Governance and Board Management Skills for EAs & PAs

Governance and Board Management for EAs & PAs

Ready to master key management techniques?

Understand what good governance looks like and how, you as the EA/PA, can assist the Board, CEO and Management to achieve it. We will examine your role and responsibilities as a Board secretary and take you through best practice examples of Board agendas, papers, and minutes. The Masterclass will use a mix of presentation, case studies, exercises, and open discussion.

Course Overview

• Understand the principles of good corporate governance
• Review common board structures and roles
• Dive into board practice & processes
• Roles and responsibilities of the board, CEO, and management
• Your role as the EA as Board Secretary
• The critical importance of confidentiality, security, and retention records
• Understand directors’ legal duties and obligations
• Explore the changing role of and expectations placed on the board

View the Outline tab for more details.

*1 1-Day Pass Ticket per person for The Office, PA & Event Planner Show, for the registered attendee or other person from same organisation, booked on any currently advertised dates for the following public training courses: Fundamentals of the Modern EA, Governance & Board Management for EAs & PAs, Leadership Development for Women – offer valid until 19 December 2025.

Course Outline

Principles of good corporate governance
• Governance – definition and why
• Governance and management
• Why good governance is so important for an organisation
• What areas in a business are affected by good governance
• What matters does the Board address?
• What every EA needs to know about governance policies

Board practice and processes
• Board practices: meetings, papers, committees, work plan, induction and reviews
• Effective Board decision-making procedures and tools
• Meeting rules
• Increasing quality of debate and engagement during meetings
• Examples of Board ineffectiveness and its impact on management
• How the CEO and the EA prepares for a Board meeting

Board structure
• Roles and responsibilities of the Board and Chair
• Role of CEO and management
• Board expectations of CEO
• CEO and Chair’s influence on Board effectiveness
• Factors which influence level of Board engagement
• Code of Conduct
• Relationships: Board and Management, Chair and CEO, EA and Chair/Board
• Changing role of and expectations placed on the Board

Understanding Directors’ legal duties and obligations
• The Companies Act
• Directors’ Duties
• Trustees
• Common law cases and NZ legislation you need to be aware of

Role of the EA as Board Secretary
• The responsibilities of the Board Secretary before, during and after Board meetings
• How to prepare for Board meetings
• What needs to happen when?
• How EAs can help facilitate the working relationships between the Executive and Board
• The EA’s role in supporting good governance in the Boardroom
• Looking for areas of improvement: What could you do differently?
• Board Secretary’s duty in recording conflicts of interest
• Handling sensitive and confidential information

Board papers
• Purpose of Board papers
• How to prepare and assemble Board papers
• Layout, content, and language
• Examples of Board papers
• Circulating the papers
• Confidentiality and security

Board Meetings: Notice, Agendas, Minutes and Policy Register
• Process to follow
• What should and should not go into agendas and minutes
• The difference between approval, verification and confirmation of the minutes
• The problems (and solutions) for minutes of narration and minutes of resolution
• Ensuring that minutes contain sufficient information to describe how Directors reasonably came to reasonable decisions
• What is required to be stored for seven years (and why) from agendas and minutes
• Modern methods for signing and securing minutes
• The usefulness of maintaining the policy register