The Board Governance Review Process
Board Diversity’s process involves seeking from Councils a strong sense of what they intend their governance role to be and reviewing their collective performance against their own goals. During the process Board Diversity will seek to prove the attainment level of your Council by reflecting on the actual work that is undertaken by the Council and then partnering with you to address the findings of the review.
Our Review offers an independent assessment of current Council capacity based on the diversity of present Council membership. Rather than focusing on individual Council member contributions, we report on the ability of the Council as a whole to engage in areas that are key to success in the independent educational setting. Our review focuses on:
- Culture and Context: is the School meeting the expectations of stakeholders and parents as well as achieving Board of Studies benchmarks?
- Governance and Action: does the Council understand its governance role and is it proactive in the development of the School? Is there an ‘evidence trail’?
- Alignment and Relationships: does the Council work as a unified body, or a coalition of disparate groups; does the Council relate to the management team strongly and effectively?
- Strategy and Policy: does the Council understand the initiatives outlined in the Strategic Plan: are they believable, achievable, worthwhile? Do the policies of the Council underpin the strategic initiatives?
- Knowledge and Outcomes: is the School held in high regard by its community? Does the Council ‘add value’? Does the School ‘deliver’?
The Service
- Initial briefing meeting with Chair: refining the brief and understanding your context.
- Meet the Council session: presenting to the Council the process to be undertaken and answering their questions.
- Council assessment & diversity profiling: a thorough, personal and considered survey completed online anonymously.
- Presentation of findings to the Chair (in person): delivery of skills matrix, report and recommendations, followed by a planned response to the Council.
- Presentation of findings to the Council: present report and recommendations, answer questions and seek agreement on the way forward
- Quarterly meetings with the Chair: ongoing accountability and support to address the agreed recommendations made in the report.