Deep Work for Busy Boards
How small, flexible projects can keep your board sharp and strategic—even without meetings.
Nonprofit directors have busy lives outside the boardroom. Whether they are educators, parents, accountants, entrepreneurs, retirees or other, they need to fit their board work within busy lives. Too often, I hear directors say, “We can’t get anything done, it’s summertime.” Or it’s the holidays. Or it’s spring break. Or busy time in their professional sector. Or…
Every board has a few quiet seasons when scheduling meetings is nearly impossible. But these so-called “dead zones” are opportunities to get important work done, especially the kind that benefits from quiet, focused attention and flexible timelines.
Let’s explore how to strategically plan your board’s annual workflow so even the off-season becomes a time of meaningful progress.
Challenge the Assumptions
There’s a persistent myth in the nonprofit world that nothing gets done in December or summers. But these quieter moments can be a gift.
Fewer meetings. Fewer distractions. Less urgency in the inbox. These are perfect conditions for small doses of deep, focused work. This is the time when directors can:
Delve into detail-heavy research reports.
Reflect on long-term goals and opportunities.
Tackle that policy review that’s been deferred (again).
Instead of defaulting to pause mode when meetings aren’t feasible, build a plan to support asynchronous, self-directed engagement.
What Can a Board Actually Do Without Meetings?
Plenty. In fact, down-time is ideal for the important-but-not-urgent projects that rarely make it onto meeting agendas. Anything that is self-paced and thoughtful fits the bill, such as:
1. Qualitative Board Assessments
In-depth, interview-based board assessments provide valuable feedback. But they require advance preparation and 30–60 minutes per director.
Ask your assessor to share discussion topics and questions in advance and set a 2–4 week window for directors to schedule a phone or video interview at their convenience. This format respects directors’ time while yielding far richer insights than survey-only assessments.
2. Governance Document Review
Mandates, policies and processes are easy to ignore and critical to get right. If your board takes a summer or winter meeting break, assign specific documents to directors for review and assign one director the vital role of checking for internal consistency across documents.
3. Director Learning
Want your board to understand your mission, programs and services better? Create a focused reading or video package on a critical topic like sector trends, community needs, or new technologies. Include reflection questions, and encourage directors to make a few notes for discussion at your next meeting.
This effort pays off with a more informed board ready for high-level conversations after the break.
4. Strategic Reflection
Before your break, send out 2–3 open-ended questions, such as:
What long-term opportunities should our organization explore?
Where are we most at risk of mission drift?
What partnerships or innovations could double our impact?
Ask directors to jot down thoughts and bring them to the next full board discussion or retreat. They’ll return with plenty of insights to fuel your next strategic planning session.
5. Future Directors and Onboarding Prep
Down-time is an excellent window for strengthening your board’s recruitment pipeline and enhancing your new director orientation program. With fewer day-to-day demands, current directors can reflect on what the board truly needs in its next members, who might fit the board’s needs and how to set them up for success.
Talent Scouting
Ask directors to review their professional or community networks to identify 1 or 2 potential new board members. Encourage thinking beyond the usual suspects: Who do they know that fits the the board’s identified needs for what it lacks or will lose in retiring directors?
A short submission form or shared spreadsheet can help collect names and a brief note on why each candidate is worth considering. This gives the nominations or governance committee a head start on the next nominations list.
Orientation Audit
If your organization will be onboarding new directors in the coming months, now’s the time to refine your orientation process. Ask directors to reflect on what helped them hit the ground running, and what they wish they’d known sooner. Were their responsibilities clearly explained? Did they find key documents or acronyms confusing? Was context missing around board culture or strategic history?
What about their own orientation process? Could it have been better-designed or implemented?
After the Break: Follow-Through Is Everything
If you want directors to continue investing effort in these off-season projects, their work must be acknowledged and acted on. Here's how:
Assessment findings? Put the results on the next board meeting agenda with a plan to discuss and implement recommendations.
Document review? Task the governance committee with collecting director feedback and bringing revisions forward for approval.
Learning resources? Dedicate meeting time for discussion and clarification. Consider a “mini retreat” or workshop format.
Strategic reflection? Create space at your next meeting or retreat to synthesize responses and explore priorities further.
New director prep? Review the list of prospective candidates and schedule time to update your recruitment plan. Incorporate any feedback into the orientation materials so new directors are equipped to contribute from day one.
And finally, ask for feedback. Was the project manageable? Useful? How should the board use its next down-time period?
Final Thoughts: Plan, Flex, Respect
To make the most of downtime:
Plan ahead. Don't wait until the break to launch a project. Line it up early.
Keep it flexible. Avoid real-time meetings. Let directors engage on their own schedule.
Designate a point of contact. Someone (the chair, a committee lead) should be reachable for questions and support.
Confirm availability. Make sure you have a way to reach directors if their usual points of contact are set to vacation response.
When you plan for real life, you show respect for your directors’ time and energy. That leads to stronger engagement, more productive meetings, and a governance rhythm that supports, rather than sabotages, your strategic goals.