Trustees today are expected to volunteer to govern in especially challenging times.

So how can boards lead well in a demanding political, cultural, financial and fast-changing environment? And, more specifically, what can boards get right when things go (very) wrong?

Steph Harland and Nick Wilkie from Bayes Centre of Charity of Effectiveness joined nearly 100 chairs, trustees and chief executives at Trustee Exchange to think about how Boards might overcome even the most challenging of contexts and events.

In the first article, we examined whether Trusteeship really is any tougher now. (We think it really is.).

In this article, we suggest ways Boards can set themselves up well

We see effective Boards do seven things well.

1.They are clear about their organisation’s distinctive value

They strategize in their ecosystem. They understand what other organisations do well and are genuinely collaborative in service of the mission. We see some Boards ‘only’ consider need. Others stop at thinking about need and target population. The best Boards understand that Purpose is a calculation of need / population x distinctive value.

2.They are truly focused

They don’t have priorities. Priorities means pretending the things that aren’t can get done somehow. The most effective Boards we know do or don’t do. They are ruthlessly, relentlessly honest about bandwidth. They have the fewest possible objectives and are confident in making (and sticking to) clear choices, however difficult those choices.

3. They spend their time intentionally

They use a model such as Chait, Ryan and Taylor’s Fiduciary, Strategic and Generative Forms of Governance, or Julia Unwin’s 5Ss, to range deliberately in purpose and style. (If you’re not familiar with these models, they are really accessible and available here.)

4. Boards set up for tough times are agile in their strategy

We consult on strategy as well as governance and in very few cases do we believe the fixed, static 3 or 5 year plan is optimal. We advocate for adopting practice from the most forward-thinking Boards in which strategic intent is set on longer horizon, and in which strategic objectives are set on a three year forward view – but where these objectives are reviewed annually, before being translated into annual deliverables.

5. They are clear about collective risk appetite

They surface the fact that different people have deeply differing attitudes to risk. We all come wit risk registers built-in. Bit rarely do we ever talk about this. So we default to the procedure of running through the risk register without ever really taking about the level of risk the Board is truly comfortable with and optimising for. (Felicity Oswald, chief executive at Girlguiding is brilliant at getting Boards to surface very personal attitudes to risk.)

6. They draw on blended sources of intelligence

Boards get tough-time ready by drawing on blended sources of intelligence Their governance is anchored in actionable insight. It blends data and ground truth. The best Boards neither seek refuge in masses of data (avoiding exercising judgement by asking for more research), nor are they unduly concerned by strength of member or volunteer feeling. They can hold a line because they are confident it came from a range of intelligence.

7. They are united in calm

Boards that can face the twin impostors of triumph and disaster both the same are united in calm.
Andy Wood [SS1.1](we’ve never met him) has written a brilliant Substack on the imperative of calm in the boardroom here.

Of course this list is not definitive. We share it in the spirit of ideas not as a blueprint. But we hope it might encourage and enable some meaningful, useful reflection on your Board about how to build the habits that equip us all to govern in tough times.

In the final article, we’ll look at what effective boards have done well when things have actually hit the fan.

(If you ever want to talk to us about agile strategy – or anything else in this blog – do drop us a line at cce@citystgeorges.ac.uk.)