Other topics
3. Getting started on building your governance
Caption: 5 year plan of Amata’s Tjala Art Centre
This chapter of the toolkit will give you information and ideas about how to get started on reviewing and strengthening your governance.
Every group needs to look at its governance at some stage and think about developing new processes, rules or structures. Renewing your governance could require big, immediate changes, or small progressive ones.
There are no perfect solutions but it’s important to be flexible and open to new ideas. It’s also important to stay flexible because what works best now might not work so well in five or ten years’ time.
Building governance is hard work. Try to keep as many people as possible involved in the process. Tackling your governance issues will need:
- time and persistence
- planning and organisation
- sensitivity to people's concerns
- strong leadership
- negotiation and mediation
- sustained commitment
- teamwork
- a good sense of humour!
This chapter contains the following topics:
Also:
- Resource 3.1 What can we do?—Seven steps to evaluation
- Resource 3.2 Check-up—Quick governance health check-up
- Resource 3.3 Tips—Top 10 tips for rebuilding governance
- Resource 3.4 Template—Governance development and action plan
- Resource 3.5 Tool—Mapping your governance history
- Resource 3.6 Tips—Mapping governance assets—the process
- Resource 3.7 What can we do?—Evaluating your governance
- Resource 3.8 Quiz
Read next: 3.1 Assessing your governance
Read previous: 2.2 ‘Two-way’ governance