Guru’s Rules

Most board meeting problems often aren’t really about the people. Frequently problems arise from the absence of shared expectations. Board members can have very different understandings of how they should engage at meetings. They may not know what the norms are, or proper norms have not been set. As a group of strangers (usually) thrown together and expected to make impactful decisions together as a group, a commonly understood set of norms and expectations is essential. Governance Guru’s Rules for Board, Committee, and Small Group Meetings (Guru’s Rules) provides these norms. It gives every board member a common framework for how meetings work, what sort of culture is aroudn the room,a nd how to work well together in a group. The rules, broken down into three sections: before the meeting, during the meeting, and after the meeting, empowers the chair and every board member to participate fully in a fair and engaging environment. It’s been adopted by hundreds of boards and organizations around the world. The reason it works is because it’s simple enough to actually use, and it’s complete common sense. Print it, reference it, and discuss it (at least once a year as per rule B). Most boards that start using it notice a difference within just one or two meetings.

It works equally well for committee meetings and small group sessions — not just full board meetings.