ARE YOU ON BOARD?

Common Sense and State Law Encourage Board Self-Evaluation
Open Meetings Act Now Allows for Closed Session, IAPD-Assisted Process

Dr. Ted Flickinger IAPD President and Chief Executive Officer How important is the self-evaluation process? The state legislature implicitly recognizes its value by statute.

"The unexamined life is not worth living," claimed the philosopher Socrates. Whether that's an invitation to do some serious soul searching or a handy excuse for a lot of selfish introspection is up for debate.

But, as a practical matter, I am convinced that boards that don't routinely perform a worthwhile self-evaluation become inefficient and sometimes grow so dysfunctional that they are not worth serving on.

That's why I urge your board to take a hard look at its operations at least every couple of years. Some boards include their executive director in the process. But the point is to take an unblinking and private look at how the board works and how it could be better.

As part of the self-evaluation agenda, you'll want to reacquaint yourselves with the roles that the board officers and committees play, as well as the roles and responsibilities of being a good commissioner. You'll want to focus on board dynamics, and then you can move on to how the board relates with other agencies and entities in the community. You'll also want to allow yourself some time to review what you've learned and make plans to put any new insights into practice.

Examining the Roles
Obviously, you'll review the job descriptions of the board officers and the purposes of each committee. But you'll want to dig deeper. A good self-evaluation should provide an opportunity — free from recrimination - for respectfully examining how much power the board president has and for examining the expectations that the board has of its president and other officers.

Perhaps your board president sees herself as a chief executive and delegates too much - or not enough - responsibility and authority to the committee chairs. Or maybe your president takes it upon himself to make decisions between board meetings without consulting the rest of the members.

A self-examination process allows the board to recalibrate its expectations and at the same time gives the officers a glimpse of how they are perceived by their fellow board members.

In addition to examining the duties of each officer, the board should also recommit itself to its core functions, which typically are to:

• Review matters brought to its attention by staff, citizens and other organizations, as well as to review monthly reports and special committee reports.

• Advise the chief executive on administrative matters.

• Adopt ordinances or motions specifying the board's duties and the manner in which the board governs its work.

• Hire and, when necessary, fire the chief executive.

• Secure adequate finances for the agency and assure that the funds are administered properly.

• Establish sound personnel standards and policies as recommended by the chief executive.

• Assume responsibility for a good public relations program.

The self-examination might wake the board up to functions it has overlooked.

6 | Illinois Parks and Recreation

Board Dynamics
Assessing the board's dynamics is a delicate process. Establish ground rules at the beginning of the self-evaluation and adhere to them strictly, especially during the examination of board dynamics. Typical rules would include:

1. Only one person at a time may speak.

2. No side conversations.

3. Keep remarks brief.

4. Be open, honest and candid.

5. Respect the confidentiality of the self-evaluation: Agree to make public only the summarized results of the self-evaluation and recommendations based on them. No opinions or ideas expressed by any individual participating in the process should ever be discussed once the self-evaluation process is over.

6. Respect each other's contributions.

7. Take risks: Express whatever good ideas and ideals you have, even if they may seem impractical. Sometimes offbeat ideas or pie-in-the-sky comments generate workable strategies that improve board relationships.

8. Don't take things personally. If people follow the ground rules, then all comments will be made with the aim of building up the board, not tearing down any member of it.

With the ground rules in place, you will foster a safe environment to examine whether the board is communicating well or whether the members hold on to personal grudges. You may complete some individual personality assessments, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, to give one another insights into each other's preferences relating to information gathering and decision-making. You might also generate, review or revise a board creed or code of ethics. The ultimate goal is to use the commissioners' skills and talents to advance the district and make the board more effective and efficient.

External Relations
Maybe your board needs to concentrate on working with other organizations — not-for-profits, other local government agencies or perhaps the state legislature - to help secure funding and better services for your constituents.

As part of the self-evaluation process, you can identify possible partners and friends and develop strategies for working with them. One board recently dedicated part of its self-evaluation process to preparing for the IAPD's upcoming Legislative Conference on April 21. They made plans for studying the important bills that would be before the legislature during the spring session and for being prepared to explain to legislators how each bill would affect the people of the district. This board understands that their responsibility to the district requires them not only to be an effective board but also to partner with others in order to secure the best possible resources for the people they serve.

Decompression
Taking an honest look at yourself is never easy. That's why the process must end on a positive note. As a board, you may agree to write up a summary of the self-evaluation that leaves out any personal references. A set of recommendations for improving how the board operates might accompany this summary. In the end, board members would be able to point to those recommendations with pride. They were the product of a grueling process, but they pave the way toward building a more effective governing body.

Don't Go It Alone - Let IAPD Help
Paradoxically, somebody outside the organization facilitates the most worthwhile self-evaluations. Outside consultants are dispassionate about the local issues and are unaware of any history of personality clashes between individual board members. As a result, their self-examination methods and strategies are not compromised by local conditions. A good facilitator comes with an open mind and the expectation that board members will set aside any personal differences to work for the good of the board. Even the most contentious of boards will live up to the expectations of an outside facilitator.

How important is the self-evaluation process? The state legislature implicitly recognizes its value by statute. Paragraph 102/2 of the Open Meetings Act allows public boards to go into closed session to discuss "self evaluation, practices and procedures of professional ethics when meeting with a representative of a statewide association of which the public body is a member."

To fulfill that requirement, the boards of park and recreation agencies, forest preserves and conservation districts can turn to the IAPD. The IAPD can tailor and administer an affordable self-evaluation to meet your specific needs.

I hope your board will take the responsible step of regularly undergoing a thoughtful and useful self-evaluation. You, your parks and the people you serve will be better for it.

March/April 2004 | 7