Part 1 of this series on board effectiveness noted that the evaluation of board effectiveness is just one aspect of your overall Measurement, Evaluation, and Learning Model (and that this in turn is just part of your MELD Governance Model). It also suggested that there are various dimensions of board effectiveness, each of which includes… Continue reading How effective is your board? – Part 2
How effective is your Board? – Part 1
Evaluating board effectiveness How do you know if your board is effective?Does your board share a common view as to the purpose/s of effectiveness evaluation?Is there agreement as to what effectiveness means for your organisation?Has your board agreed on an evaluation framework that supports meaningful evaluation of its own effectiveness?How effective is your evaluation of… Continue reading How effective is your Board? – Part 1
A question of skillful questioning
Asking the right questions in the right way One of the shorthand ways of explaining what governance focuses on is to say it’s about ‘Doing the right things in the right way’. This post offers a reflection on one essential aspect of governance, that is used by every director at every meeting. Skillful questioning is… Continue reading A question of skillful questioning
Prompts and algorithms for people (not just AI)
There has been a flood of material published lately on the many varied uses that can be made of AI tools like ChatGPT, Chatsonic, YouChat, and MidJourney. The more helpful material, I find, focuses on the intelligent framing of prompts to engineer optimal responses from the AI tool. The notion of prompt ‘engineering’ is not… Continue reading Prompts and algorithms for people (not just AI)
Prioritisation of everything, everywhere, all the time
We prioritise every time we make a choice of any kind. We prioritise: Every one of the thousands of decisions we make every day reflects a (priority) choice between available options. Conscious and unconscious choices Prioritisation may be unconscious, in that we have previously attached importance or value to an activity and it has become… Continue reading Prioritisation of everything, everywhere, all the time
Regret: your improvement catalyst
In my work with nonprofit organisations, and with mentees across a wide range of commercial and nonprofit settings, I see regret quite often as a drag on innovation, productivity, and improvement. One of the key steps involved in moving my clients forward, therefore, is to help them shift from feeling somewhat stuck in regret, to… Continue reading Regret: your improvement catalyst
Touchpoints and Touchstones for quality engagement
The importance of user experience (UX) has been a major theme of marketing, project management and design (affecting products and services of all kinds) over recent years. This has been expressed in numerous ways, but the customer (member, donor, client) journey and the employee journey are notable examples. Touchpoints on the journey Journey maps or… Continue reading Touchpoints and Touchstones for quality engagement
How long is your governance ‘year’?
Need for a key dates calendar Some of the smaller associations and community groups I have worked with have no staff, so volunteer directors and committee members are charged with doing all the work involved in running the organisation. I recently assisted one such group with the establishment of a Governance Committee, and part of… Continue reading How long is your governance ‘year’?
Identifying with purpose
When working with mentees, one of the key things I listen for is any statement beginning “I am …”. Such statements are a good indicator of how the mentee defines their personal identity. “I am …” statements often arise when discussing a mentee’s goals. I might first ask them to clarify their goals, and perhaps… Continue reading Identifying with purpose
Double-edged swords and paradoxical choices
‘Either/or’ choices Most board deliberations and policy analyses are conducted using an ‘either/or’ approach. A set of (usually three or four) options is devised, from which one is to be favoured over others. You can have the answer in one of the red, blue, or green boxes – but you can’t have two or more… Continue reading Double-edged swords and paradoxical choices