Question

This is a Case Study from Managing Health Services Organziations and Systems

This questionnaire is designed to test whether governing boards are hampering board effectiveness. Read the statements below and then for each one, answer the two questions posed.

•Our board of representatives from various constituencies, such as our medical staff and subsidiary organizations, and the role of these board members is to represent the issues and interests of their community.

•What pitfall is this statement designed to identify?

•What steps should be taken to ensure the pitfall does not arise and hamper board effectiveness?

•Our board agenda materials for each meeting include our organization’s mission statement, and we refer to the mission frequently during our decision making processes.

•What pitfall is this statement designed to identify?

•What steps should be taken to ensure the pitfall does not arise and hamper board effectiveness?

•

•During board meetings, we spend the majority of our time reviewing what happened at committee meetings and approving the actions taken by our committees, and little time remains for discussion of strategic issues.

•What pitfall is this statement designed to identify?

•What steps should be taken to ensure the pitfall does not arise and hamper board effectiveness?

•

•Our board’s agenda materials consist primarily of management reports and committee minutes.

•What pitfall is this statement designed to identify?

•What steps should be taken to ensure the pitfall does not arise and hamper board effectiveness?

•

•Our board has a clearly articulated process for removing dysfunctional board members.

•What pitfall is this statement designed to identify?

•What steps should be taken to ensure the pitfall does not arise and hamper board effectiveness?

•

•Our board has performance standards that we use at least annually to review the performance of each board member.

•What pitfall is this statement designed to identify?

•What steps should be taken to ensure the pitfall does not arise and hamper board effectiveness?

•

•Our trustees have a clear understanding of the roles of the board and board committees of our organization, and little, if any, duplication exists among those boards and committees.

•What pitfall is this statement designed to identify?

•What steps should be taken to ensure the pitfall does not arise and hamper board effectiveness?

•

•Job descriptions exist for each of our boards, for trustees, and for board officers.

•What pitfall is this statement designed to identify?

•What steps should be taken to ensure the pitfall does not arise and hamper board effectiveness?

•

•Our board members understand the role of the board on which they serve its relationship to management, the medical staff, and other physician organizations in our system.

•What pitfall is this statement designed to identify?

•What steps should be taken to ensure the pitfall does not arise and hamper board effectiveness?

•

•All board members participate in an orientation and continuing education and evaluation process that not only introduces them to health care, their board, and the system of which it is part but also identifies and explains the governance culture-the way we do things on our boards.

•What pitfall is this statement designed to identify?

•What steps should be taken to ensure the pitfall does not arise and hamper board effectiveness?

Answer 1

1) When there are members of different constituencies in a board of organization then they will bring forward ideas, issues and interest of their community. This can poke a bias among the members as all of them may not agree to the ideas of different communities. There will be flight of ideas which will result in irrelevant talks among them rather than a ending up an healthy conversation.

Remedy : Every issue does not need to be discussed by all the communities. There are certain issues pertaining to a particular community and the members belonging to them can present their issues and interest. If there is multiple issues them the urgent issue should be discussed first and the ideas which is most appropriate can be chosen.

2) Enchanting the mission statement at every meeting is not necessary. This would create a feeling of insecurity among its members as it may make them think that the board does not have trust on the decisions taken by them or they do not think the member have adequate knowledge.

Remedy: On violation of the certain policies or protocols which may deviate the boards discussion or activity from the goal of reaching to the mission of the organization, then only in that case one should include the mission statement.

3) Reviewing the previous activities of the board during meetings is necessary as it enable to calculate the progress made but is more time is consumed in such reviews then there will be no evolution of any new ideas or thoughts. Newly arise issues needs more time to be discussed by its members to frame new strategic plans.

Remedy: Such reviews can be shortened by reading the minutes of the previous meeting in the beginning consuming less time and the board members can immediately enter into discussion of strategic issues.

4) The agenda of the board should include the meeting minutes and management reports as its an important to review the decisions and discussions made in the previous session. But it may consumes a lot of time and tends to create additional bias with the uprise of new issues. Thus, the meeting will not have sufficient time strategic discussion.

Remedy: The management reports and meeting minutes can be described in short saving the valuable time of the board meeting and be utilized for a healthy conversation.

5) All the members in a board should be equally functioning actively in order to achieve their preset goals. But if any members are removed stating they are dysfunctional, this may harm the morale of the member. He may feel neglected and insulted which may result in formation of a problem maker for further board meetings.

Remedy: If a board member is found to be dysfunctional then he/she can be assigned some other work which seems to be easy with them. Every member may not have equal potential. Therefore understanding their drawbacks and working potential, they can be allotted specific jobs.

6) The review of performance of each member should be confidential. Public interpretation of performance appraisal will develop a superiority and inferiority complexes among the members.

Remedy: The use of performance standards to evaluate a member should be made unknowingly and the result of it should be disclosed to the concerned member itself.

7) Board should have clear understanding of the roles of its members. If the members are not provided certain role to performed then the meeting with end up in just irrelevant talks and no productive outcomes.

The members should perform according to the roles given to them. The fulfillment of roles will lead to successful attainment of organization goals.

8) Job description provides a framework for their activities. Each member whether he may be trustee or other subordinate staff should be aware of his job description. This will also help in making performance appraisal of the members.

9) Every board should have proper communication with the organization management. The board that do not work for the accomplishment of the goals of the organization will lead to its down fall.

Remedy: Every board should have clear knowledge about its management goals and should communicate its decisions and activities to the management.

10) Orientation, continuing education and evaluation process is important for all members of the board and every member should actively participate in it. There is not pitfall with this statement. A correct idea of how the things should be done and what the management expects from the board members can be understood. This would ultimately result in their progressive movement and attainment of their mission and vision.