privacy Policy Contact Us
Free Management Library, © Copyright Authenticity Consulting, LLC ®; All rights reserved.
  • Graphics by Wylde Hare LLC
  • Website maintained by Caitlin Cahill

By continuing to use this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy.X