Board self-assessment is a key management practice that top-performing boards use to ensure long-term governance. It requires board members to take Board Self Evaluation a step back and evaluate their performance. This allows the board members to tackle issues that could otherwise lead to tension and frustration.

There are many ways to conduct a self-assessment for a board, from surveys and interviews to facilitated discussion. The best method will depend on the size of your board, the resources you have available and the amount of depth you’d like to include in the assessment.

If you choose the method, make sure to clearly define the goals you intend to achieve through the assessment. Do you wish to improve accountability, improve governance, or align the governance of your organization with its goals? After you have decided on this, you can select an evaluation tool.

Some tools allow you to examine your results in comparison to other health systems or hospitals, while others are focused only on the governance procedures of your organization. It is important to ensure that the tools you select are unbiased and don’t pick out only directors. This will create a space where honest feedback can be offered.

A majority of boards have a peer review process, which asks directors to evaluate each other. It can be a useful and beneficial exercise, but it’s essential that the process is kept private. Some directors might be reluctant to criticize a director for fear of repercussions. In this situation it’s generally better to have a facilitator go through all the responses and decide what information is relevant to discuss with the board.