BOARD BULLETIN: Reimagining the Board Retreat

One challenge in building an effective, collaborative board is the relatively long time between meetings (even if they seem to pop up every time you turn around). This often limits the opportunity to deeply discuss the key issues facing the school.

That’s why the annual board retreat is critical. It offers the board time to dive into substantive issues and build stronger relationships. Unfortunately, board retreats too often end up being dry and uninspired. If board members don’t leave energized and buzzing about the topics discussed, it’s a missed opportunity.

What Makes Board Retreats Ineffective?

Too many retreats (and board meetings) fall short because they

• Overload attendees with PowerPoint presentations or oral reports, rather than engaging in meaningful conversations.
• Focus on procedural or trivial matters instead of tackling strategic challenges.
• Lack strong facilitation, leaving the agenda to drift and discussions to stagnate.
• Allow a few voices to dominate while most of the board stays silent.
• Fail to define clear objectives, leaving participants unsure of the retreat’s purpose.

A board’s greatest asset is the intellectual capital in the room. That potential should be fully leveraged by focusing on critical issues for the school’s future and fostering engagement from all participants.

Formats to Foster Engagement and Critical Conversations

To energize retreats and make them productive, consider these interactive formats:

• Role-Playing Strategic Scenarios: For instance, board members could role-play handling a situation where a current board member’s child is expelled from the school, and the family pursues legal action for reinstatement.
• Interactive Workshops: Invite an educational leader to explain how AI is being used in schools. Then, have the board brainstorm other potential applications—or discuss scenarios where AI should not be used.
• Debates with Assigned Perspectives: Assign board members to argue specific viewpoints on an issue, even if it isn’t their own perspective.
• Leveraging Board Expertise: Ask board members to share innovations from their professional fields and discuss how these ideas could be applied to the school.
• Small Group Discussions: Break the board into smaller groups to discuss each issue before reconvening as a whole. This encourages broader participation.

Topics That Matter

The discussions must focus on strategic and high-impact topics, such as these examples:

• Setting Annual Board Goals: These goals should guide the head of school’s objectives and, in turn, cascade to the leadership team.
• Anticipating Societal Shifts: Explore large societal trends and how they might impact the school. For instance, economists suggest an increasing likelihood of a recession. Plan how the school would navigate such a scenario.
• Strategic Clarity Tools: Use SWOT analysis or similar models to clarify opportunities and challenges. Focus on “known unknowns.” For example, AI is already here, but its impact on classrooms is still unfolding—an important topic to explore.
• Board-Head Partnership: Evaluate the relationship between the board and the head of school. Are roles clearly defined? Is feedback constructive and actionable? How can this partnership become even more effective?
• Board Performance: Reflect on the board’s own effectiveness. How are we performing as a governance body?

Ending with Action

The retreat should conclude with a clear roadmap: what needs to be done, who will do it, and when it must be completed. Establish a system to track progress and accountability.

The Result

By introducing compelling topics and presenting them in engaging ways, board retreats can be both productive and energizing for members. This level of engagement benefits not only the participants, but also the entire school.

The SAIS Governance Health Check measures how well the board executes on its commitment to best practices in independent school governance within the five domains of board governance.