Last time we began looking at some governance tips given by Dorothy Dalton, who is the editor of Civil Society’s ‘Governance’ magazine.
Her first top tip that we looked at is:
“Understand the role, responsibilities and liabilities of board members and understand what governance is all about”
Her next top tip for good governance is:
“Work hard to get the relationship between Trustee and Executive (staff) right i.e. partnership built on mutual respect, trust and confidence”
It is important to have strong and trusting relationships between Trustees and staff – and particularly between the Chair of Trustees and the Chief Executive. In holding the CEO to account there needs to be a good balance between support of them and challenge to them. There can be 4 options:
Abdicators: low support/low challenge – “leave it to the professionals!”
Adversaries: low support/high challenge – “we keep a very close eye on staff!”
Supporters Club: high support/low challenge – “have to support the CEO”
Partner/critical friend: high support/high challenge – “we share everything, good and bad!”
To have the best support for good governance, it is important that the relationship at the top is right between the Chair of Trustees and Chief Executive – how is it in your organisation?
Top tip no. 3 is:
“Work hard to get the Board to stick to their governance role by careful planning and high quality Board papers”
This is a particular joint responsibility of the Chair and the Chief Executive. They should decide together what is on the agenda for Board meetings – and agendas are important to governance as they dictate what the Board will discuss, and aim to keep a structure and order to the meetings. The agenda should enable trustees to fulfil the duties and responsibilities of proper governance effectively.
The quality of the Board papers is also very important to consider. Board papers should give good quality information for Trustees to read and consider before the meeting. Rules should be agreed between the Trustees regarding their requirement, detail to be included and also the timing. They should be available early enough to enable Trustees to have time to read them and consider their contents before discussion. They should be with the Chair and Chief Executive at least 2 weeks before the meeting so that they can be read and sent on to other Trustees in good time. Any clarifications should be requested during that time, and also any issues that a Trustee believes could be contentious should be highlighted before discussion.
Please carefully consider these tips – which are not mine but are from a Governance expert – and think about how they can be applied in your organisation to improve your governance procedures.