- by Sophie Pinkoski

According to a study conducted by The Miles Group, only 36% of directors believe their board does a very good job assessing their directors, and only 26% "believe they are very effective in giving direct, personal, and constructive feedback to fellow directors". If a board is truly going to add value to the organization, it needs to start by serving each board member and the board as a group by openly discussing performance strengths and development areas.

The world is changing rapidly, and your organizing must keep adapting to achieve its strategy. That means the board who oversees the organization also needs to evolve its focus and performance. That means assessing where you are. Then, determining the next focus for improvement as individuals and as a group. With today's pace, if you haven't checked in on your board and director performance in 2025, it's time to elevate that priority. 

It’s recommended that you assess your board on an annual to semi-annual basis to achieve a timely thorough a holistic view of its strengths, challenges, and areas to improve.

This might include reviews on the full board, committees, and individual members. The first two are the more common assessments, yet 35% of boards do not assess their individual directors’ performance. Without individual assessments, your board could be missing a crucial element in uncovering the true potential of each board member and proactively uncovering issues that might fester into a much larger board ineffectiveness or, even worse, board dysfunction.

Interpersonal dynamics can impact board culture in both good ways and bad, and toxic relations between directors can lead to disengagement and a lack of trust. When directors don’t feel comfortable sharing their candid perspectives due to being ignored or dismissed, the board isn’t getting a broad enough view for effective discussions and decision-making. Let's be clear, it’s not enough to simply assess your board as a box-ticking exercise. It’s what you do with the resulting feedback that makes the biggest difference. Understand what you need to get out of assessing your board, then take your results and turn them into actionable items that can move your board and organization forward in fresh, new ways.

Conducting effective board assessments is a deliberate, carefully thought-out practice, not just done once, but with regularity to anticipate environmental shifts that will impact your organization.

Here’s what to consider when conducting board assessments for effective results:

Method of Assessment

It’s important to be thorough to avoid blind spots in your assessments. Collecting narrative feedback is ideal for seeing the big picture of what your board needs most. Using ratings often is affected by the bias of the participants and misses the opportunity to provide true insights. 

Meanwhile, keep an eye on industry standards to get a sense of external benchmarks for your organization. What are the most exemplary boards in your market doing, and what can your board do to fill its skill and knowledge gaps to reach a similar level of excellence? What emerging governance trends are likely to impact your organization in the future?

On an individual level, implement surveys for both self-assessment and peer review that rank effectiveness and offer an option for comments to expand on perceived board weaknesses. These anonymous reviews can yield more candid statements to improve the board’s governance practices.

Above all, this feedback should be developmental in focus, not critical, in order to identify practical suggestions on how to move improve.

External Facilitation

Engage a facilitator to design and administer your board assessments helps keep the process objective and confidential. An external advisor can put together surveys based on your board’s unique challenges and needs, then summarize the results in a clear, concise way for a committee and individual board members.

An objective advisor’s view can often be instrumental in identifying insights that would otherwise be missed opportunities for your board and/or directors. Fresh eyes can piece together these patterns to make more productive conclusions and build tangible goals to work toward.

Actionable Plans

Once you’ve completed your board assessments and gathered the results, don’t forget to follow through with clear action items for the board, committees, and/or individuals. Prioritize issues that matter most to your board’s governance and how it adds value to the organization.

To identify these priorities, it may be prudent to first clarify what success looks like for your board and organization as a whole.

How can each board member contribute to this excellence within their specific role?

Not only that but define measurable goals for areas of improvement. This could look like increasing engagement, diversity of perspectives, or decision-making quality, to name a few. Making these improvements a reality is most achievable when you set realistic goals, deadlines, and keep everyone accountable for their responsibilities through regular check-ins and progress reports.

Culture of Continuous Improvement

Board assessment is most effective when you commit to it as an ongoing practice. Embed assessment into your governance process so that it becomes a natural, necessary part of your board’s culture. Schedule a full assessment annually and prioritize feedback about the board’s performance during the closing in camera session of every board and committee meeting.

Assessment is only as effective as your board’s psychological safety. Board assessments are going to be no good if individuals don’t feel comfortable giving complete feedback. Nurture a culture of transparency, trust, and open dialogue during board meetings to encourage contributions from everyone.

Done well, board assessments are more than a compliance exercise, they can be a catalyst for stronger governance and better strategic decisions to support a high-performing organization. Utilizing the right tools for routine assessments can take your board’s efficiency to new heights by acting on constructive feedback to reach its full potential. It’s a long-term commitment that will help ensure your organization can adapt to just about any change.

Further Reading:

How to Measure Your Board Performance, Board Bench Marking

Why Boards Should Evaluate Individual Director Performance, pwc

Three Types of Board Assessments, Global Governance Advisors

Board Evaluation and Assessing Performance, Board Source

Assessments for Effective and High-Performing Boards, Johanne Bouchard

How Boards Should Evaluate Their Own Performance, Harvard Business Review

The Role of Board Evaluation in Fostering High-Performing Boards, LinkedIn