Creating an effective board culture: A best practice guide

Strong non-for-profit boards are vital to thriving communities, but remarkably hard to develop.

When it comes to creating an effective board culture, many boards focus on the difficulties rather than the benefits, feeling their time and resources are best used elsewhere – but it doesn’t have to be that way.

With the right approach, creating an effective board culture is an attainable goal for any board – and members of The Engaging Young Leaders on Governance Program (ELGP) have developed a free best practice guide to enhance your board’s performance.

About the project

One thing all effective boards have in common is that they regularly evaluate board culture and identify areas that require attention. As part of an ongoing initiative to assist boards with reaching their full business potential, recommendations provided by the guide are designed to help boards assess current strengths and weaknesses to be used as a benchmark to monitor progress. The guide outlines the components of an effective board culture, and the necessary questions boards must consider to inspire change. These include areas such as:

1. Accountability and transparency
2. Commitment and passion
3. Independence and diversity
4. Leadership
5. Continuous improvement
6. Interpersonal interaction and teamwork
7. Recruitment and board composition
8. Effective board meetings
9. Role expectations
10. Effective chair
11. Forward focus
12. Orientation

To learn more about how to stimulate cultural change on boards, “Creating an Effective Board Culture: A Best Practice Guide” is available on our website as a free resource to all boards and can be found in our online resource toolkit here.