Virtual Program:
Facilitating Board Development in Business

Board Performance Is Not a Matter of Board Conformance

The forgotten leverage point for improvement in a business is the Board of Directors. An effective Board can make a huge difference in the performance of the business. Yet, far too often, the Board is viewed as a necessary evil – a requirement of corporate law. In contrast, the wise CEO views the Board as an extremely valuable asset to the company and takes full advantage of its members' wisdom and participation.

Boards are at their best when they have strong internal Board operations. When Boards struggle, it is far more a matter of poor internal operations than of the Board’s non-conformance to various laws and regulations. Yet, much of the literature about Boards is in regard to that conformance.

The goal of this program is to equip you with the necessary knowledge and skills with Board operations to guide and support Board members to improve the overall quality of the Board's internal operations. You might be an external or internal consultant, a Board member or a CEO. This program is for you!

The focus of the program is primarily on Boards of Directors in the United States. However, the majority of the topics pertain to best practices in Boards around the world. To understand what we mean by the phrase "Board operations," see the topics in this program’s
Syllabus.

Benefits to You

Audiences for This Program

This program is for highly motivated people, working inside or outside of business, who seek to develop strong skills in facilitating Board development in business, in addition to increased people, organizational, systems and consulting skills, for example:

• Board members or employees who want to facilitate high-quality Boards for their organizations
• Facilitators who want to add business organizational skills to their process skills
• Experienced business leaders who are considering consulting as their next career
• Investors who want to select high-quality Board developers for businesses they invest in

You do not have to come to the program with a current Board development project in order to greatly benefit from this program.  You can also be working on a project, even a project that is already into the middle- and end-phases of the consulting process.  In those situations, the program's peer coaching group process still focuses on wherever you are in the project. 

From This Program, You Will Be Able To:

As a result of completion of this program, you will be able to:

• Utilize a time-tested, proven process for improving the quality of Board operations
• Collaborate with an effective Board Governance Committee to improve Board operations
• Conduct a powerful, practical evaluation of the quality of the Board’s operations
• Guide the Committee to establish a relevant and realistic Board Development Plan for Board improvement
• Support the Committee’s role in ensuring the Board’s implementation of the Board Development Plan
• Provide useful and targeted advice to ensure momentum and learning during implementation
• Re-evaluate the quality of Board operations to measure the extent of improvement in the Board as a result of the Board development project

Abundant Sources for Your Learning During the Program

1. Virtual methods of access to content, coaching, peer exchange and sharing
2. Vast range of practical guidelines, tools and templates for facilitating Board development in business, including from texts written by CDI faculty, such as Field Guide to Developing, Operating and Restoring Your Corporate Board and Dilemmas, Dilemmas: More Practical Case Studies for Company Directors
3. There are 10 virtual modules in the program, each including:
   1. Self-scheduled 1-2 hours of readings from the texts and recommended articles between meetings (see the Syllabus of topics)
   2. 90-minute, virtual seminar among participants and faculty, to discuss and reflect on the content from the readings
   3. 90-minute, virtual peer coaching group meeting among participants and faculty, to coach each member on applications of the readings
4. Ongoing peer coaching exchange in private group emails among participants and faculty
5. Comprehensive Learning and Development Journal to cultivate deep reflection and learning from all modules in the Program

For more information about each of these sources and the unique philosophy of learning in this program, see About CDI. (We also can provide this as in-house program for your organization.)

1. Completed the pre-assessment near the beginning of the program
2. Actively participated in each of the virtual seminars in the program
3. Actively participated in the peer coaching group meetings in the program
4. Reasonably participated in the private group emails among members and faculty
5. Submitted your Learning and Development Journal to faculty for private review (your Journal will not be shared with anyone else)
6. Completed the post-assessment near the end of the program

Program’s Affordable Fee

1. Consider the substantial savings to you because the program does not involve the typically significant travel expenses to attend a multi-day, face-to-face workshop.
2. You might qualify for a 20% discount if a you are a current member of one of our partnering organizations. Please email info@ConsultantsDevelopmentInstitute.org to inquire if your specific membership organization qualifies you for your discount. Be sure to mention your membership organization in your email.

Contact Us Now

• Email info@ConsultantsDevelopmentInstitute.org and we will respond promptly.