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What is Policy Governance?®

Policy Governance is a model of governance created by Dr. John Carver. It is often referred to as “Carver governance” or the “Carver model”.

Policy Governance principles form a complete governance system which enables boards to provide strategic leadership in creating the future for their organizations. Policy Governance is designed to ensure accountability of the Board to the owners or shareholders and of the CEO to the Board. The Carver model is a complete operating system for boards, made up of a set of internally consistent principles, all of which are necessary in order for the model to work as designed.

The Policy Governance Model - A Complete Operating System

The benefits of Policy Governance are multiple. The Policy Governance system will help your Board:

  • be accountable in the position of trust in which it has been placed by its shareholders (in equity corporations) or “moral owners” (in public sector and not-for-profit organizations)
  • provide strategic leadership to the organization—the board's key responsibility—by clearly defining, on behalf of the owners, what human needs are to be met, for whom, and at what worth
  • distinguish clearly between Ends (see below) and Means (ways of doing things)
  • establish clarity between the roles of board and management
  • unleash the creativity of management while holding management rigorously accountable for delegated areas
  • be involved in appropriate decisions without "meddling" or "rubber stamping"
  • set parameters for acceptable organizational performance and for itself by establishing broad policies in four logical categories that make intuitive sense

Policy Governance is the registered service mark of John Carver. The authoritative website for the Policy Governance model can be found at www.carvergovernance.com

Policy Categories

  1. Ends – the benefits the organization is to produce, for which people, at what cost or worth. Ends are developed based on the Board's knowledge of and interaction with the owners - those to whom the Board is morally accountable.
  2. Executive Limitations – the boundaries of prudence and ethics within which the Board allows the CEO to make further decisions about means, the way things are done.
  3. Board–Management Delegation – the manner in which the Board delegates authority to staff through the CEO and holds the CEO accountable.
  4. Governance Process – the manner in which the Board itself operates, including its philosophy, accountability, discipline, and its own job.

With these policies in place, the Board can delegate the achievement of the Ends to the CEO, be assured that they are in fact being achieved, and that the manner in which this occurs does not exceed the Board's boundaries of prudence and ethics. This assurance is based, not on trust, but on a carefully structured monitoring process.

The Governance Coach provides fully qualified Policy Governance consultants and coaches who are experts in the Carver governance model.

We provide Carver governance training, coaching and consulting for all levels - from introductory Policy Governance seminars through to advanced training and coaching for boards who aspire to a mastery of Policy Governance.

For a brief description of the principles of the Carver Policy Governance Model; what it is / what it is not, click here.

 
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