Governance

We help organisations to:

Increase board and committee effectiveness

The best boards always strive to improve their effectiveness continuously. Reviews provide the foundations for agreeing how to increase the value that boards add.

We conduct reviews with questionnaires, observation, interviews and checklists chosen to suit the circumstances.

 Questionnaires are tailored to the relevant Code of Governance and include:

  • Rated questions to enable trustees and executives to measure effectiveness
  • Open questions to encourage respondents to say what needs to change

We have responses from over 600 board members and executives so can benchmark performance and pinpoint best and worst performance against similar organisations.

Observation and interviews are used to corroborate and contextualise findings and explore sensitive issues.

Together this evidence provides the foundations for discussion and decisions by board members and executives on continuous improvement of effectiveness.

Re-structure governance for new circumstances

We help organisations restructure their boards and committees.

Our approach usually involves a combination of:

  • Face to face or telephone interviews with key people
  • Developing the case for change and options for the way forward
  • Working with task groups that bring together people who are driving change and those who will be most affected by the change
  • Writing reports and facilitating workshops to achieve the desired change.

This work can include working with complex federal organisations, the establishment of international organisations and the development of governance arrangements across the four nations of the UK.

Ensure seamless succession, strengthen relationships and develop skills

Having the right skills and experience on the board and using them to greatest effect is crucial for effective governance. We help organisations to:

  • Identify the skills required on boards and committees
  • Review skills required against those held by current members
  • Use planned retirements to identify current and future gaps.

We help with the induction of new members, particularly when a number of new members are joining a board at one time and when new board members come with private or public sector experience but less knowledge of charity governance.

We provide coaching support for chairs, committee chairs and managers who want to develop their governance skills.

Tip of the month

Delegate oversight of operational performance and compliance to committees to create more board time to shape future strategy

Our clients in this area include:

Big Society Capital

British Red Cross

Canal and River Trust

Cats Protection

Cambridge Enterprise

Centrepoint

Chartered Society of Physiotherapy

Children’s Society

Christian Aid

Disasters Emergency Committee

Girlguiding

Girls Day School Trust

Greensleeves Home Trust

Lawn Tennis Association

Magna Housing Group

Mencap

Natural History Museum

Office of the Independent Adjudicator for HE

Oxford Hospitals Charity

St John Ambulance

Samaritans

Sport England

UnLtd

UK Biobank

WaterAid

Wikimedia Foundation (USA)

Woodland Trust

WWF International