The Board Performance System™

The Board Performance System™ & The Board Performance System™ Plus

For boards wishing to modernize their structures to achieve systematic role clarity, focus on results, and organization-wide accountability for performance, the Charney|Keyse Board Performance System™ is a comprehensive, turn-key service protocol for governance assessment, training, policy development and implementation.

Used by more than 160 organizations in North America, Charney|Keyse’ Board Performance System™ provides clients with the following “Assured Outcomes”:

Results criteria will be in place, broadly defining the success of the organization.
Board members will have a clear definition of their role and responsibilities — individually and collectively.
There will be a specific understanding as to where the board’s authority ends and CEO’s begins.
The CEO/staff will be empowered to do their job within clarified parameters of authority, and will be specifically accountable for both process and results.
Performance evaluation criteria and monitoring systems will be clearly established.
Board officers and committees will have specifically defined job descriptions/deliverables and authority.
The board will have a system to focus its efforts on industry or community trends and owners’ needs, enabling it to confidently establish priorities regarding future organizational results.

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The Board Performance System
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These outcomes are realized by completing the Board Performance System’s five primary Phases outlined below.

PHASE ONE – Diagnostics

1) New Client interview
Consultant confers with senior board officers and CEO to identify current board/CEO relationship dynamics and needs.

2) Board Assessment of Structural Effectiveness (B.A.S.E.™) Survey
Completed by all board members & CEO to determine and identify structural strengths, weaknesses, and needs.

3) The Governance Analysis™
Comprehensive review of: survey results, bylaws, board meeting agendas and minutes, existing governing policies, committee structure, and charges, etc.

PHASE TWO – The Initial Meeting

(on-site meeting with board – ideally 2 consecutive days*)

4) Mastering the Board Game™: Defining Board/Staff Roles, Relationships and Leadership (customized version)
Commencing with review of board members’ B.A.S.E.™ survey responses, this workshop explores, with emphasis on implications and benefits of applying them to the client organization, state-of-the-art governance principles and concepts for effective delegation, optimizing board officer and CEO roles, and governing policy-making.

5) The Process Articulator™
Facilitated development of comprehensive governing policies addressing:

Board Role, Process and Expectations (collective and individual) – including but not limited to: agenda planning; governing philosophy; officer roles; board code-of conduct; responsibilities of individual board members; board committee structure, etc.
CEO Authority – the parameters of authority within which the CEO must ensure all operational activity takes place (addressing staff and consumer treatment, financial planning and management, asset protection, compensation and benefits, board communications and support, and more).
Board – Management Relationship – the working relationship between board and staff, defining how the board works with, delegates to, and evaluates the CEO and operating organization performance.

PHASE THREE – Duty of Care

6) The Legal Filter™
Preparation of suggested revisions to Bylaws for submission to and correspondence with client’s attorney, as requested, to assist in legal review.

PHASE FOUR – The Roundtable Meeting

(optimally, within 45 – 90 days subsequent to PHASE TWO meeting).

7) The Purpose and Vision Expander (P.A.V.E.™) Experience Workshop
Board explores and defines organizational success and intended outcomes, from which budget and operational planning and performance assessment will be subsequently derived.

PHASE FIVE – Follow-Up Assistance

8) The Results Articulator™
Preparation and provision to client of: initial “Ends” policies as prepared by the board in Step 7 (both narrative and illustrative formats); refined and formatted version of Governing Policies Manual; a customized annual board calendar planning template; provision of “next steps” instructions for short-term issues, and “where to go from here” correspondence to help keep the board on-track; provision of suggested agenda format for subsequent board meetings; tools/forms for monitoring CEO performance and board self-assessment.

9) The Governance Progress and Support (G.P.S.) System™
Remote “coaching” assistance provided for six to twelve months (typical duration — negotiable based on client sector/needs). On-site follow-up training and assistance also included at preferred client fee structure.

*For publicly elected boards, or organizations with structures that require third-party authorization to revise or general membership approval of bylaws changes, alterations to the protocol are necessary to achieve the quality product described above.

The Board Performance System™ Plus Package

While the protocol outlined above successfully produces the Assured Outcomes, the BPS™ Plus Package includes two additional on-site consultations that expedite the impact and support the integration of new structure and tools into operational planning and budgeting, and the board’s own operating culture. (This is especially important if there is turnover in board composition within the first 6-9 months subsequent to the launch of the restructuring initiative.)

These additional on-site consultations, one with the CEO/senior staff, and a follow-up meeting with the board, provide clients with heightened confidence of successful implementation, and a fee package substantially discounted from applicable pricing for subsequently contracting these services on an a la carte basis.

CEO/Senior Staff “Ends-Based Planning Retreat”

Sequenced after the PHASE FOUR “Roundtable Meeting,” this 2-day management team meeting helps the CEO implement her/his functions under the board’s updated and more accountable delegation structure.

Two primary components include:

Helping the Board Have Confident Control: Building Trust Through Accountable Criteria-Driven Reporting. This workshop solidifies CEO/management team understanding of the reporting formats and requirements in the new policy structure.
Articulating the CEO/Staff Vision of Achievement. For each of the board’s outcomes/ends directives, Consultant will help: CEO articulate “how will we know if our tasks/activities are working?”, generate CEO/management team’s vision of what it looks like if each End is achieved, and; develop proposed success metrics (Key Performance Indicators) for each End. Subsequent board review and action strengthens accountability, as it provides quantifiable methods to assess progress on each (even qualitative in nature) outcome. The Charney|Keyse Ends-Based Strategic Planning Framework is provided, which many client executives find valuable as a tool to identify specific tasks, timelines and point-persons for each, and which board reviews. Time allowing on the second day, Consultant will assist client in initial use of this planning tool.

Implementation Meeting

Consultant will assist Board Chair and CEO in preparing agenda for and provide on-site consultation at one of the board’s first meetings under its newly developed policies and governance structure. Content will include the CEO’s presentation of Ends interpretations/metrics, and facilitation of the board’s development of its Annual Work Plan for the subsequent year, including implementation of the newly developed CEO monitoring/evaluation system, plans for membership/constituent linkage/engagement, further board education, etc.