Articles written By Better Boards

Transitioning from Director to Chair

Establishing your board career is challenging and securing your first chair role even more so. What do you need to know, what additional skills do you require, and what pathways are available? The role of the chair is challenging, so how do you ensure you lead effectively to ensure your board is high performing? Traditionally the chair’s role has been to lead meetings, ensuring correct protocols are followed. Today however, the chair’s role has become significantly broader, both inside and outside the organisation.

The Chair-CEO Relationship Roundtable

The Chair-CEO Relationship: The struggle between constants & variables in uncertain times The CEO-Chair relationship is a huge determinant of organisational culture and sustainability in times of uncertainty. As the not for profit sector strives for balance between managing constant business disruptions and building sustainable future-focussed organisations, we have been challenged in ways that none of us could have imagined. Strategic priorities have been re-assessed, and the leadership strength and dynamic of the CEO-Chair relationship has been tested.

The Role of the Board in Not-for-Profit Strategic Planning

While the constitutions and governance charters of many not-for-profit organisations give responsibility for the development of a strategic plan to the Board of Directors, there is precious little advice about exactly how Board’s should approach this critical task. Can the Board delegate responsibility for strategic planning to management? Or, must it be integrally involved in its development? Do the director’s views alone determine the strategic direction or do they have an obligation to reach out to members and stakeholders to inform their views?

Board Performance – The difference you make

As the primary governance body of an organisation, Boards have a critical role to play in setting strategy, managing risk and monitoring the performance of the organisation. But how do Directors honestly assess their own performance as individuals and the Board as a collective? Good boards in bad times … and bad boards in good times Functioning as a team Do you have the right skills around the table Tough conversations

Better Boards Conference 2021

How to Handle Conflicts of Interest On Your Not-for-profit Board

Conflicts of interest are likely to arise in any not-for-profit organisation. How you manage them can improve or damage your organisation’s reputation. A conflict of interest arises when the interests of a not-for-profit organisation’s leadership, or their friends or family, conflicts with the best interests of the organisation. The three prongs to handling conflicts of interest are: identifying them, putting steps in place to prevent them, and managing them well when they arise.

Running Your AGM - Lessons and upgrades for 2021

Is your organisation prepared for its 2021 AGM? From service delivery to collaboration and communication, the Covid pandemic has immeasurably changed the way not for profit organisations operate. During the past two years, Boards and committees have also had to adapt to new norms. As we head towards AGM season many boards and committees will be facing the prospect of running a virtual or hybrid AGM. Whether it is your first year or second year running, the lessons learnt from organisations in 2020 can give us hope that everything will be alright as long as we have a plan.

Ethical Leadership at Board Level – What does good look like?

Boards are now responsible for culture, leadership, and integrated risk management. Why have Board accountabilities become so daunting? In this ethical leadership workshop, participants will learn what ethical leadership accountabilities look like at Board level. In particular Boards are increasingly held to account for the organisational cultures they oversee. In this webinar you will learn: How Boards can encourage organisational leaders to design organisational cultures to enable their people to flourish purposely.

All I need to learn (about Board Reporting), I learned in Kindergarten

NFP boards rely heavily on the Board Reporting for strategic decision making and ensure appropriate governance. Effective Board Reports require structures, policies, and relevant procedures initiated and adhered whilst collecting, organising, utilising and securing the reporting data. This sounds complex, but could what we learned in kindergarten be applicable and the lens in which we should look through to simplify how Board Reports should be prepared, and to enable directors to take responsibility for the information they receive?

The Board's Role in Business Continuity Management

Having a properly developed and tested Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is now a regulatory or contractual requirement for most organisations. However, it also offers immediate benefits in relation to better and cheaper insurance arrangements, competitive advantage when tendering for new business and improved corporate social responsibility to staff (e.g. in regards to their job security as well as being guided in the right direction should a disruptive incident occur). In regulated sectors, it has become a key accountability of the Board to ensure that Business Continuity Management is also audited and maintained accordingly.