Articles

When should you schedule your board meetings?

When should you schedule your board meetings? In this short video Raph Goldsworthy (Managing Director, Better Boards) talks about how your chronotype and the chronotype of each board member should influence when you choose to schedule your board meetings. Key Points Due to our chronotype there are optimal times we are best at strategic thinking and decision-making. Looking at the chronotype’s of your board members can help you consider the optimal time of day to hold board meetings Transcript

Your Guide to More Effective Board Meetings

Most people know that meetings of any kind can be unproductive, and unfortunately board meetings are no exception. In many cases, board meetings are even more unproductive than everyday office meetings. Why? We can point to any number of reasons: personality clashes between board members, high-stress topics, and organisational or community politics can cause no end of problems. But most unproductive board meetings (and board problems in general) are actually caused by structural choices or assumptions.

Meeting Minutes, An Essential Guide for Directors

Important decisions are made all the time in the boardroom and accurate meeting minutes are crucial as a record of those decisions and discussions. Taking minutes, though, can seem like a time-consuming chore. But, as high profile legal cases have shown, minutes are increasingly being used as a way to determine whether directors are properly performing their duties and responsibilities. How to take good minutes Lawyer Brian Herd summarises minutes as “a true and accurate record of the meeting”, which must contain “clear and concise notes of main discussion points, be accurate and a clear register of decisions”.

Decoding the Ethical Framework

Revelations about the governance failings in some of our most iconic organisations is again challenging our paradigms about how organisations are, or can be, controlled and held accountable. Attention has turned to Ethical Frameworks to hammer morality back into corporate governance. So what is this new development, albeit one two and a half thousand years in the making? Time to decode the Ethical Framework. As the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry rolls on, more questions are being asked about how effective governance is achieved.

Why Crisis Management is a Boardroom Responsibility

The single most important recent development in crisis management is the growing recognition that responsibility for this critical function lies absolutely with the board and top executives. While there surely is no shortage of agenda items jostling for board attention, there is ample evidence that leaders who ignore the new crisis management best practice are placing their organisation at serious risk. Most importantly, potential damage from a crisis applies to organisations of all types and all sizes.

The Funding Conundrum

The board of a not-for-profit organisation is ultimately responsible for the organisation, its impact and its activities. But what does this really mean? Many directors find it difficult to understand their responsibilities and often seek clarification, especially with respect to their role in ensuring financial sustainability and the part they play in fundraising and building organisational profile. Board directors are responsible for governing in line with their legal and fiduciary duties.

Financial Metrics: A Guide for NFP Boards

It’s easy to count how much money you’ve made. It’s not so easy to demonstrate that you really are helping children to reach their full potential, or how effectively you’ve raised awareness of a rare disease. Yet not-for-profit (NFP) organisations are increasingly expected to quantify their achievements – and the directors must ensure they’re measuring the right things. “The board sets the strategic direction and will want to track the organisation’s progress and achievement of these objectives,” says Andrea Petersen, Managing Director, Not for Profit Accounting Specialists.

The Role of Newbies in the Boardroom

Not-for-profit organisations are increasingly looking for a younger presence in the boardroom for the digital skill sets and perspective they can bring to emerging areas of board oversight, including strategy, digital marketing and online fundraising. Changing a board’s demographics and traditions comes with risks as less experienced directors often require more training and resources early in their tenure to better understand and fill their roles. Often boards pair new members with experienced directors who serve as coaches during the transition.

Fulfilling Your Obligations as a Not-for-profit Director

When Mark Edmonds joined his first not-for-profit (NFP) board he was surprised by what he found. “I’d attended board meetings as a senior executive and, because the role interested me, I’d also completed a company directors course,” says Edmonds, who is currently chairman of Barwon Community Legal Centre, deputy chair of the Geelong Chamber of Commerce and a director of the Geelong Cemeteries Trust. “I was very happy to be offered a place on a local statutory committee but, from my first meeting, I could see that these people either had limited ideas about their duties and responsibilities or were paying them scant attention.

Cybersecurity – Is This a New Directors’ Duty?

When not-for-profit organisations hear about cybersecurity issues and big data breaches in large international companies such as Facebook and Target, they often make the mistake of assuming that issues surrounding cybersecurity will not apply to them. The reality is that not-for-profits are very popular targets for cybersecurity attacks. This is because they often hold a ‘goldmine’ of sensitive information, while also being less equipped to protect themselves from these threats.