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Governance, Risk & Compliance

Building High Performance Board

This five-day programme prepares directors, chairs, and governance professionals to turn a compliant board into a high-performing one, covering board purpose and performance drivers, composition, skills and independence, chair leadership and boardroom dynamics, information, decisions and oversight, and evaluation, renewal and improvement. Participants develop skills in board composition design, chair leadership, decision-quality review, and board evaluation.

Introduction

Building High Performance Board Training Course prepares directors, chairs, and governance professionals to turn a compliant board into a high-performing one. Participants work through board purpose and performance drivers, composition, skills matrices, and independence, chair leadership and boardroom dynamics, information quality and decision-making discipline, committee effectiveness and oversight challenge, and evaluation, renewal, and continuous improvement as one connected discipline. The programme links the value a board is expected to add with the behaviours, information, and disciplines that actually produce it. As a result, learners gain a practical method for building board performance. Furthermore, the course strengthens governance judgement, boardroom leadership, and evaluation discipline.

Building High Performance Board Course Objectives

  • Explain board performance drivers and the difference from compliance.
  • Apply board composition, skills matrices, and independence assessment.
  • Apply chair leadership practice and meeting facilitation technique.
  • Apply boardroom dynamics management and constructive challenge.
  • Apply decision-quality frameworks and board decision discipline.
  • Apply board information design and reporting quality standards.
  • Apply committee effectiveness and oversight challenge practice.
  • Apply risk, strategy, and performance oversight at board level.
  • Apply board evaluation design and results interpretation.
  • Apply renewal, succession, diversity, and development planning.

Course Methodology

  • Interactive sessions built on board performance and governance cases.
  • Workshops on skills matrices, agenda design, and evaluation instruments.
  • Group exercises on boardroom dynamics, decision quality, and oversight.
  • Hands-on practice with board packs, dashboards, and evaluation tools.
  • Simulation of a board meeting and a board evaluation feedback session.
  • Facilitator coaching and peer review on personal board performance plans.

Who Should Take This Course

  • Board members, chairs, and non-executive directors.
  • Board secretaries and governance officers.
  • Audit and risk committee members.
  • Company secretaries and governance advisors.
  • Senior executives reporting to boards.
  • Consultants advising on board effectiveness and performance.

Building High Performance Board Course Outlines

Day 1

Board Purpose and Performance Drivers

  • • Board purpose, value add, and stewardship expectations.
  • • Compliance versus performance: two distinct obligations.
  • • Governance codes and board performance expectations.
  • • Board roles and boundaries with executive management.
  • • High-performance board characteristics and behaviours.
  • • Common board performance barriers and warning signs.
  • • Case discussion: a compliant board that added no strategic value.
Day 2

Composition, Skills, and Independence

  • • Board composition, size, and diversity considerations.
  • • Skills matrices and competency gap analysis.
  • • Independence assessment and conflicts management.
  • • Nomination, appointment, and onboarding practice.
  • • Director tenure, refreshment, and renewal policy.
  • • Non-executive contribution and time commitment.
  • • Workshop: building a board skills matrix and gap analysis.
Day 3

Chair Leadership and Boardroom Dynamics

  • • Chair leadership, agenda control, and facilitation technique.
  • • Constructive challenge, dissent, and psychological safety.
  • • Managing dominant voices and groupthink risk.
  • • Executive sessions and board-executive relationships.
  • • Conflict management and difficult conversations.
  • • Board culture as a performance enabler.
  • • Exercise: analysing a board discussion for challenge quality.
Day 4

Information, Decisions, and Oversight

  • • Board information design and pack quality standards.
  • • Dashboards, KPIs, and performance reporting to the board.
  • • Decision-quality frameworks and pre-mortem practice.
  • • Decision records, rationale, and follow-up discipline.
  • • Strategy, risk, and performance oversight challenge.
  • • Committee effectiveness and escalation quality.
  • • Simulation: reviewing board papers for decision readiness.
Day 5

Evaluation, Renewal, and Improvement

  • • Board evaluation design: self-assessment and external review.
  • • Interpreting evaluation results and prioritising actions.
  • • Director induction, development, and continuous learning.
  • • Succession planning, renewal, and diversity practice.
  • • Committee performance review and charter refresh.
  • • Board performance reporting and improvement tracking.
  • • Capstone: presenting a high-performance board improvement plan.

Conclusion

By successfully completing Building High Performance Board, participants will gain a practical command of board purpose and performance drivers, board composition and skills assessment, chair leadership and boardroom dynamics, information quality and decision discipline, oversight challenge and committee effectiveness, and board evaluation, renewal and improvement. They will acquire skills in board composition design, chair leadership, decision-quality review, and board evaluation that raise the board's governing contribution. Gentex Training Center designs the programme to help professionals build high-performing boards with confidence.

FAQs for the Building High Performance Board course

Q1.

— What is the "Building High Performance Board" course about?

It prepares directors, chairs, and governance professionals to turn a compliant board into a high-performing one. The course spans board purpose and performance drivers, composition, skills and independence, chair leadership and boardroom dynamics, information, decisions and oversight, and evaluation, renewal and improvement.

Q2.

— What are the key benefits of the "Building High Performance Board" course?

You gain a practical method for building board performance that links the value a board is expected to add with the behaviours, information, and disciplines that actually produce it. The course improves composition and skills matrix practice, strengthens chair leadership and boardroom dynamics, sharpens information quality and decision discipline, and gives you evaluation and renewal practice that raises the board's governing contribution.

Q3.

— What skills will I gain from the "Building High Performance Board" course?

You will develop four core skills: board composition, skills matrix and independence assessment, chair leadership and boardroom dynamics facilitation, information quality and decision-quality review with oversight challenge, and board evaluation with renewal and development planning.

Q4.

— What tools, methods, or standards are covered in the "Building High Performance Board" course?

The course covers board purpose, value add and stewardship expectations, compliance versus performance obligations, governance codes and board performance expectations, board roles and boundaries with executive management, high-performance board characteristics and behaviours, board composition, size and diversity considerations, skills matrices and competency gap analysis, independence assessment and conflicts management, nomination, appointment and onboarding practice, director tenure, refreshment and renewal policy, non-executive contribution and time commitment, chair leadership, agenda control and facilitation technique, constructive challenge, dissent and psychological safety, managing dominant voices and groupthink risk, executive sessions and board-executive relationships, conflict management and difficult conversations, board information design and pack quality standards, dashboards, KPIs and performance reporting, decision-quality frameworks and pre-mortem practice, decision records, rationale and follow-up discipline, strategy, risk and performance oversight challenge, committee effectiveness and escalation quality, board evaluation design across self-assessment and external review, interpreting evaluation results and prioritising actions, director induction, development and continuous learning, succession planning, renewal and diversity practice, and committee performance review and charter refresh.

Q5.

— How is the "Building High Performance Board" course applied in real-world practice?

Participants apply it to real work such as building a board skills matrix and gap analysis, analysing a board discussion for challenge quality, reviewing board papers for decision readiness, running a board evaluation and interpreting its results, refreshing a committee charter, preparing a renewal and succession proposal, and presenting a high-performance board improvement plan. The same methods support board performance reporting and continuous improvement review.

Contact our team and let us help you find the right option.

Partners in Learning

Our Partners in Learning include leading companies and organizations that trust Gentex Training Center for high-quality training courses and professional development programs. Together, we deliver impactful training programs that support skills growth, leadership development, and organizational excellence.

Central Bank of Nigeria Bank of Tanzania ARAA Elcrest ERC Ghana Ports Hamad Medical Heritage Moni Pulo Limited Nigeria Latis