Board Skills Audit

A well-functioning and effective board is made up of a range of different people who bring their time, skills, experience and perspectives to the table.

Undertaking a desk-based exercise called a ‘skills audit’ of your trustees is an excellent method to understand the talent, knowledge and skills that each of them brings. Some might have hidden talents which you will discover, and overall a good picture of the diversity of the trustees will become apparent. Using the audit tool to then look at the strengths and gaps in a board’s combined expertise will help with targeting your future board recruitment to fill vacancies with people that possess knowledge or skills that are missing or are going to be needed in the future.

Regularly assessing trustee skills helps your charity stay resilient and responsive. Some charities conduct annual audits, while others review skills when recruiting new trustees.

Example:

A Charity’s board skills audit reveals that no trustees have any expertise in the area of data governance or cyber security. In a recent newsletter, the charity regulator has suggested charities need to improve their IT resilience due to recent online attacks and make sure that they take seriously their duties under data protection law. The charity’s next trustee recruitment pitch advertises for a trustee to join the board with these skills to help fill the gap in knowledge at board level and support the charity’s staff and volunteers.

Further resources and links

Scotland/s Third Sector Governance Forum – Chairs Network Scotland, Board Skills Audit Tool

Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway – Board Member Skills Audit

SCVO – Developing your board section including information on audits

Reach Volunteering - Skills audit pages and template

The TSI learning portal includes an online course - Evaluating committee performance and skills

For further free, well-informed information, find your local Third Sector Interface (TSI) at the directory page here