When you’re new to baking, you might need some basic instructions, like ‘don’t forget to add an egg’, or ‘you’ve used salt rather than sugar’. These are the basic building blocks that an early chef needs to learn. Without it, you have nothing resembling food.
For a Board, this might be about basic processes and policies. Safeguarding. Conflicts of Interest. Effective agendas and decent minutes. An annual budget and plan that your operational team report regularly against. A basic understanding of charity Trustee duties.
Once you’ve got a basic cake, it’s about getting the cooking right. You need to sieve the cocoa first. Pre-heat the oven. Check the bake with a skewer or a thermometer. Remember to take it out before it’s burnt to a crisp.
For a Board, this might be about introducing a good induction process for new Trustees. It might be thinking about diversifying who is around the table, and ensuring all Trustees have training on how to do their role in the charity sector. A code of conduct and method for hearing complaints should be in place. KPIs that measure impact should be in place and used for regular board reporting. A scheme of delegation should be in place. An action tracker. And term limits.
You have a baked cake now, but what about flavours? Layers? Filling? What would make it more than just a basic cake?
For a Board, this is about recognising and engaging with taboos, shared mental maps and building trust. It’s about building diversity and recognising and addressing barriers to inclusion. It’s about your Chair having the skills to encourage robust debate and navigate difficult situations. It’s about using participatory decision-making techniques and recognising personality preferences to get the best out of your Board and staff. It’s about recognising the tension between operations and oversight, and building relationships and clarifying roles, and knowing how and when to call out overstepping.
The cake is filled. It’s flavoured. But no cake is complete without icing.
For a Board, this is about investing in annual Board Development, regular training and using values-based decision making tools and techniques such as Devil’s Advocate or pre-mortems to achieve strong decisions. Trustee appraisals and planning with 360 degree feedback should be in place annually. The Chair should be accessing coaching or mentoring on their role.
It doesn’t stop here.
There’s piping. Decoration. Tiers.
In a way, no cake is ever perfect, but there’s always some way it could be better.
It’s exactly the same with Boards. And Governance Reviews are the best way to up your game.
What’s your cake like?