Question

Define and explain the primary 10 responsibilities of an organization’s Governing Body

Answer 1

Ans) Definition: A governing body is the group of people given the power and authority to form the policy and steer the overall direction of an organisation.

- The primary job of the governing body is to protect the rights, interests and wellbeing of all the members on whose behalf the organisation is working.

- The governing body as a whole does this by making sure the organisation runs smoothly and can achieve the goals and objectives it has promised to deliver to its members.

- The chair represents the organisation to the members and the outside world. The chair’s role is very important for the effective and legitimate governance of an organisation.

- Chairing a meeting requires confidence, skills and training—it doesn’t just happen.

- The chair is like the captain of the football team: an experienced leader whose job it is to bring everyone’s individual skills together and encourage members to play as a team, develop new skills and kick the winning goals.

- The chair of a governing body has to:

• lead the governing body
• help steer the direction and performance of the organisation
• earn the respect of other members of the governing body
• not dominate the meeting with his or her own opinions
• listen to everyone in the meeting and encourage contributions by everyone
• initiate effective governance practices within the governing body
• be able to mediate when conflict arises
• promote good relationships with members and the community
• be a role model and promote high standards of behaviour and practice
• ensure that full, accurate information is provided at meetings.

When an inexperienced or bullying chair is in charge of a meeting, they are in danger of wasting everyone’s time, excluding people from the discussion, missing out on valuable ideas, making ill-informed decisions and not achieving outcomes.

- The benefits of having a confident, skilled chair include better discussion, informed decision making, and building a shared spirit of cooperation and achievement among individuals in the governing body.