How I helped a government agency write better board papers
The head of HR messaged me. She had just been in a meeting where a newly formed board told her that papers weren’t up to scratch.
It was an urgent problem, so everything you’re about to read happened within a month of that first contact.
Who says government agencies don’t move quickly?
The perfect time for training
The board wasn’t the only new piece of the puzzle. The organisation had recently gone through significant change. They were 9 weeks into a new governance-team structure with a new head of assurance and governance. Even the governance manager was new to the agency. She brought years of experience with her and was keen to start the job with a bang.
There’s nothing like a moment of flux for setting fresh expectations.
What they asked for
They wanted to improve the quality of information to the board and its two sub-committees.
The governance team was planning the regular updates to the board and setting the overall reporting plan for the year. They had the project management covered.
They wanted me to take care of writing skills, reviewing skills, and the teamwork involved in producing papers.
What I delivered: an end-to-end approach to write with impact
The plan was to optimise the template and train the writers, commissioners, and reviewers.
I worked with the governance manager to refresh the board paper template. We made sure the template discouraged repetition and was well structured. We improved the design and made it easier for people to format their writing. The guidance for writers at the back matched the advice I would give in the training.
With that groundwork laid, we started the training.
The first day was for the board-paper writers, and the second for those who commission and review papers.
Training theme: writing a great paper is a team sport
The workshops were structured around the parts everyone plays in the writing process.
We started with a scoping conversation. A fundamental part of good communication between commissioners and writers is agreeing on the goal, context, triggers, and audience. The training pushes people to apply this practically, and in written form, to something they’re working on.
Then it was time to write to the board members. Here I challenged people’s thinking, and all the things they thought they knew, about the way they use language. The moral of the story was to keep it simple!
Finally, reviewing. Here, it was about knowing what good looks like, and giving feedback that helps a writer produce something that’s ideal for board members.
People left the workshop with tools for each stage of the process, templates, and an understanding that writing a great paper relies on collaboration.
My favourite part of this experience was the transparency
Writers want to know they’re getting the same messages as the people who sign off papers, and vice versa. I made that overt: “Here’s the overall process. Here’s where you fit and here’s where your manager fits. Tomorrow’s group will get the same message.”
The board chair shared his view
To add to that transparency, both groups gathered on the morning of day 2 when the board chair visited. He talked about a board’s role and explained why the right information helps them make good decisions.
There’s enormous power in putting writers face to face with their readers so they can hear firsthand what the readers need from them.
The changes we saw
A few months on, I asked the head of HR to tell me about the effect of the training. She said the Board has noticed the papers are better now. She also said:
We have a much greater understanding of the role of our Board, and what information they actually need rather than the information we think they need!
We had a penny-drop moment when people understand the power of commissioning and clarity of purpose – the way we work together to agree this is key. It also leads to the ‘why are we writing this?’ moment!
We are more deliberate about the way we give feedback. Giving feedback takes time to do properly – and good feedback helps the writer grow. If you don’t have time to give thoughtful feedback (and bring out the red pen) that’s okay – it’s all about the discussion.
Using plain English is an important skill – more so than big words. Boards don’t need words and fluff – in fact quite the opposite.
The results from this piece of work
A satisfying job!
There’s nothing like creating a training package that’s thorough enough to make a real difference. We had a specific issue to fix, a team motivated to fix it, and a genuine commitment to collaborate.
What more could a trainer want?! 10 out of 10 for job satisfaction!
Interested in upskilling your people?
Workshop on commissioning and reviewing
Contact me to talk about options for your people who write board papers.
0211606042
colleen@colleentrolove.com