BoardPro Podcasts

This webinar explores the true impact and cost of payment fraud, the difference between internal and external fraud and why good organisations get caught out.

Know where the risks are in your organisation

Internal controls are limited by a number of factors including the very payment systems used to make payments themselves. Understanding that these limitations exist is an important part of governance and will help inform board members in understanding where risks exist in their organisation.


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Learn how to clearly articulate the culture the board requires for your organisation, and the different methodologies for monitoring and measurement.

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Organisational culture starts at the board level
Recent legal cases have clearly identified that boards are ultimately responsible for the culture of an organisation. What does this mean for you as a director and your board?

• Where should a Board start?
• How do we know what culture we require as a Board?
• What culture do we currently have, and what needs to change
• How should a Board monitor and measure culture and cultural change?
• How does the Board sustain a focus on culture over time?

Learn how;

• To gain clarity on how to clearly articulate the required culture
• To understand the boards role in ensuring the appropriate culture throughout the organisation 
• The board can appropriately monitor and measure culture through the organisation
• To deal with major organisational culture when it goes horribly wrong

Identify issues or governance challenges facing your charity or Non Profit Board. Understand the keys to what good governance looks like for your organisation in 2022, and beyond.
The phrase “good governance” can be an intangible, buzz-word, that is often used but difficult to derive meaning from and apply in practice. In reality, a good governance standard can and should take many forms.

The success of any organisation, including NonProfits (NFPs) will be dependent on the quality of its leadership. This starts at the board level, given that it is the board that is responsible for setting the tone of the organisation’s culture.

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Focus only on those strategic items that matter

Do your meetings tend to get unfocussed or off-track, or are they a sound use of time, focusing on strategic items that move your organisation forward?

Provide your directors with clarity on what they should do with each paper, and reduce the amount of time wasted on ineffectual discussions.

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Learn how to contribute to effective boardroom dynamics to get the best out of the governance minds in the room and support high quality decision-making.

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A key factor in building positive board dynamics

We have all been on those boards where there is a person who just seems to disrupt the flow, sees the world differently or consistently seeks out opportunities for conflict. How we respond to these situations is a key factor in building positive board dynamics. While a skilled Chair helps, every board member has a responsibility for the success of the meeting and the quality of the decisions made. Learn about the key ingredients of effective board dynamics and how these contribute to high quality decision-making. 

While minutes often feature in-jokes about board performance (for example, ‘boards take minutes and waste hours’), they are no laughing matter. Board meetings are an essential component of an organisation’s decision-making process. The record (minutes) of the conduct of those meetings is a direct indication of the quality of a board’s administration.

For various reasons, the quality of the minutes and the protection of their integrity, once approved and signed off, are treated with considerable gravity. Boards should pay closer attention to both the recording and approval of their minutes than is often the case.

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According to directors, the CEO report is the most important document in the board pack and it’s their go-to doc. However, most organisations struggle with it and very few get it right. 

Why? Because there are many pitfalls to avoid and it can get tricky. CEOs who are pressed for time often assume that everything the board members need can be found in the team’s documents. 

It’s also not uncommon for CEOs to believe that it’s frustrating for directors to read a document that duplicates what has already been laid out in the board pack. For these reasons, CEOs don’t always think it’s necessary to write a report. 

They think they can just verbally say what they need or provide bullet points. However, that’s not enough. When CEO reports are done well, they provide chief executives with opportunities for reflection and it allows them to tap into the expertise because it answers many questions. 

For one, CEO reports give board members insight into what’s on the CEOs’ mind, which is something the board needs to be truly effective and benefit the organisation as much as possible. 

Traditional Board induction packs can leave new Directors disengaged (even before they begin). This can be challenging especially if you want them to reach their potential quickly but don’t have the time to coach them personally through this transition.

Imagine if...

• All the Directors who undertook your Board induction were confident and prepared at their first meeting.
• Each of your new Directors was asking the right questions, reading and participating in all Board papers and discussions.
• All new Directors were enthusiastic about their tenure, and brought fresh insights to the table, even if they are volunteers with little to no formal experience.

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Board meeting cycles are the lifeblood of the work of the Board. Individual Board meetings are where most of the discussion and ultimately decisions are made and are therefore the most important mechanism that the Board has at its disposal. The authority of the Board arises from its collective nature, which necessitates meetings to address the collective decision making. 

In many instances, Board schedules are treated as an agreed set of dates that the Board will meet, with little or no thought given to the larger strategic issue of the specific focus for each of those Board meetings. As the most important tool of the Board, meeting cycles require more advance planning and alignment with the strategic, risk, governance and operational requirements of the organisation. The role of Board committees also needs to be reviewed and integrated into the Board meeting cycle. Gone are the days when Board committees met just prior to the Board meeting, as it was convenient for all concerned.