Board effectiveness, that is: we’re in the charity world after all ….
Charities are unique in having a board of trustees to oversee success, measured not in the acquisition of profit but in the achievement of charitable objectives. Making the world a better place one purpose at a time.
So, a charity’s effectiveness is dependent on its board’s effectiveness. Even those with a professional management team have this special arrangement.
But what is board effectiveness? Charitable objectives must be more than just aspirational, they must be implemented; and therein lies the need for effectiveness. This can be divided into three elements:
Clarity
of roles (a) between board and management (b) within the board (c) in recruitment (d) in procedures (within & between meetings)
Agility
the ability to act, decide, meet, adapt, review decisions and respond to challenges
Strategy
setting, monitoring and reviewing this, engaging context, responding to change, guiding with purpose and impact
Running through all this, or course, needs to be engagement by the trustees. Trusteeship is not a spectator sport. They need to understand and implement their role as overseers of the charity’s strategy and operations.
Effectiveness, in these three elements, should also be reviewed periodically to ensure the charity remains optimal in how it does things to achieve its objectives. The process for review should be designed with the trustees’ and senior management team’s input, rather than imposed or borrowed wholesale from elsewhere. The focus and depth of the review will depend on what the trustees choose to focus on, but standards and guidance which is freely available can help suggest a framework for the review.
One such resource is the diagnostic tool published alongside The Charity Governance Code. There is also, naturally, much put forward by The Charity Commission. Lastly, I should mention Charity Excellence, a large repository of many templates and guides.
The process, once developed, may therefore look something like this:
- Agree the process: the purposes and timing; the leader; a project plan.
- Review documents and processes: constitution, governance documents, role specifications, skills matrix, policies, annual reports, minutes.
- Interviews: Chair, CEO, other senior management, committee chairs and perhaps a review-specific focus group.
- Outline report: just a skeleton, to ensure outcomes will be of a helpful scope and format.
- Draft report: complementing the agreed structure and including recommendations; feedback can be given.
- Final report: accounting for any feedback; this can be presented and questions fielded by the person leading.
- Timescale: to be agreed and monitored, though flexibility is also often needed.
Like so many things, board effectiveness should not be just a good idea: the principles should be laid over a charity’s own reality to see how it measures up.
If you’d like to discuss a review, please do contact me.
