Board Evaluation
Should the focus of directors be on things they can control and direct, or should it be on seeking to prepare organisations to deal with the things that are out with their control that they can’t influence?
Focussed on the future.
Regulators give guidance on the importance of directors evaluating their performance and suggest how frequently these assessments should be done by external assessors.
Many organisations offer board evaluation services and the compliance assessments are generally well done, but is that enough? Is there more to effective board evaluation than looking at the length of the board papers, the frequency of the board meetings, monitoring who talks when, assessing the dominance of the CEO, the role of the Chair?
Experienced directors, academics, consultants and regulators will all admit, the really difficult output from board evaluation is improving the quality of long-term sustainable decision making in boardrooms. Resilient businesses are controlled by boards focussed on the future.
Our Board Evaluation Toolkit
Our board evaluation toolkit allows boards and senior management teams to safely explore and improve the quality of decision making. We deploy the standard techniques of questionnaires, observing board meetings and one-to-one meetings, but we also creatively tailor role-play and debates to explore the issues of greatest relevant in particular boardrooms.
Juggling Giants
A framework that provides teams and boards with a safe and enjoyable environment to role-play and debate issues relevant to their own businesses.
Survey questionnaires
Forming the foundations of a tailored working approach to assess your business issues.
One-to-one discussions
Experiences can be shared on a one-on-one basis, confidentially to work out tricky situations. This could be invaluable in untangling knots.
Board pack assessment
Investigating the approaches to constructing board meeting packs.
Board meeting observations
What is working and what aspects could be improved, making them more efficient and effective.
Helping directors achieve best performance matters to us and we make the time available to do one-to-one mentoring of directors, particularly new directors and those taking on their first role as Chair.
In such circumstances we sign personal and corporate confidentiality agreements so that directors can share board papers with us and rehearse with us the issues that should be discussed with the full board, in a knowledgeable, secure and psychologically safe environment.
Resilience takes you beyond mere compliance and explores the questions that all directors need to be asking. Can there ever be a reasonable excuse for poor financial governance?
For decades we have helped train non-finance directors to better understand financial statements.
Interested in our client’s view of how well we do this have a look at the testimonial from Dr Sarah Pritchard of Buro Happold.
Can financial governance ever be as easy as ABC? What’s your mantra?
“I have had the privilege of attending a director-level Corporate Governance course being led by Mary, and also worked with her in a professional capacity. She is an outstanding professional who possesses deep knowledge and experience of governance principles, regulations and best practices. Mary’s commitment to delivering high-quality course content and fostering a stimulating learning environment was evident. Her teaching methods are not only informative but also engaging, creating an atmosphere where course participants can achieve maximum value. She stays current with the latest trends and challenges in the field and ensures that the course content remains relevant and practical for today. I also worked closely with Mary on an assignment that we both worked on. Her ability to analyse complex situations, identify risks and offer effective solutions was instrumental in enhancing the organisation’s turn around. Furthermore, Mary is a reliable and ethical professional who consistently upholds the highest standards of integrity and accountability. One of the qualities that truly sets Mary apart is her ability to adapt to the ever-evolving landscape of governance. Mary’s passion, knowledge and dedication to ensuring strong governance practices makes her an outstanding professional in her field.”
Mairianne Stewart
“When I attended governance trained run by Mary, I was impressed by her ability to explain finance and governance to such a mixed group: young and experienced directors, large private companies to small charities, lawyers and accountants to directors with no professional background. Mary also delivered governance training to one of our client’s a who fed back to me, 'the recent training given by Mary Campbell was excellent...and resulted in us realising various things around the way we operate need to be changed and improved. The governance work with our board had the intended impact of giving the directors quite a serious 'wake-up call'.'
Faye MacLeod
The training delivery was professional, engaging and impactful, and will make a significant difference to this group of companies for many years to come. I would be delighted recommend Mary to other clients looking for top quality training and consultancy services to help improve their business and its governance.”
How is your board preparing for the introduction of Resilience Statements in 2025?
