9. Accountability And Action Minutes

Action minutes are a departure from the traditional “he said, she said” attempt to keep a verbatim record of meetings.  Besides being easier to take and to read, they offer an easier means of holding people accountable for responsibilities.  Listen as Terrie Temkin describes how this format works.

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8. Simple Technique For Board Evaluation

Often people fear a negative backlash from the evaluation of board members.  They feel they will lose these volunteers.  Yet, such evaluation is critical for optimal functioning of the board.  Terrie Temkin presents a simple, non-threatening technique for ensuring accountability.

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7. Board Evaluation

Terrie Temkin speaks to the importance of regularly evaluating both the full board and each individual.  She also provides a number of different evaluation tools that can be employed.

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6. Assumptions About Board Education

Too often we assume boards do not need education.  Terrie Temkin presents a cautionary tale as to why no board can risk eliminating this critical element of board service.

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5. Strategic Thinking Benefits

Why is it important to create a culture of strategic thinking on your board?  Terrie Temkin suggests in this clip that two key results are increased board responsibility and engagement.

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4. Environmental Scan

We all know that assessing the external and internal environments is important if we are to make the most informed decisions possible for our organizations.  However, traditionally these scans don’t mean very much because they are like a snapshot in time and may no longer be valid at the time we go to employ the data.  Terrie Temkin offers a technique for easily assessing the environments on an ongoing basis.

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3. Strategic Thinking As Board Engagement #2

Hear more from Terrie Temkin on the differences between strategic thinking and strategic planning.  Compare and contrast such things as the time each process takes and the ability of each process, particularly strategic thinking, to engage the board on a day-to-day basis.

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2. Strategic Thinking vs. Planning #1

For years nonprofits have been told they must produce a strategic plan.  However, strategic thinking may be more valuable to the organization.  Hear Terrie Temkin begin to describe some of the differences between strategic thinking and strategic planning.

For more, read Strategic Plans Aren't the Answer (Part 1 of a 5 part series)

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1. Setting The Agenda 

If effective meetings are your goal, one of the first steps you must take is carefully thinking through the structure of your agenda.  In this clip, Terrie Temkin speaks to the value of using a consent agenda.  It provides key content for inclusion and refers to a worksheet for evaluating recommendations, which not only allows for better decision making but increases people’s comfort with using a consent agenda.

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