We sometimes refer to aspirational goals as ones we might hope to achieve, while suspecting that they are beyond our reach. Yet, without aspiring to achieve great things, no great things can actually happen. So it is with nonprofit governance aspirations. Aspiring to be compliant doesn’t offer much inspiration to your stakeholders, or your team.… Continue reading Aspirational Governance – Inspiring Great Outcomes
Tag: performance
Board evaluation done? Now what?
The risk with some board effectiveness evaluations is that they can be mere box-ticking exercises. Everyone is time-poor, and reflecting on your structures, roles, processes, and performance may feel like navel-gazing to some. If your annual board evaluation simply puts some ratings against a checklist of questions, it won’t lead to identifying opportunities for improvement.… Continue reading Board evaluation done? Now what?
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
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
Clarifying expectations – when specifics matter
Misaligned expectations are often an underlying cause of error, tension, and conflict. This is true for nonprofit organisations as much as for any business entity (and family and friendship groups for that matter). When we expect one thing, and something else happens instead, many of us experience emotional responses ranging from delight and surprise, through… Continue reading Clarifying expectations – when specifics matter
Validity and Validation in your non-profit
We all seek validation Most of us are very familiar with the kind of validation offered when others like or share our social media posts. This emotional validation involves processes of uncovering, accepting, approving, and hopefully understanding, the emotional experience of another person. Organisations also seek a similar form of validation when they monitor engagement… Continue reading Validity and Validation in your non-profit
Mixed feelings about ambivalent decision-making?
Validity, value, and valence are three terms used in the governance and management of non-profits, and each refers to concepts of ‘strength’ and ‘worth’ in some way. Etymonline advises that their common Proto-Indo-European root is wal- (“to be strong”, also “be well, be strong, be worthy”). Shades of this underlying meaning can be found in… Continue reading Mixed feelings about ambivalent decision-making?
Measuring your social value (impact)
Traditional notions of value in the context of organisational governance have tended to focus on economic definitions and metrics. Value for money, profitability, cash flow, price/performance, and ‘value adding’ through risk reduction, automation, demand aggregation, logistic efficiency, etc. are just some of the forms of economic value used by managers and directors to assess the… Continue reading Measuring your social value (impact)
Measuring NFP Measures
Arguably, next to your non-profit board’s responsibility for setting directions for your organisation, the monitoring and evaluation of performance and conformance are the two next most significant board roles and activities. Central to these monitoring and evaluation activities is the use of metrics and indicators (see Locus Focus Vs Hocus Pocus for distinctions between these… Continue reading Measuring NFP Measures
Reflective Governance: The MELD Model
The MELD Model is a blend, or ‘melding’, of the COBIT5 EDM Governance Model and the Triple-Loop Learning Model, which has its origins in the work of Profs Chris Argyris and Donald Schon. MELD stands for Measure, Evaluate, Learn, and Direct. See the header image above. This contrivance is simply an elaboration of the Evaluate,… Continue reading Reflective Governance: The MELD Model