Recent posts have covered many issues associated with board policies but one additional issue worth discussing is the review of board policies.

The reason for the review of board policies is that the organisation can change. 

This can be due to changes with the mission, values or with different strategic objectives being developed.  The organisation may have changed the way it operates, there may be a new member appointed to the board or a new CEO selected. Robin Hood would have needed a major overhaul of his policies on the return of King Richard.  (In fact, that would have put him happily out of business!)

Sometimes the policies simply need to be amended because they are outdated.

Irrespective of the reasons, having a regular process for reviewing  board policies is an important responsibility of the board.  Depending on how many policies you have to review you may decide to review some at a regular interval throughout the year.  If board meetings are held monthly then you could allocate a time at each meeting or maybe each quarter.  Alternatively, the board may form a sub committee to review the board polices and make recommendations for any amendments for approval at a board meeting.

When reviewing the board policies it is important to note the following:

  • The policy reference number.
  • Version number of the policy.
  • Who wrote or prepared the policy.
  • Who is responsible for the policy.
  • When it was approved by the board.
  • The date the policy should be next reviewed. 

Another step to manage the policy review and update process is to maintain a simple list that summarises the details above on the one schedule.  This not only provides an easy way to track the policy review process but can be used as a checklist to ensure only the current policies are in the policy manual.