Ten good ideas for new board presidents

Ten Good Ideas for New
Congregational
Presidents
Presented by Ian Evison
Sponsored by the MidAmerica Region of the
Unitarian Universalist Association

 This webinar gives ten pieces of
simple, straightforward advice about how
to make your time of service as board
president productive for the congregation
and for you.
 This will not give you a formula for
success. It will invite you to use the
wisdom you already have about how to
help make the experience go well.

Aim of Tonight’s Webinar

Primary source of tonight’s wisdom is the
experience of your fellow board presidents.
It is their advice for making your term on
the board more effective and satisfying.
And, yes, the service as board president
should be a fulfilling part of your own
religious and leadership journey.

Primary Source of Tonight’s
Wisdom

This webinar is designed as a companion
presentation to “Board Responsibilities:
What Is a Board to Do?” by Lisa Presley
and archived on:

http://www.midwestuuleadership.org/categ
ory/leadership/

This Presentation Has a Cousin

Prepare before your term begins. Talk with
the past presidents and senior minister, if
there is one. Review key past documents
like minutes, policy documents, and
strategic plans. It is empowering to
articulate current work as part of an
ongoing history of work. It is dispiriting for
a board to feel that work already
accomplished has been forgotten.

Good Idea #1

Begin with a board orientation. This may
be a separate board retreat or the focus of
the first meeting of the year. It should
include orientation to the position and the
congregation. Review the board covenant.
Create one if it does not exist. Discuss
main priorities for the year. What are the
three main things the board needs to
accomplish this year? Introduce yourselves
to each other.

Good Idea #2

Prepare each meeting. Request agenda items
in advance. Especially in larger congregations,
review agenda a week in advance with
executive committee and ministerial
leadership. Agenda should include time
allocations for each item. Ask about each of
the key priorities: What needs to happen
now? Whose work is it? Distribute reports and
minutes in advance and accept them in a
consent agenda, in one motion (ten minutes).

Good Idea #3

Focus the agenda on items ready for
decision and that only can be decided by
the board. Clarify what can be decided by
committees and staff. Changes in policies
and changes in budget allocations should
take most of the attention. Leave time for
strategic discussions: Where are we
headed? Beware of agenda items which
invite the board to “just discuss
something” or to “give their buy in.”

Good Idea #4

Begin with check-in, reading, and chalice
lighting as appropriate to your
congregation. Frame the work as religious
work and as work important to you
personally.

Good Idea #5

Be active in chairing the meeting. Use the
step forward, step back principle from our
youth leadership: Call on people who are
quiet. Ask those who speak at length or
repeatedly to step back. Reschedule
agenda items that turn out not to be ready
for decision. Thank people for their
contributions. End on time.

Good Idea #6

Keep your focus on managing the flow of
the work, not on doing the work. This
should feel very different from being a
committee chair. Ask others to prepare
work for decision by the board. Praise
those who do this preparatory work. Set
reasonable limits and boundaries for your
own work. Don’t interrupt family time to
take board calls.

Good Idea #7

Appoint a time-keeper and a process
observer for each meeting. At the end of
the meeting the process observer should
comment briefly (without discussion) on
whether the agenda was followed, the
quality of interaction, voices that were
included and not included.

Good Idea #8

When the unexpected arises, stop and
discuss what needs to be done and by
whom. Avoid becoming the human shock
absorber for the unexpected events that
befall the congregation.

Good Idea #9

Nurture a spirit of interest, exploration, and
discovery in the work. Avoid a spirit of
overwhelmed diligence. Your spirit will
convey to the whole of the board. Serve
in a spirit which invites others to want to
serve also.

Good Idea #10

 Kenn Hurto on basics of running a board
meeting. http://www.msduua.org/wp-
content/uploads/2009/12/RunMeeting.pdf
 Don Skinner on board basics, focusing on
role of preparation.
http://www.uua.org/governance/102108.sht
ml
 Lisa Presley, with focus on role of the board:
http://www.midwestuuleadership.org/categor
y/leadership/

Resources

Thank you for your
service to our
congregations!
The Staff of the MidAmerica Region of our Unitarian
Universalist Association

Ten good ideas for new board presidents

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