The President of the Irish Region of The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland shares their thoughts on the current governance climate in the most recent edition of the Irish Agenda.

Helping organisations set their standard for governance by supporting the professional development of individuals, teams and boards.

Taking minutes of a meeting requires attention to detail. Following a sound process will help your board to create an accurate, useful and safe account of meeting activities.

You are chairing a meeting. How will you ensure that the meeting that you are leading will be valuable, effective and appropriate?

Resources and guidance to help you with your continuing professional development (CPD), a fundamental part of being a chartered governance professional. 

The Competency Framework for Governance Professionals comprises 12 competencies divided into three areas within the framework; Values, Practice and Knowledge.

In this podcast, Sharon Constançon discusses different tactics a company secretary or governance professional can use to help their board identify any unaddressed issues that are making it ineffective. Once it has been identified, Sharon outlines tactics to address and overcome the elephant in the room. The conversation covers how to get the unspeakable topic on the table, how to address disputes and bullying among directors and how to make sure critical risks are really being addressed. It looks at how the company secretary or governance professional can empower the board through coaching directors and facilitating governance improvements on behalf of the chair.

In this podcast James Beasley, Senior Director at Nasdaq Governance Solutions, discusses the boardroom of the future. He considers how its directors will use what are currently emerging technologies to fulfil their duties and carry out their responsibilities more effectively. James contemplates the potential for improving board effectiveness through using virtual assistant technology or chatbots in the boardroom, as well as taking into account the potential risks this functionality poses. James believes today’s boards are ready to embrace technology but warns against solutions for solutions’ sake, highlighting that the use of technology shouldn’t be at the expense of overall board effectiveness.

In this podcast Sophie Paton-McDermott, a partner at Make Happy, explains how to approach and conduct difficult conversations. She argues that being skilled at having difficult conversations can make you more effective and advises being strategic about the conversations you have. Sophie says it’s important not to put off tricky conversations and describes how reframing a conversation in your mind, as well as using breathing techniques, can help you cope. She says it’s natural to become defensive and/or emotional and advises naming emotions to achieve a constructive conversation. Sophie argues the best conversations happen in person when the timing is right.