4 Domains of Governance
Standing on a foundation of readiness, the board simultaneously juggles three essential responsibilities.
Board Readiness – “start with why”
Although we should consider it the first domain of board responsibility, board readiness is often an after-thought, or is completely ignored by boards that are focused on one or another of the other three areas. But boards that fail to fully and effectively perform their responsibilities of strategic voice, operational guidance, and/or accountability inevitably do so because they have not paid attention to their own readiness for those responsibilities. They literally are “too busy” to get organized by reflecting on and recalibrating (as necessary) their own governance ‘operating system’ This foundational responsibility both precedes and supports effective performance in the other three domains.
Q: Why does the board exist? How does the board do its work?
Additional Detail – Board Readiness
Strategic Voice – “what, where”
Effective boards exercise strategic voice on behalf of their constituency to give long-term, strategic direction inward to the organization (giving the CEO and staff strategic direction). They also use their voice on behalf of their constituency to speak outward to key influencers in their environment (for example, advocating for beneficiaries to politicians, the press, funding sources, etc.)
Q: Where are we going? What is to be achieved?
Attitional Detail – Strategic Voice
Operational Guidance – “how”
They also provide operational (day-to-day) guidance to management for how the organization should be run. Effective boards may elect to fulfill this area of responsibility in various ways, writing detailed policy for personnel actions and administrative processes, approving fiscal decisions, delegating operational control to the executive with broad operating policy, etc.
Q: How is the work to be done?
Attitional Detail – Operational Guidance
Accountability – “what, where, and how well”
It is critical that the board avoid two extremes: (1) micromanagement or over-supervision of operational functions and (2) abdication of the board’s responsibility to assure success. Therefore the board follows up by monitoring to assure success and rendering a judgment about that success.
Q: What have we achieved? Where are we now? How well have we done our work?
Additional Detail – Accountability
Domains Rubric
Clicking the link below, you can view an abbreviated framework in rubric form that can help assess and guide the board in performing its four primary responsibilities. Domains are described along a continuum from ineffective (does harm) to basic (avoids harm) to proficient (does good) to distinguished (creates a system that sustains and increases its capacity to do good.)
Components
Framework