Final outcome: The new investment board approves project expenditure using a stage-gate funding approach and monitors project delivery. The board meets on a monthly basis.

Resource profile: The Executive Director of the Division caretaker of a multi-million investment pool, a BSB senior consultant, key senior executives as board members, project directors and support staff.

Overview: The CEO and Board, encouraged by external regulators, put pressure on their executives to strengthen their governance processes and increased transparency. The Executive Director of one of the units has a discretionary investment funds and wants to ensure their allocation is fair and the utilisation and outcomes monitored. The BSB consultant is engaged to set up a robust governance body and process.

A strawman is produced, with recommended stakeholders and processes,  and endorsed by the Leadership team. The governance body is composed of a selection of executives who ratify The Terms of References (TOR) at the first meeting. The BSB consultant chairs the meeting during the initial few months.

The board then meets on a monthly basis with guest project directors submitting their initiatives. A Board member is always fully accountable for each initiative. The funding is agreed as a whole in principle but released only for each phase. The support team issues a report highlighting project status, deliverables, funding status and benefit status. The information is also leveraged by the Executive Director as part of his reporting process to CEO and Board.