GovernorHub's Board Effectiveness tool (available as part of the GovernorHub Knowledge subscription) is designed to be simple and quick for governors and trustees to fill out.
Ask governors and trustees to complete it at the same time as other compliance jobs such as declarations of interest and confirmations to give you an annual picture of a board's effectiveness. Ask new governors to complete after their first term so everyone else understands what they bring to the role and how they might change dynamics.
Use the results to evidence board development, succession plan according to skills and experience and recruit according to real time gaps.
Please note:
We have deliberately set the board effectiveness tool to only be available to those allocated to the constitution and associate members of the board (this is to stop non-governors being automatically reminded to fill it in). If you haven't yet set up your constitution you will be prompted to do so before anyone can continue. Our help article on setting up the constitution shows you how. If anyone on your board can't access it and thinks they should be able to, do make sure they are set up correctly as a member of the constitution.
When governors and trustees have completed their forms, everyone (including non-governors) will be able to see an overview of the efficacies of the whole board combined by going to the Governing Board tab and then choosing Effectiveness.
Clicking on each segment of the graph gives you a summary breakdown of each efficacy and shows how many people selected each statement.
This view also shows everyone (including non board members) how many people have or haven't completed their forms - the percentage is shown in the header. N.B. If anyone visits this page without having completed theirs it will remind them to do so.
Admins are able to view individuals' responses. A View all button will be on this page (it won't for non-admins) - this will open a window that shows who has and hasn't completed the board effectiveness tool and when completions were last made. To view individual responses just click on the person's name.
The send reminder function here will post on the board's noticeboard and send an email to anyone that has NOT filled out their effectiveness tool (those with a red cross above). Do note, if you do want everyone to fill it out again (not just those that haven't done one) just tick the box at the bottom of the message. Really handy if you've just done some whole board training and you want everyone to update their views on their training needs!
The tool has been designed so that its easy for individuals to complete it themselves but we understand that some individuals need more support than others. Admins can fill out the form on a governor/trustee's behalf by following the same steps you go through to view a person's responses. Then just click on Update and fill out the form yourself.
Our article on GovernorHub Knowledge contains a download of all the questions in the board effectiveness tool. If you need someone to do this on paper (either in a meeting without internet connection or for you to enter on another occasion) you can download and print off to suit your needs.
For full transparency, when hovering over the last completed date, a pop up with 'who' completed it will appear.
As with efficacies you can view the skills, training and experience information to suit your needs by clicking each tab.
Skills will help you choose the right people for a job. It is a useful tool for succession planning - identifying your aspiring chairs and who could take part in panels and performance management for example.
Training will help you plan training over the course of the year and signpost to the relevant courses on GovernorHub Knowledge.
Experience is very useful when vacancies arise so you can recruit the right person for the job and ensure you have a balance of skills and experience around the table.
In each tab, the numbers show how many people have chosen each answer and the drop down arrows reveal and hide the full detail.
How can I find out more?
Read our Board effectiveness - user guide to ensure you can support your governors and trustees, our Board effectiveness FAQs to hear our most common questions or ask us one of yours in the chat bubble at the bottom right of this screen.