Preparing for an upcoming board assessment? It’s a critical part of governance best practices, ensuring the board is led well and aligned with the organization’s strategic goals.
But with so many moving parts, it can be difficult to know where to begin or what to prioritize. Even the most effective board administrators struggle to conduct efficient and effective board chair evaluations. Of course, a modern board management solution can take a lot of the legwork out of board chair evaluations, but there are simple, step-by-step procedures your board can adopt to make evaluations a total breeze.
What is a Board Chair Evaluation?
A board chair evaluation assesses how effectively the board chair leads and supports the board’s work. It measures leadership skills, meeting facilitation, strategic guidance, communication, and ability to foster collaboration among board members.
The process identifies strengths, uncovers areas for improvement, and ensures the board chair’s performance aligns with the organization’s goals and governance best practices.
The comprehensive blueprint for selecting a results-driven board management vendor.
How to Conduct a Board Chair Evaluation
Like a performance review, a board evaluation process follows the same methods and steps. However, you must tailor the criteria to the organization’s strategic goals and the specific responsibilities of the board chair. Use this board chair evaluation cheat sheet to guide your next evaluation.
Step | Action | Key Points |
1. Define Purpose | Set evaluation goals | Improvement, accountability, governance review |
2. Choose Method | Set evaluation format | Self-assessment, peer review, external facilitator |
3. Create Criteria | Build a question set or rubric | Leadership, board dynamics, strategic input, fairness |
4. Communicate Plan | Inform board and chair | Outline purpose, timeline, confidentiality, who compiles results |
5. Administer Tool | Distribute survey/interviews | Use secure, anonymous channels; allow time for thoughtful input |
6. Analyze Feedback | Synthesize input and identify themes | Highlight strengths, development areas, divergence if any |
7. Share Results | Debrief with chair and possibly full board | Offer constructive feedback, invite reflection |
8. Plan Actions | Agree on next steps | Role clarification, behavioral shifts, future coaching |
1. Define Purpose
Set evaluation goals that will measure the board chair’s performance and effectiveness in leading the board of directors to key objectives. Review where improvements or adjustments need to be made in operational strategies, accountability, or governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) practices.
2. Choose Method
There are several evaluation methods, including:
- Peer evaluations require board members, including the board chair, to evaluate each other through anonymous surveys or structured interviews. This method is an excellent way to increase board member engagement.
- Self-assessments allow the board chair to reflect on their own performance and identify areas for improvement.
- Feedback from a board member at large, management, the CEO, or other relevant executives can provide valuable advice to the board chair on improving effectiveness in specific areas of expertise.
- An external evaluator or an independent third-party consultant can provide board evaluations with a fresh outlook or an unbiased and objective perspective.
3. Create Criteria
Develop questions or rubrics to define the assessment criteria. Predefined questions focus on specific skills and behavioral assessments, while gauging overall board performance and identifying areas of strength and weakness. Rubrics list particular aspects that will be evaluated, giving the opportunity to measure the different levels of achievement in each criterion.
4. Communicate Plan
Once you establish the purpose, standards, and timeline, communicate those expectations to the board and the board chair. Emphasize the expectation of confidentiality to protect the fairness of the evaluation process. Hold anyone compiling the evaluation results accountable for keeping the process fair and unbiased through nondisclosure.
5. Administer Tool
Use secure or anonymous channels to distribute surveys or to conduct interviews. Allow enough time to review and address the evaluation outcomes with thoughtful consideration.
6. Analyze Feedback
Combine and integrate feedback from all sources to understand how each insight connects and contributes to the final determination.
7. Share Results
Meet with the board chair and, if applicable, the entire board. Share constructive feedback and invite reflective discussion based on the results.
8. Plan Actions
Agree on next steps to keep the board on course. You might clarify roles to avoid misunderstandings, encourage behavioral shifts, or arrange coaching from an emeritus board member. You could also install board term limits to bring fresh perspectives and ideas while creating a nonconfrontational way to address passivity and ineffectiveness.
Introducing OnBoard AI
OnBoard AI is designed to streamline board governance by offering a complete suite of AI-enabled tools, including a board meeting agenda builder, that enhance every phase of the board meeting process.
Here are the primary benefits:
- Automated Drafting: OnBoard AI uses meeting recordings, agenda, and notes to auto-generate a draft of the meeting minutes, reducing manual effort and speeding up documentation.
- Smart Transcription and Summarization: It securely records meetings and provides a searchable transcript that highlights key points, decisions, motions, and actions, transforming real-time conversations into structured outcomes.
- Time Savings: Reduces the need for manual transcription and note-taking, freeing staff from the tedious process of capturing meeting minutes.
- Enhanced Accuracy: AI reduces the risk of human error, ensuring important decisions and motions are accurately captured and easy to reference.
- Governance-Ready: Unlike general transcription tools or chatbots, OnBoard AI is built specifically for board governance with security, workflows, and context needed by board professionals.
How OnBoard Supports Board Chair Evaluations
You should never delay or skip board chair evaluations as they are essential to the health of the entire organization. By following these steps, you can manage evaluations efficiently and respectfully.
OnBoard’s platform streamlines board chair evaluations, making them efficient and cost-effective. Whether you conduct evaluations semi-annually, annually, or bi-annually, OnBoard AI captures accurate, detailed notes on board chair performance and links them with supporting documents, such as surveys, interview questions, rubrics, and feedback notes — all stored in one secure location for easy access.
Managing evaluations through OnBoard not only increases efficiency and effectiveness but also keeps the process fully compliant with GRC practices. Confidentiality is critical to ensuring a fair and unbiased process, and OnBoard’s secure portal with audit trails safeguards every document and action to meet GRC standards.
Ready to run your board more efficiently while reducing costs? Submit a Trial Request with OnBoard.
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About The Author
- Josh Palmer serves as OnBoard's Head of Content. An experienced content creator, his previous roles have spanned numerous industries including B2C and B2B home improvement, healthcare, and software-as-a-service (SaaS). An Indianapolis native and graduate of Indiana University, Palmer currently resides in Fishers, Ind.
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