Products and Services Offered
General Facilitation/Problem SolvingBeginning with data attained through surveys of and conversations with board and staff, a plan is developed to "draw a bead" on specific issues affecting the organization. The consultant works with the Board and staff to guide them toward a solution, and helps develop rules, procedures and policies to inform future behavior. Policy Governance principles help focus the discussion and provide a setting where the attendees can envision a win-win solution. Full Day
Governance Audit and Tune-Up
Boards are challenged to define the nature of their governance role. Working with data gleaned from a Board survey and selected discussions prior to the session, the consultant helps Boards define the Board's "job description". Various governance models are discussed, along with the pros and cons of each. "Rules of engagement" between Board and Staff are explored, and a set of "governing principles" is developed to guide the Boards future behavior. Full Day
Mission/Vision Overhaul
Certainly, the most important organizational driving force is those ideas held in the "mission" or "vision" statements. Often, however, these carefully crafted words inform the activities of an organization rather that its purpose. This session is dedicated to exploring not just what an organization does, but why it exists. The concept of "ownership" of the organization helps set the foundation for a discussion and eventual re-tooling of these important governing ideas. Full Day
Ends Exercise
An organization is only as good as its vision. In Policy Governance, great pains are taken to craft a very specific group of "Ends" policies which guide the organization's every decision. In this exercise, the consultant, after introducing the concept of "ends", helps guide the participants in developing a set of envisioning statements that define not only the future of the organization, but indeed, it overall purpose. Full Day
Policy Governance Primer for Groups
This presentation is a "short tour" of the general principles of the Policy Governance model. The consultant presents a slide-show describing the present state of nonprofit governance, a survey of various governance models and their relative strengths and weaknesses, the structural basis of Policy Governance, a description of the general tools of the model, and examples of selected policies and monitoring reports. A culminating Q&A session helps inform the model. Two Hours to a Half Day
Policy Governance Explained-An Intensive for Boards
This session is a detailed presentation of the Policy Governance model tailored to your particular situation. Working with feedback from surveys of and conversations with Board members, the consultant tailors this presentation to your organization and its unique challenges. The presentation includes an exploration of governance in general and the specific details of how the PG model works to transform your role as a Board. The four areas of PG; Ends, Executive Limitations, the Board/CEO connection and Board Process, are examined in depth. By the end of the session, Board Members will have the ability to decide whether adopting the Policy Governance model is right for their organization. Full Day
Policy Governance Enacted
This is a series of four full-day sessions wherein the PG model is officially adopted. The first session (Policy Governance explained, above) explains the model in detail, allowing Board members to make an informed decision whether to proceed to adoption. Two middle sessions are devoted to actually developing the Policies that will guide the organization. During these two days, the Board will develop its own Executive Limitations, Board Process and Board/CEO Linkage Policies. A final day is devoted to developing the all-important Ends Policies. Four days over a period of several months