A question we are often asked at Resolve is how often should we meet as a Board and for how long?
In a survey of Christian Schools from across Australia and New Zealand recently undertaken by one of the Partners at Resolve, as part of his Doctoral research, the issue of the duration and frequency of Board Meetings, as well as how much time is spent in a year on Board meetings came up. Key findings of this research when it came to Board meetings included:
The most common number of Board Meetings was 10-11 meetings per annum with 41.1% of respondents.
The overall average number of meetings for all schools was 9.2 meetings per annum.
There was no real difference in the average number of Board meetings for schools of up 900 students, however, the average number of Board meetings in a year actually reduced for schools greater than 900 students, to 8.1 meetings per annum. A reduction of 1.5 meetings per annum compared to schools below 900 students.
The most common length of Board meeting was 3 hours, with 47.6% of survey respondents, 27.4% stated their meetings typically go for 2 hours while 12.1% were for 4 hours.
The overall average for Board Meetings was 2.9 hours long, with <300 students averaging 2.6 hours per meeting and schools >900 students having longer meetings on average at 3.3 hours.
The total time spent in Board Meetings in a year averaged 26.2 hours, with the most common time in a year spent in meetings of 30-39 hours (32% of respondents). Nearly 10% of Boards spend more than 40 hours a year in meetings, while 23% spend less than 20 hours.
In terms of total time spent in Board meetings in a year the range is from 24.3 hours (schools <300 students) to 27.9 hours (schools 600-900 students). The data indicates that for schools >900 the total average time is 26.8 hours.
Some of the issues that arise from this data:
It would appear the larger a school the less meetings that the Board holds in a year. This is likely to be due to two key factors – the higher capacity of management, the greater focus on governance and strategic matters rather than operational
Larger schools meet for close the average total time of all Boards, meeting less often, but for longer meetings, which indicates their focus on larger issues above more immediate day-to-day matters.
There is a significant spread in time spent by Boards in meetings during the year. This indicates that there could be Boards spending too much time on issues and perhaps others where not enough attention is being paid – especially to big strategic issues and also spending time seeking God’s will for the future development of the school
If you are on a Board, where the Board is meeting frequency is not right or the duration is too long or too short, here are some ideas on where to start:
Do we have an annual Board agenda plan that covers the whole year?
What is on our Board Meeting agenda? Are we setting out to consider the right things?
What are we talking about in Board meetings? Do we actually stick to the agenda? Are we staying on governance issues or do we dive down into operational matters?
Do we pay proper attention to things like strategic issues, risk management and policies?
Do we rush through items or do we go too slowly?
Do we go through management reports in too much detail or do we take them as read and ask questions?
If we are a Christian Board, are we setting aside good amounts of time for scripture and prayer, including in the midst of decision making?
If you would like further assistance on the issue of Board operations, Board observations and Board papers evaluations, Board Training or any other governance matter, please do not hesitate to contact Resolve Consulting Group via our website www.resolve.consulting
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