Presented on Monday 2 November at NCVO/BWB Trustee Conference 2015.
Anne Moynihan, Senior Governance Consultant, NCVO; Lindsay Mitchell, Trustee & Chair of Governance Committee, NEBDN and Phil Hughes, Chief Executive, NEBDN
How to review and strengthen your governance
If you would like to find out more about our 2016 Trustee Conference email us at ncvoevents@ncvo.org.uk or call us on 020 750 3153.
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How to review and strengthen your governance
1. Organised by: Lead Partner:
Media Partner:
Sponsors:PM3: HOW TO REVIEW &
STRENGTHEN YOUR
GOVERNANCE
SPEAKERS:
• ANNE MOYNIHAN, SENIOR
GOVERNANCE CONSULTANT, NCVO
• LINDSAY MITCHELL, TRUSTEE & CHAIR
OF GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE, NEBDN
• PHIL HUGHES, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, NEBDN
Drinks sponsor:
2. PURPOSE OF THE SESSION
• Consider why boards should review & discuss the
effectiveness of their governance arrangements
• Look closely at how one charity is seeking to
strengthen the way it is governed
• Hear from others – insights, tips & tools
• Provide an introduction to - and opportunity to use
- NCVO’s Governance Wheel (a tool to measure &
support change in board performance)
• Signposting to additional support
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3. TRACKING GOVERNANCE PERFORMANCE
If the buck stops with the board, how do boards know they have
all the bases covered?
You get feedback….. & reflect
How are we doing?
How could we improve the
way we do things?
Do we/the board add value?
How much time do we spend
on strategy and risk?
Do we provide sufficient
challenge – staff, each other?
4. • To make sure nothing gets lost & keep the board
and charity on track
• To ensure it is appropriate for the charity’s size,
complexity & stage of development
• To improve the performance of the board & the
charity
• To enable the board to focus on strategy,
results, impacts and outcomes of the charity's
work – deliver greater public benefit!
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REVIEWING YOUR GOVERNANCE: WHY?
5. “Our evidence suggests that in future
greater attention should be given to the
behavioural characteristics such as
conducting formal individual and board
performance reviews, ensuring greater
focus on strategic topics at board meetings
and team working.”
Delivering Effective Governance, Compass Partnership/Cass
Business School, 2012
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6. • Systems and processes
• Performance of trustees and the board
• Delegated authority
• Risks
• Outcomes and impact
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REVIEWING YOUR GOVERNANCE: WHAT?
Best practice is that a charity periodically reviews it governance. This
can include a review of:
7. How to review and
strengthen your
Governance
Case Study
National Examining Board
for Dental Nurses
12. Achievements
• Revised Mem & Arts with more
streamlined membership structure
• Appointed 4 new Trustees
• Risk management policy, register
and incident log
• Governance Manuals
• Improved Annual Reporting
13. Benefits
• Greater clarity / focus across
organisation
• Less reactive
• Greater confidence / understanding
• Making a difference
14. What Next?
• More hard work!
• Committee support / focus
• Review and monitor
• Impact
15. Who has reviewed (or is planning to) their organisation’s
governance/board performance?
• Approach taken?
• What worked?
• What proved to be problematic?
• Lessons learned?
• Benefits achieved?
• Next steps?
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EXERCISE: SHARE INSIGHTS, TIPS & TOOLS
16. Level one if the main text level
Level two is used for subtitles
• Level three is the first level of bullets
• Level four is the second level of bullets
• Level five is the third level of the bullets
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17.
18. • Discussion and diagnostic tool
• Takes each of the six Code principles in turn
• Indicates the questions a board should ask itself in relation to each
• Board makes an assessment based on the description of the
journey of change (full board consensus)
• From the assessment, strengths and areas for improvement can be
identified and an action plan for improvement devised
• Assessment should be repeated periodically and results compared
– why do they differ?
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GOVERNANCE WHEEL: HOW IT WORKS
19. Use the Governance Wheel to begin to review your organisation’s
governance and ask the right questions:
• Agree on confidentiality – it’s important to be as truthful as
possible
• Spend a couple of minutes introducing your Board/Governance
arrangements to your partner
• Work through one (or more) of the principles and mark where each
of you think your Board is on the journey of change
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EXERCISE: DISCUSSION AND ASSESSMENT
20. FURTHER INFORMATION & SUPPORT
NCVO www.ncvo.org.uk or
www.knowhownonprofit.org
NCVO consultancy
www.ncvo.org.uk/training-and-events/consultancy
Good Governance: A Code for the Voluntary and
Community Sector www.governancecode.org
Charity Commission guidance:
www.gov.uk/government/organisations/charity-
commission
The Good Trustee Guide, 6th ed., NCVO 2015
Good governance: a practical guide for trustees,
chairs and CEOs, NCVO
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Good afternoon and welcome to this interactive session on strengthening and improving the effectiveness of your organisation’s governance.
Before we begin, my name is Anne Moynihan and I’m a Senior Governance Consultant working as part of NCVO’s consultancy team for eight years. Sitting next to me is Lindsay Mitchell & Phil Hughes who are both from NEBDN (National Examination Board for Dental Nurses). Lindsay is a Trustee and Chair’s the Governance Committee and Phil is the Chief Executive of the Charity. Both have spent a considerable amount of time over the past two years …..
Now it’s your turn – please could you introduce yourself to someone you don’t already know that is sitting next to you (name, organisation/role + share one governance challenge your charity faces or has faced in the recent past)
Who has reviewed their organisation’s governance?
Who has heard of the Code of Good Governance?
Has anyone heard of the Governance Wheel?
How many of you - hand on heart – can say they enjoyed their last board meeting?
How many of you are looking forward to your next board meeting?
Governance has never been so important & as Martyn Lewis said at last year’s Trustee Conference – now is not the time for Trustees to be caught napping/they need to step up to the plate. Retaining public trust and confidence is vital and has definitely taken a hit due to media spotlights on – CEO pay/remuneration, fundraising activities (Olive Cooke), charity commission research that says the public distrust how funds are spent re back office functions
Systems and processes - the way your board working with the senior management team does things (recruitment of trustees, succession planning, induction, ongoing support, meetings, agendas, minutes, board papers etc)
Performance of trustees and the board - how do they perform individually and collectively, decision making processes etc
Delegated authority – what has the board delegated and to whom, are they held to account, do they adhere to terms of ref or role descriptions, is the delegation regularly reviewed to ensure it remains fit for purpose
Risks – is the board sufficiently engaged in the risk management process & does it ensure that systems are in place to manage the risks
Outcomes and impact – does the Board & SMT know what the organisation is seeking to achieve and have systems in place to ensure that it is making a difference/delivering greater public benefit? If not is it just a vanity
project??
In 3s or 4s if possible
Be prepared to feedback
In pairs or threes
15 mins discuss
10 mins feedback
Flip chart the issues, observations, etc