Now that the holidays are behind us and baseball’s spring training has begun, it’s time to insure the board is fully engaged in its work. For some, that means reconvening the current board. For others, it means welcoming several new board members to their first official board meeting…quickly to be followed by committee assignments and…more meetings. What can you do to shake off the holidays and reignite your board for the coming 12 months?

Here are a few suggestions to get the board off to a quick and meaningful start and to integrate your new board members into the flow of things so they can begin adding value right away.

• Take a few minutes to review the established goals for the new year
• Highlight the most critical activities over the next 90 days and invite board members to share any thoughts on them
• Go around the table and ask board members to share specifically what they intend to do over the next 90 to assist in achieving those goals and critical activities. (Have a few suggestions ready for those who need prompting.)
• Ask the executive director and board president to share their specific needs from each board member on how he/she can help them in their leadership roles
• Prepare well for the new board year and read my recent blog on Board Meetings that don’t Bore. https://tomokarma.com/2012/04/03/board-meetings-bore/
• Go around the table and have each director explain how they can Make Director a Verb on this board. https://tomokarma.com/2012/03/22/director-verb/

If you have other ideas, I’d like to hear them. How do you instill a sense of urgency and action in your board…especially after a bit of a layoff?