Trustee’s Week is here, and each year I procrastinate about writing about it (hence writing something on the Friday).

Why?

My best kept secret is I have never been a trustee! (Well, I did have a short stint as Hackney Wick’s WI Secretary but not sure it counts).

Becoming a trustee is firmly on my list of things I want to prioritise next year, but I must admit I have some reservations.

Having worked with countless boards and charities, I know getting governance right is a tough gig and being a great or even a good trustee is hard.

There are a huge number of resources* that can point you in the direction of what good governance should look like and what being a trustee involves, yet this often doesn’t seem enough.

Why? Because boards and executive teams often skip over some of the fundamentals that make teams work well.

Trustees are people, CEOs are people and people need to build relationships and trust to work well together.

A great place to start is to talk, not about the standard agenda items (this will come) but about how you plan to work as a team.  

Too often CEOs are grateful for their trustees’ time but not sure they are getting what they need. Too often trustees want to help but are not sure how to. And no one is sure how to raise this and resolve it.  

If any of this resonates, try popping these questions on your next agenda, it might just start to unlock your top team’s effectiveness:

• What does good look like for us as a team?
• How do we want to work together?
• How do we want to communicate? (What style of comms works for you? How do you want to receive questions and feedback?)
• How can we/I best support you in your role?

Don’t just ask it once, review it regularly. We all need this; we need a reminder of what we are doing well and a push to be better.

And finally, make time to socialise, to get to know each other and to have fun. I promise it will all help in the long run.  

*Governance resources I love

• Charity Commission 5-minute guides https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/5-minute-guides-for-charity-trustees
• The Charity Governance Code: https://www.charitygovernancecode.org/en
• NCVO https://www.ncvo.org.uk/help-and-guidance/governance/#/
• Getting On Board https://www.gettingonboard.org/
• Directory of Social Change Governance App https://thegovernanceapp.org.uk/
• Bayes Centre for Charity Effectiveness Guides https://www.bayes.city.ac.uk/faculties-and-research/centres/cce/reports-guides-and-research/building-better-governance