Practical Steps to Improve Your Governance Game

Better, thoughtful, intentional communication of all kinds is a place to start

Governance is a huge, complicated topic, fraught with ambiguity and abstractions. Yet good governance is absolutely crucial to school success! But what does it look like in action and where can we start to improve our governance game in a manageable way? There are so many aspects - trustee recruitment and the job description, onboarding, board meeting agenda building, the work of individual committees, the relationship between committee work and full board work, the authority of the executive committee and board chair as it relates to the rest of the board, the collective board as the “boss” of the head, when in many ways that construction seems awkward and barely workable at best - the list could go on. 

This will not be the only article on governance - but it’s a place to begin.

And I would also add here that I hope you can see your Director of Communication as having a role in getting your board/head communications game rocking and rolling. Think about it!

Heads are working harder than ever, tackling new challenges our school models really weren’t designed for and sometimes feeling that they’re generating more heat than light. Boards can be confused why the school isn’t thriving as it has in the past and have trouble coming to grips with fast developing new norms and expectations. Head and administrators seem to crank out more information than ever to share with the board but it’s unclear if any of it is really creating connection and supporting partnership and whether it’s supporting their job security so they can confidently move the school forward.

Boards worry - they’re under pressure from constituents, times are changing fast and schools often become a locus for anxieties of all kinds, including the culture wars. What matters more to people than their children? And to many alums, preserving the experience that was so pivotal to their development is of paramount importance. People say they want change but then when that change might threaten something they hold dear, the tune quickly changes. All understandable.