Most board planning days produce a photo of a whiteboard and nothing else. Everyone leaves tired, a bit hopeful, and the photo sits in someone's phone. Three months later the board is having the same conversation again.
I serve on a charity board, and I facilitate planning days for other boards. The days that work are not cleverer. They are better prepared and better held. Here is how I would run one, from the weeks before to the three-month check.
Before the day
Pick three questions the day must answer. Not twelve. A board can make three real decisions in a day. It cannot make twelve. If you have a long list, the board's first job is to choose which three matter most this year.
Send a short pre-read two weeks ahead. Keep it to the last plan, the current numbers and the funding pipeline. A few pages is plenty. Ask directors to read it and come with their view on the three questions.
Get a facilitator who is not the chair or the CEO. Both of them have a lot to say, and both should be free to say it. When one of them runs the room, they cannot fully take part. An outside facilitator, or a director who is not leading, solves that.
Choose a venue away from the office. A different room changes how people talk. It also stops the day being broken up by the phone and the person who needs a signature.
Start with food. Tea, coffee and something to eat as people arrive. People who have chatted over a coffee talk more honestly in the room. It sounds small, and it is not.
A sample agenda
A good nonprofit board planning day agenda follows the same order whether you have a morning or a whole day. The order matters more than the clock.
The order of the day:
- Where we are. Honest numbers, and one story from the front line.
- What has changed around us. Funding, community need, rules, partners.
- The three questions. Taken one at a time.
- Options and trade-offs. What each choice gains and what it costs.
- Decisions. Each with an owner and a date.
- What we will stop doing. Every yes needs something to let go of.
- Closing round. One sentence from each person.
A sample half-day, say 9am to 1pm:
- 9:00 Arrive, tea and breakfast
- 9:20 Where we are: numbers and a front-line story
- 9:50 What has changed around us
- 10:15 Break
- 10:30 Question one: options, trade-offs, decision
- 11:15 Question two: options, trade-offs, decision
- 12:00 Question three: options, trade-offs, decision
- 12:30 What we will stop doing, and who owns what by when
- 12:50 Closing round
- 1:00 Lunch
A sample full day, say 9am to 4pm:
- 9:00 Arrive, tea and breakfast
- 9:20 Where we are: numbers and a front-line story
- 10:00 What has changed around us
- 10:30 Break
- 10:45 Question one: options and trade-offs
- 11:45 Question one: decision, owner and date
- 12:15 Lunch
- 1:00 Question two: options and trade-offs
- 1:45 Question two: decision, owner and date
- 2:15 Question three: options, trade-offs, decision
- 3:00 Break
- 3:15 What we will stop doing
- 3:30 Review every decision, owner and date on the wall
- 3:50 Closing round
- 4:00 Finish
Notice that the decisions come before the end of the day, and there is time to read them back. Do not leave the decisions for the last ten minutes. That is where they get lost.
During the day
A few simple rules make a big difference.
- One conversation at a time. No side chats, no phones.
- Write decisions on the wall as they are made. Use plain words, with a name and a date beside each one. If it is not on the wall, it has not been decided.
- Park the rest. Keep a sheet for good ideas that belong on another day. People are happy to wait when they can see their point has been recorded.
- Use a timekeeper. Someone other than the facilitator watches the clock and says so kindly when a topic runs over.
After the day
The day is only half the work. Without follow-up, the decisions fade.
- Minute the decisions within a week. Type up what is on the wall and send it to every director.
- Update the plan. Change the existing plan rather than starting a new document.
- Book the next planning day now. Put the date in everyone's calendar before they leave, or the year gets away.
- Hold a three-month check. Spend twenty minutes at a regular meeting asking what has been done, what is stuck and what needs to change.
Common failures
The CEO presents all day. The board becomes an audience. Cap each presentation at fifteen minutes and spend the rest of the time on discussion.
The loudest director wins. The quiet ones go along with it and then do not follow through. A good facilitator draws out each person in turn, and a written first round helps.
No decisions. The day ends with "we should look into that". Every item needs a yes, a no or a named person who will bring back a proposal by a set date.
A 40-page strategy nobody reads. A long document gives the feeling of progress and then gathers dust. A plan of a few pages that the board can recite is worth far more.
Where to start
Pick your three questions first. If you are not sure where your board stands, take the free five-minute quick check and see which areas need attention. It will often show you what the three questions should be.
If you would like help planning or facilitating a day, I do this for boards, and I am happy to say so plainly. You can book a free hour with me to talk it through. There is no pressure, and you will leave with a clearer idea of what your own day could look like.