A:  Most Board members want to keep their discussion at the "strategic" or "policy" level. The reality is most Boards have not defined that level so there is no consistency in understanding what constitutes an appropriate level of discussion.

 

I have never seen discussions elevate to a more strategic level, more likely they sink to greater levels of detail risking a tendency to "micro-manage."  The ProCon Governance Mode provides a method of defining, calibrating and testing the level of Board discussion to insure that it is consistently at the "strategic or policy" level. 

 

A:  This is an issue that challenges nearly all Boards. The challenge is particularly acute considering the increasing sophistication of credit unions, greater management skills and higher regulator expectations.

 

Board/CEO relationships must be based on trust. That trust is strengthened by the degree to which the Board is comfortable with their knowledge of the credit union's performance. Clear and consistent communication is a key factor. "Best practice" Boards understand the difference between Governance and Management.

 

In high performing credit unions the results desired by the Board are clear, well-defined and consistent with the organization's vision and strategy. Board members trust the CEO to make the necessary and appropriate decisions within reasonable parameters and support those decisions. The ProCon Governance Model includes examples of clear results and well-defined parameters of CEO authority which are designed to enable decision-making in the fast-paced and competitive market facing credit unions today.

 

A:  This is an important question and relates directly to the establishment of trust in the Board/CEO relationship. We suggest the development of a Strategic Scorecard which provides the Board an excellent overview of the organization's performance with a reasonable number of measures to track progress and performance. This is a key element of The ProCon Governance Mode.