The BoardPro Blog

Writing a CEO Report That Delights Your Board + FREE Business Templates

Brett Herkt

Board members preparing for the board meeting have lots of information to review and want to get to the important stuff quickly! Unfortunately, with poorly structured, unfocused CEO reports this scenario is all too common.

Is Board Software Right For My Organisation?

In this independent article Ruth Medd, of Women on Boards explains how a telephone survey resulted in her joining an Advisory Board and reviews three online board management products - timely given COVID-19 necessitates boards to operate "virtually".

Board Minute Taking Guide

Minute taking – So what’s the problem? Taking minutes can be cumbersome and painful. BoardPro’s polling of governance pain points over three years showed that 76% of respondents rated ‘minute taking’ as a significant pain.

Why a good board needs a solid connection with the CEO

The importance for the board to establish an effective form of remote control to ensure direction is maintained between the few board meetings that take place every year is vital.

How to run an effective board meeting

For a board meeting to be successful it has to be well planned. And it's got to be more than just a list of agenda topics. It's got to have something that holds it together, whether that's a theme or just the way the topics are organised so that they have a logical sequence

What is good governance?

What makes governance good? It’s a question we repeatedly ask ourselves as directors and it’s something John Carver, managing director of BoardWorks, together with his co-founder, Graeme Nahkies tried to answer on this webinar.

How to create a culture of curiosity in the boardroom

On a recent BoardPro webinar, Governance experts John Page and Graeme Nahkies go over some basic steps to assist with moulding the culture within boardrooms so that genuine learning can take place. Throughout the webinar, both emphasised how creating this culture is no accident, and has to be consciously done.

Strategic role of the board

John Page and Graham Nahkies recently sat down together in a BoardWorks and BoardPro hosted webinar to talk about the separate roles of boards and management when it comes to strategy.

8 Steps to a Beautiful Annual Operating Plan

During a 30-minute webinar featuring Brett Herkt, CEO and co-founder of BoardPro, Martin Oxley, BoardPro advisor and Steven Bowman, serial author and managing director of Conscious Governance, the group went through the necessary steps that need to be completed in order to create a beautiful annual operating plan.

Boards role in planning

In a recent webinar hosted by BoardWorks and BoardPro, John Page and Graham Nahkies sat down together to discuss the importance of boards to undertake independent thinking from management in order to provide management proper external guidance.

Biggest shift in 80 years as board members respond to ‘new normal’

BoardPro CEO, Brett, observes the challenges facing boards, the most impactful since World War 2 given previous challenges have typically been constrained to sectors, geographies or embedded in regulatory change with lead times allowing industries to adapt.

Unlock the Power of Clear Board Meeting Agendas

Sean McDonald

A poorly run Board meeting is one of the fastest ways to lose sight of what you're trying to achieve, leaves board members disinterested and it wastes their time. Considering they are some of the most valuable members of the organisation, the last thing you want to do is waste their time. The only sure-fire way to prevent that is to create agendas that are dynamic, clear and effective.

Seven Steps to Effective Governance for Financial Advice Providers

Graeme Nahkies

Being a director is never a risk-free exercise, but there are ways to protect yourself by ensuring you are as informed as you possibly can be about the business and the role, and about your responsibilities as a director. Insurance is an essential backstop, but, as the Mainzeal directors have found, it is at best a Plan B. It is not a substitute for doing the job well in the first place and remember, you cannot insure your reputation!

Introducing Board Benchmarking

Sean McDonald

BoardPro is delighted to introduce Board Benchmarking, with a special discount for their online benchmarked board and director surveys, and to share links to their popular articles and resources.

Do we have a quorum?

A quorum is the minimum number of voting members required to be present before the board can conduct a meeting. If the minimum number of members is not present the board meeting cannot make lawful decisions

Writing an Association CEO Report that delights your board + A free template

Wouldn’t it be great if the first pages of the CEO’s report provided a concise summary of the business’ performance and needs, then it clearly outlined the key areas you need to prepare for? Good news! Producing a CEO Report for Associations that delights the board, is very achievable, with a few key principles:

How should a Chief Executive Report to the Board

Many CEOs complain their boards spends too much time “meddling” in the details and are not strategic enough. You’re unlikely to change your board, and the best way to impact the board dynamics is to succeed in your role.

What boards can learn from the use of checklists

Sean McDonald

When pilots and co-pilots talk to each other, introduce themselves and go over the checklist, they open channels of communication. It makes it more likely the junior partner will speak up in an emergency.” It is not hard to think of a wide range of checklists that would be helpful to boards and their executive teams.

8 Steps to a beautiful annual operating plan

An annual operating plan is the blueprint for building your organisation in any given year. This guide is aimed at CEOs of commercial and not-for-profit organisations who don’t have a strong track record of strategic/operational planning.

A Guide to Managing Virtual Board Meetings

Brett Herkt

Governance provided by directors is an essential part of organisational leadership. Stimulating an effective meeting environment has become a major challenge for boards through the Covid-19 pandemic. Learn how to optimise your virtual board meetings.

A Complete Guide to Successful Hybrid Board Meetings

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many things for organisations. When everything started, boards had to transition to remote operations so they could follow strict social distancing guidelines put in place.

Nine Steps to Effective Governance

Governance excellence is tough, board members face difficulties balancing this while creating positive teamwork despite the disparate demands on their organisations. Best governance practices evolve and by applying a principled framework, boards are better equipped to adapt.

Radio New Zealand

Radio NZ interview CEO, Brett Herkt on BoardPro’s early wins and the product’s international prospects. Pick up the conversation at 4:00 minutes on this audio link.

Kiwi tech company BoardPro scores NZ Rugby deal

Chris Keall

Auckland-based BoardPro has won a contract with New Zealand Rugby that will see 26 provincial unions, five Super Rugby franchises and the NZ Maori Rugby Board adopt its boardroom governance software.

Board Members Need to Lead the Way

The board must clearly articulate expectations to management with a shared lexicon on what success constitutes. The board’s role is to sign off on strategy, while management’s is to buy into the agreed strategy and then execute.