Governance, purpose and risk

A one-day workshop

Did Covid catch your business off-guard? Was it an unpleasant reminder of the fact that we live in a VUCA world? Or was it the sort of risk that was already on your radar? Were you, in fact, quick to identify it as an opportunity? Or did you just find yourself in fire-fighting mode?

Your answers to these questions may indicate the level of your board’s governance maturity. The more mature, the easier it will have been rising to the challenge.

The language of governance can sometimes seem a little remote to the average business, something just for academics, institutes, quoted companies and the occasional newspaper headline. But nothing could be further from the truth. If your board thoroughly understands the principles of governance, is aware of best practice, is up-to-speed with the latest developments, and is wholly united in its approach to strategy, risk and control then all should be well. If not, just how confident should you really be about your future?

Objectives

Learning objectives

This workshop is designed to help you:

  • challenge how you view your role in driving corporate and individual purpose
  • take a critical look at your alignment of strategy, risk and control
  • review and discuss how you deliver success in the real world of human irrationality and bias

The session is guaranteed to challenge your thinking. It will give you a range of practical tools to help drive and safeguard your business. It will be a day well spent.

Audience

Who should attend?

This interactive and participative workshop is designed for directors, leaders, senior managers, and decision-makers. Your personal level of board experience and the size and nature of your business are irrelevant – the need for clarity of focus in a constantly changing world is the same.

Format

Format

A lively mix of theory, challenge and application.

Usually run as a one-day session, it can be split into two ½-day sessions if preferred (perhaps with some review work between sessions).

Special features

Special features

This workshop can be tailored to meet your specific requirements. You can choose to follow the agenda set out below or you can talk it through with the trainer and set a new one. The choice is yours.

Agenda

This is an indicative agenda – a starting point for a conversation with you. The consultant will be happy to tailor the content and the structure to your precise requirements.

1 Integrity

  • Governance and law
    • What do we need to do? – understanding the legal parameters
    • What ought we to be doing? – recognising and applying perceived best-practice codes and guidelines
  • Stakeholder thinking
    • Who are we doing this for, and what are they expecting?

2 Board focus

  • Understanding today
    • How balanced is your scorecard? – determining the key in KPIs
    • Topical issues in context? – diversity, ESG, remuneration, pandemic, and beyond
  • Visioning the future
    • There is always more than one option

3 Risk and control

  • Systems thinking
    • Boundaries, elements and relationships
    • Where can it go wrong? – Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points
  • Viability and sustainability
    • Building a confident financial literacy

4 Communication

  • Internal
    • What, when, and why? – keeping the wheels turning
  • External
    • Who, where, and how? – building and maintaining reputation

5 Strategy

  • Culture and ethos
    • ‘Tone from the top’ v ‘The fish rots from the head’
    • Maintaining a learning organisation approach
  • Future parameters
    • Establishing realistic benchmarks
      • If not you, who?
      • If not now, when?

For a no-obligation discussion about running this programme for your organisation on an in-house basis, just give us a call on 01582 463465.