It’s Not Enough to Just Show Up: Encouraging Participation in Board Meetings

By: Amy Ruck Kagan, Senior Partner

In my capacity on the charter school board, I’ve come to understand that our meetings are where the rubber meets the road. Whether due to busy schedules or competing priorities, the time we spend in these meetings is often the primary opportunity to move our work forward. Recognizing the value of this limited time, I’ve honed strategies to ensure we make the most of it. Let’s explore a few proven strategies that can maximize impact and facilitate efficient decision-making during these crucial sessions.

Facilitation Techniques for Productive Meetings – Guiding the Discussion

Imagine a board meeting as a collaborative group project. As the facilitator (often times the board chair), your role is to ensure that everyone’s contributions are heard and that the group stays on track towards the board’s goals. This starts with setting clear agendas and outlining the topics to cover and the outcomes you aim to achieve. Throughout the meeting, it is important to ensure that every board member has the opportunity to speak, encouraging active participation and diverse perspectives. By keeping discussions focused and relevant, you can make the most of your time together and drive progress.

The Power of Active Listening and Respectful Debate – Encouraging Open Dialogue

In board meetings, I’ve discovered the incredible value of open dialogue. By creating an environment where all voices are valued and respected, leaders can foster a culture of collaboration and innovation. This means prioritizing active listening and ensuring that every board member feels heard and understood. Even when opinions differ, it’s important to encourage respectful debate and recognize that it’s often through these discussions that the best solutions emerge. Get comfortable with modeling this behavior, set norms around expectations of participation, and start practicing those pregnant pauses! By embracing diversity of thought and encouraging constructive conversation, you can unlock the full potential of your team- and ultimately have a meaningful impact on your schools. Read more about how to encourage participation even before the meeting begins in this blog post.

Decision-Making Aligned with the Organization’s Mission – Staying on Course

Every decision we make as a board is guided by our school’s mission and goals. To ensure alignment, we rely on data and evidence-based practices. We have data-based discussions. We set expectations and make decisions by using this information to guide our thinking and have a willingness to ask hard questions. By gathering pertinent information and analyzing key metrics and sharing these with your team to ensure that everyone is working from the same understanding of the data, you can make informed decisions that propel you towards your objectives and allow you to prioritize efficient processes to turn decisions into actionable plans. By staying focused on what truly matters for your school or organization’s success, you ensure that every action you take moves you closer to your collective vision.

As a board chair, the top priority is to keep your organization’s mission at the core of your board actions and decisions. As your North Star, the principles that guide the organization should also be guiding the work and goals that the board strives to achieve. Without the full participation of the board, key voices, perspectives, ideas, and knowledge is left out of conversations and decision making. Opening the circle to all team members strengthens the work and outcomes.