Role of the Board
Many boards are dedicated and skilled in their work, and provide clear and consistent leadership to their agency. Others, however, are not so effective. Virtually all boards raise concerns at some time that their job is not clear and their work is at times difficult and confusing.
As boards have diversified, the structure and responsibilities and the work they have assumed to accomplish together has changed. Boards now perform a wide range of tasks. However, there are some roles that all boards must assume.
The board's role in any voluntary organization can be broken down into two categories:
- The mandatory role based on the minimum legal requirements for all board members and;
- The chosen role boards elect to perform because of the board model they elected.
Cyril Houle defines the board's role and responsibilities based on the three different activities of the organization:
- Governance: The policies developed by the board that give overall direction to the agency.
- Management: The board takes actions and makes decisions to ensure there are sufficient and appropriate human and financial resources for the organization to accomplish its work.
- Operations: These are the activities, services or programs of the organization. The board has no mandatory role in this area. Many boards see this work as the responsibility of the board and staff. However, dependent on the Board Model, used some boards choose to actively participate in the operations due to philosophy or limited resources.
When determining the role of the board, it is important to address two key facets:
- To identify the Areas of Board Responsibility as a collective of individuals
- To identify the General Responsibilities of Individual Board Members
