ED and board chair check-in: a 30-minute agenda
A 30-minute agenda for the regular check-in between an executive director and the board chair, with six items and the rules that keep it useful.
The check-in between an executive director and the board chair should take 30 minutes and cover six things: what changed, money, people, decisions coming to the board, open action items, and what each of you needs from the other. Hold it every week or every other week, at a fixed time.
The agenda
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1. What changed since we last spoke (5 minutes). Wins, problems, anything the chair might hear about from someone else.
2. Money (5 minutes). Cash on hand, and anything running off budget.
3. People (5 minutes). Staff changes, and any board member the chair should call.
4. Coming to the board (5 minutes). Decisions the board will need to make, and when.
5. Action items (5 minutes). What is open from the last board meeting, and who is stuck.
6. What I need from you (5 minutes). One ask in each direction.
Three rules
No surprises. If the chair is going to hear bad news, they hear it here first.
The chair isn't the board. The chair can advise and has a say in what goes on the agenda. A decision that belongs to the board still goes to the board. If you find yourselves settling things in the check-in that the bylaws give to the full board, move them to the agenda.
Write down the asks. Two lines after each call is enough: what each of you agreed to do, by when. Start the next call by reading them back.
Before a board meeting
Use the check-in four weeks out to agree on what the meeting is for. Our six-week timeline starts there. Use the one after the meeting to go through the action items while they are fresh.
When the relationship is new
A new chair and an executive director who haven't worked together should spend the first check-in on how they want to work: how often, by phone or in person, and how each prefers to hear bad news.
How Karma Compass helps
Item 5 is easier when both of you are looking at the same list. Karma Compass keeps one list of open action items across meetings, on every plan. Goals are on every plan too, so item 2 can start from a chart of actual against pace.
On the Pro plan, Mission Control shows what is waiting on someone, such as minutes that haven't been approved or an agenda that hasn't gone out. On the Organization plan, QuickBooks revenue, expenses and cash appear on the home screen.
Questions this post answers
How often should an executive director meet with the board chair?
Every week or every other week, at a fixed time.
What should the ED and board chair talk about?
What changed since the last call, cash and budget, staff and board issues, decisions coming to the board, open action items, and what each needs from the other.
Can the board chair make decisions for the board in a check-in?
No. The chair can advise and set the agenda, but decisions the bylaws give to the board go to the full board.
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