MS Word Format

Acrobat Format

1. Annually
2. Board and superintendent
3. SWOT
4. Stop, start, continue visioning
5. Board self assessment
6. Superintendent evaluation
7. Board goals
8. Goal monitoring and timeline
9. Annual board goal implementation
10. Three to four goals
11. Place your goals on the back of your agenda
12. Feedback-stakeholders
13. Post on the website
14. Monitor progress

Forging a Working Relationship
Within The Leadership Team:
A Focus On Board Retreats and Work Sessions

The communication channels and relationships you maintain with your board are critically important to the board's effectiveness and efficiency. No individual board member has any personal authority; it is only when a majority of board members agree and take action at a legal meeting that the work of the board gets done. As a board, you can take steps to nurture board relationships and repair potential splits before they become dangerous.

An excellent way to work on board relationships - and brainstorm ideas - is the board retreat. It's a bit like busy parents going out to dinner together and leaving the kids at home. A comfortable atmosphere away from home, where the telephone doesn't ring and where someone else cooks and washes the dishes can do wonders for a relationship. At a board retreat, you leave the kids at home but you do talk about them. And you do talk with each other.

Many boards in Vermont utilize a relatively simple and not very costly form of board retreat. For example, they go to a nearby quiet country inn or board member’s house for the day. They have breakfast and lunch together, follow an agenda with someone taking good notes of what's covered, and they spend some informal social time together before going back to the real world. At retreats, often called leadership work sessions, boards assess progress, set up new committee structures, strengthen relationships with administrators, and establish annual and long-range goals. Retreating" from time to time is a worthwhile investment in improving board operations.

Getting to better know board members and administrators is invaluable. With a deeper under-standing of personal interests and style, it's much easier during difficult board deliberations to be assertive and open, in a mutually respectful way.

Boards conduct retreats with independent facilitators or on their own. It depends on what they've set as outcomes. If you contract with a facilitator, you can expect him or her to take direction from you for desired outcomes, to keep you on track, and to provide a detailed organized report about work session outcomes. Be clear up front about work session expectations.

VSBA staff often facilitate board retreats and charge a nominal expense for this service.