There are few undertakings that can yield a higher return on investment than improvement in board performance. I have learned that lesson well, during a long career in the field.

Why is it, then, that most boards talk about it a lot, but very few actually do anything about it?

After 35+ years of working with boards of directors, I've found two main factors at work when they fail to improve: Lack of the right advocate for development, and the unwillingness of members to make time commitments for development purposes.

Lack of leadership on development issues

If nobody's driving the bus, it's likely to crash. And, if the right person isn't acting as the advocate for governance development, efforts are likely to crash, too. Someone has to fulfill this role, and it should be the right someone. I'll tell you, in a moment, whom my experience suggests that person should be.

The no-time-for-development factor

The lack of time for development is typically a huge factor. Most board members are very busy -- often overcommitted -- people. Just getting them to attend board meetings regularly is a challenge. Getting them to commit to development time, in addition to board meetings, is usually a big non-starter.

One director, who serves on several prominent national boards, tells me: "If they insist that I take time for development, I will resign. They are lucky to get the time that I commit to, now."

That attitude is certainly understandable. Time is a valuable commodity, especially to the kinds of people who typically serve on boards.

But, there's a huge downside, here: With that kind of attitude, members of boards tend to learn very slowly, and usually by making mistakes that do nothing positive for the health of their organizations. Inevitably, that means the organization underperforms.

Most CEO's, when they're interviewed anonymously, say that boards add no value; that they retard growth and progress; that they are a huge drain on management time.

On the other hand, CEO's who are fortunate enough to have an effective board of directors, invariably welcome board participation (read the article, Three Levels of Board Responsibility and Performance, for more information on this topic.) They value the key decisions, the points of view that improve strategy and decision-making, the general support and validation the board provides.

Increasing the knowledge of the directors is a vital issue.

You can't create a value-added board simply by recruiting members with high levels of expertise and experience. To be effective, boards must develop strong tools and norms, as a unit. They must evolve a common "culture" together

Also, it's not likely that you can simply decree that directors must spend more time on development. But you might be able to accomplish the same thing by changing the nature of the development, as I'll explain shortly.

Fixing the problems

To recap: In my experience, there are two major reasons that board development doesn't happen: 1.) Nobody, or the wrong person, is in charge of development; 2.) People lack time for development. Here's how I recommend approaching these problems.

Put the right person in charge of governance development

If there's no one to champion board development, you have a major problem. The board is probably not going to develop. You need to identify someone to fill that role. And there is a likely candidate for it.

First, let's talk about who should probably not be in this role.

CEOs aren't the answer

While CEO's will often be advocates for some board development, it's usually only the kind designed to prevent micro-management, and to keep the board from being a drain on the organization's resources. The CEO is not responsible for board development, though he or she can research solutions and the like.

Board members aren't the answer, either

Individual directors, especially new members, will probably push for development, but they usually have a hard time getting the commitment of the rest of the group. They normally don't make good choices for the role of governance development advocacy.

So, who should be in charge of governance development?

In my opinion (backed up by a lot of experience), it's the role of the board chair to lead the organization from the status quo to the huge ROI that governance development can produce.

Board self-evaluation, researching ways to improve board performance, and convincing the group to make commitments, are fundamental leadership responsibilities of the chair. In essence - and in fact -- the chair is responsible for the performance of the board of directors.

Fixing the no-time-for-development problem

One of the major reasons that board members shy away from development is that, by tradition, it takes large chunks of time. If boards schedule development sessions at all, they tend to be all-day seminars presented by outside consultants, or governance development programs that require attendees to be somewhere other than where they want or need to be.

Both require the kind of time commitments that today's busy board members tend to avoid like the proverbial plague.

But governance development doesn't have to take all day. It doesn't even have to take an entire morning or afternoon. And an outside consultant doesn't necessarily have to be a part of the mix. It can take place in your boardroom or even in a director's home or office.

If long development sessions or sending members off to governance workshops aren't viable or comfortable options in your situation (and they aren't, in most cases), here are some things you can do, instead:

• During a regular board meeting, stage a board self-evaluation and determine what areas need improvement. Ask each board member to read an article on the subject and discuss it at a meeting. Then decide what practices you could employ to improve performance in that area.
• Select an area for improved performance, and then, at a board meeting, list all your questions in that performance area.  Ask the CEO to answer questions about operations, and ask BoardGrowth™ your questions about best practices and responsibilities. Decide on the actions to take to improve performance.
• Schedule, through BoardGrowth™ or another vendor, an interactive, Web-based seminar on a topic area. Board members can take one of these seminars in about an hour, anywhere they have access to the Internet. They can do it whenever it's convenient, and the cost is low.
• Do some research to find a board that is recognized for best practices. Ask a member of that board to come and speak to your group about the topic area in which you seek improvements.

Keep in mind that most boards are willing to complete a self-evaluation. What they find difficult is taking the actions that will make the improvements. If, as chair, you find this to be the case, try asking these questions: "What might be possible if we improved in this area"? "Is that change valuable to you and the organization"? "Would you be willing to commit to spending an hour between meetings, reading an article or attending a Webinar? And would you then spend an hour at the meeting talking about how we might apply what you've learned"?

You don't want to ignore it

Imagine, for a moment, an organization of employees who, as a matter of policy and practice, never do any staff development; never attempt an organized approach to improved performance.

Where do you think that organization will be in 20 years? Where will its competitors be?

You have a great asset. Use it.

Strong boards of directors are powerful assets for their organizations. Your investment to achieve this strength is small in terms of money; only moderate, in terms of time. If you are a board chair, you set the tone and standards for the organization. It's up to you.

If you're not the board chair, give her or him a copy of this article and suggest signing up to receive this newsletter on a regular basis.