Avoiding Deadly Silence at Your Retreat

Board-Savvy Superintendent

THE MEETING WAS a retreat, so the public was not present. Good thing, the superintendent was thinking, because this is awful.

The questions he had been posing to his seven-member board of education had failed to spark any substantive dialogue. Many were met with a stony silence, except for the one board member who always found a way to divert any discussion to her favorite subject of special education.

An off-site retreat is a special opportunity to get individuals within an organization to speak frankly and to begin to develop a new level of trust. You want to build social capital — a healthy network of relationships that serves as the lifeblood of any organization.

Acting Yourself

Superintendents commonly facilitate retreats with their board members, but others will bring in a facilitator from their state school boards association or an outside consulting group.

If the superintendent opts to act as the facilitator during the retreat, what practices can make it work? What defining questions should you ask before diving in? How do you avoid pitfalls? What makes a retreat into a step forward instead of a step backwards or to the side?

Like many things, success starts with good planning and preparation. From my dealings with school boards over the past 10 years, including facilitation of approximately 85 retreats a year conducted by my team and me, I offer these considerations to the superintendent who wants to facilitate the retreat.

  DON’T OWN THE AGENDA. This is the board’s retreat. Ask the full board what needs to be discussed.

  ARTICULATE A SHARED PURPOSE. A good theme or specific topic will get instant buy-in. For instance, understanding the roles and responsibilities of the board and superintendent will likely yield a “Yes, we should talk about that” response.

  BREAK THE ICE. Start with a question or exercise to get board members talking about themselves as people. My favorite, “What was the most difficult or important challenge of your childhood?” almost always gets them saying, “I never knew that about you.” Seeing each other in a new light helps move things in the right direction.

  ASK FOR AN HONEST DIALOGUE. A good set of ground rules confirmed by the group to maintain respect and a positive decorum will offer a sense of confidence for board members to share openly and stay engaged.

  STAY NEUTRAL. The role of a facilitator is to elicit views, not take sides.

  LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN! As much as you may believe you have the right answer, a retreat generally isn’t about finding answers. A successful board retreat builds trust and improves the board’s ownership in its decision-making process.

  LET THE BOARD FIND ITS OWN SOLUTION. Generally, the topic of a retreat isn’t supposed to be school business but rather board/team building — how the board operates and could function better. Whatever is decided will work better if the board created it.

  SUMMARIZE IN WRITING WHAT WAS DISCUSSED. Take your mediator hat off and put your superintendent hat back on. Note what is important to remember, framing it to serve the board-superintendent relationship as a whole.

Going Outside

When is it best to choose an outside facilitator? A trained facilitator can help a poorly functioning board begin to repair itself or can help a well-functioning governance team get to the next level.

While there are many merits to having a professional facilitator, it’s imperative when the board is divided. You don’t want your board to see you taking sides and compromising your integrity to treat all board members equally.

No matter who facilitates the retreat, you will know it has gone well when the team experiences a pivotal moment — when the members have developed a new understanding or another breakthrough occurs. If trust is built, the retreat was a success.

DARCI D’ERCOLE is director of leadership development with the New York State School Boards Association in Latham, N.Y.