How much Board communication is enough? What’s too much?

By Tracy Tucker, Managing Director
AMR Management Services

If you’re like me, you often find yourself trying to find the right balance between providing your Board with enough information to keep them informed while not overloading them with too many details. The part that makes it so challenging is that everyone is different, and what’s too much communication for one person isn’t enough for someone else. So, what can you do?

Listen to your Board when you provide materials for Board meetings, conference calls, etc. and often times you’ll pick up on ways to improve your communication. This helps you learn the issues they are most interested in and, therefore, more likely to want information on. You’ll also gather insight into whether you are giving them the right amount of information for their meetings/calls. Sometimes they come right out and tell you what they want, but a lot of times the feedback is much more subtle. They expect, as they should, for staff to be intuitive and proactive in meeting the Board’s needs. I also directly ask my Board in our annual Board evaluation survey if the materials provided by staff are adequate, too much, if they need more, etc.

One way I’ve found to be really helpful in keeping my Board up to date is a monthly activity report. This report includes an overview of each committee’s activities (if there is something significant to report from the previous month), information on the upcoming Board meeting, website analytics, membership statistics/renewal rates, update on conference registration/sponsorship numbers, upcoming conference calls, and anything else I feel is important for the Board to know. The report isn’t a day-to-day outline of what staff has done during the month. The Board doesn’t care to know every detail of how we spent our days, but they do need to stay informed about major accomplishments, key performance measures, and upcoming issues to focus on. Providing this report keeps everyone on the same page and makes for more successful Board meetings.

Of course, emails are still a fast and effective way to communicate with your Board. Just be careful not to bombard them with a bunch of information at one time or with information they may not necessarily need. Keep your emails short and to the point. If you require any action from them, be sure to bold or highlight this in some way.

While I think we’re all seeking that perfect balance of how much communication is enough but not too much, I still believe it’s better to over-communicate so you don’t risk missing out on providing a piece of information that should have been passed on. Just be mindful of what you’re sending out and how often you’re communicating with your Board.

- Tracy