5 Things that Ruin Board Retreats (and what to do about them)

Board retreat season is fast upon us, and it seems as if many schools end up with disappointing, under-performing board retreats. Despite best intentions, these retreats go off the rails for reasons that we think fall into a relatively small set of categories.

1. Packing too much into the session. There is a near-universal tendency to jam more and more onto the agenda, resulting in some items getting short shrift or not discussed at all. Board retreats should not be the moment where unfinished other business gets cleaned up; rather, the retreat day is an opportunity for the board (and administration) to "go deep" on one or two topics, with the goal of a better shared understanding of issues and a charting of strategy. To do: Steadfastly resist the impulse (or requests) to add to the agenda, remove items if you absolutely must add something.
2. Letting fiduciary or operational details overshadow strategic content. Too often boards invite consultants to talk about strategic issues (for example, trends in demographics and implications for schools), and then begin pruning away the time allocated to this conversation because of #1 above or because someone wants to give an update on one or another interesting project (building projects always seem to have a way of attracting board members' attention). To do: Think twice (or three times) before cutting the time allocated to outsider speakers or facilitators.
3. Lack of attention to choreography. The best retreats are meticulously planned, but don't seem that way to the participants. This is not to say that everything should be scripted and rehearsed--we love seeing what emerges organically from more spontaneous discussions--but rather that the timings, information, and sequence are carefully thought through to ensure that the conversation produces the needed result. Too often we see retreats that start with insufficient information or are too loosely organized to yield much impact. To do: use a small, 3 to 4 person steering group to think through the agenda, the information that should be collected and shared in advance, and the sequence of events, ensuring that all drive toward the necessary outcome.
4. Insufficient time. This is the Big One! Yielding to members' requests that the retreat be brief, too many chairs pare the time allotment down to the point where nothing meaningful can happen. This seems most pernicious when the retreat is about trusteeship itself, as it is often the members who least want to take the time to meet who are most in need of governance education. To do: Get over the notion that we are so lucky that people will serve on boards that we shouldn't expect much of them and double-down on the expectation that members will contribute their time as well as treasure.
5. Mobile devices. Really? Board members can't go 90-120 minutes at a time without looking at their mobile phones or iPads? Maybe such behavior is permissible at work, but it quickly becomes toxic in the boardroom as members "check-out" while texting or emailing or whatever. This is not about listening to the facilitator, thought that would be nice since you are paying him or her for their wisdom, but rather about showing respect for fellow members by being present in every way possible. To do: Enforce a no-devices policy during retreat discussions; have people put mobiles in a box if necessary.

It is only mid-season! There may be more than five items on the list before we are done.