82. Board Manual (definition)

NOTE: if you’re new to Ground-Up Governance, or are finding anything a bit strange or confusing, you might want to START HERE.

Remember how a board mandate isn’t an instruction manual? That’s where a board MANUAL comes in. If you really work hard at making a board manual good, then it can basically be a how-to guide for doing good board stuff.

First, take a second to reflect on the range of ways that people use instruction manuals. Maybe you’re the type of person who has the patience and discipline to read and understand every word before getting started. Maybe you never even open the manual until you’ve done the first 25 steps completely wrong, gotten furious, and need to start over. A good board manual will work no matter which style you have, AND will also be a useful problem-solver or conversation-starter for the full board when necessary.

There are a bunch of reasons why a good board manual is hard to make. Not the least of which is that most boards are tempted to jam in literally *everything* they can think of, including lots of boring and useless stuff. It’s not because they’re stupid – it’s usually because they’re afraid of leaving something out. “How else is the board supposed to remember that the Tarantula Handling Committee was formed on an unusually warm day in November 2018 at 3:17pm unless we include it on page 476 of the board manual?” you might be wondering.

In that sense, some board manuals are just like a place for information to live, even if nobody will ever read it or care. Ground-Up Governance wonders if maybe that’s a big wasted opportunity. What if, for example, the authors of the board manual crafted it with their audience in mind? “How could we create a board manual that the directors really wanted to read?” is something they might ask themselves.

Maybe they would do some research by interviewing the directors, who might tell them, “I always forget the rules of our air guitar competitions we do during our breaks. Could you please put *that* in the board manual?”

Maybe they would reflect on difficult things that happen in the boardroom and use the board manual to offer guidance, such as “In cases when the board needs to get involved in tarantula relocation, a safe way to gently nudge a tarantula in the direction you want it to go is with a small, soft paintbrush, one of which is always included in the welcome package at board meetings.”

Thinking back to the purpose statement from the board mandate definition, maybe the board manual could offer some general guidance on looking funky, such as overall fashion tips or links to fun local designers.

In any case, a “meh” board manual is a way to keep lots of information nobody wants in one convenient spot on a bookshelf. A great board manual helps a board to be great…which is great!