Governance Consulting
We start with you
Our customized consulting services are designed to work with your board based upon specific goals and desires at this particular time in your governance journey. The team at STRIVE! takes a conversational, relationship-building approach as we guide your organization through what can be thorny and contentious governance issues. Grounded in our models, we've supported organizations of all types and sizes as they've dealt with issues such as boards getting into operations, board/management conflict, difficult board members, lack of direction/focus, and financial crisis. Don't worry: we can help!
Topics
Understanding Great Governance
Strive will work with and support you in identifying your specific governance issues/needs and provide you with proven principles and best governance practices to implement. Through interactive and engaging connections we will walk with you through a customized approach to meet you identified needs. Some topics and tools we will discuss are listed below.
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Governance Excellence Model
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Secret Formula for Organizational Effectiveness
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Difficult Conversations
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Governance Roadblocks
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Effective Board Meetings
Strategic Planning
Breaking out of past thinking into the world of possibilities is one of the toughest jobs a board has. That’s why serious boards not only commit time for an annual retreat, but they find ways to stay focussed on strategy and the vision throughout the year.
Let STRIVE! facilitate its engaging strategic planning process for you. We will challenge your board to be the using its collective gifts as well as enable them to think bigger and clearer about the future of your organization. We will work with you to create a living plan that flows right through the organization directly to implementation.
GEM Debrief - Assessing Your Board's Performance
All boards are encouraged to evaluate their effectiveness annually. STRIVE! provides facilitation services to create an atmosphere of openness and candidness while debriefing evaluation results. After completing their assessment using STRIVE!’s online governance assessment tool, the GEM Assessment for Boards we will debrief with you the 25 page report giving a thorough assessment of what the board as a whole thinks of itself and it’s effectiveness in each discipline. We will then work with you to create an action plan to follow through on areas identified and and get on-the-spot input into the challenging areas of governance you are struggling with.
Policy Blitz - Developing Policies Based on the GEM
Have you ever heard the comment: “policies are boring... why have them?”, “aren't the minutes enough?”, “how do board policies minimize board member liability risk?”, “what are we really talking about?”... This session takes the STRIVE!’s GEM Board Policy Template and your existing policies and transforms them into a full set of governing policies for your organization and directors. They become a great guide for your new directors and can be amended as needed to keep relevant.
Hiring and De-Hiring the CEO
Recruiting a new chief executive officer is an opportunity to make a significantly positive impact on an organization. It is a time to review what has been done, learn from mistakes, and determine what could be better. It is a chance to clarify and formalize adjustments to the board's role. We provide professional support for your hiring process--we help you do the hiring.
Regrettably there are times when the senior staff person needs to be removed. There are many potential risks and challenges that the board may be up against. We walk along side boards to offer process, insight and support while the board walks through these difficult times.
Conflict Management at the Board Table
We facilitate resolutions to conflicts about specific board issues. If your board has not made progress on important governance related issues it might be time for a facilitator who fully understands governance and relationships. When board members differ in perspective it is often helpful for an outside source to walk alongside and facilitate discussions to enable win-win solutions that honour both the relationships and the role of the board.