Board Director Course — Facilitator & Discussion Guide
A simple way to run What Every Board Director Needs to Know across your whole board — turning a self-paced course into a shared governance conversation. Use the discussion prompts after each module to connect the learning to your own boardroom.
How to run it as a board
A suggested rhythm: one module per fortnight, or one before each board meeting. Directors watch the module and use its interactive tool individually, then spend 15–20 minutes on the discussion prompts together. Rotate who facilitates. By the end, your board has worked through 13 modules — and produced its own charter, risk appetite, registers and 90-day plans along the way.
Before
Watch & do
Each director completes the module
…and its tool (e.g. self-assessment)
Together
Discuss
15–20 min on the prompts
Capture 1–2 actions
After
Apply
Adopt the documents you build
Review progress next session
Discussion prompts by module
1. The Director Mindset
Where do each of us still slip from governing into managing — and how would we catch it?
What does our board most need to do better at the 'mindset' level this year?
What does a great director on this board actually do differently?
2. Your Legal Duties
Can each of us name our core duties — and a real decision where they applied?
Where might we, honestly, be carrying personal liability we haven’t discussed?
Do we all understand the difference between the Corporations Act and ACNC obligations for us?
3. How Boards Actually Work
Is the line between our role and the CEO’s genuinely clear — or assumed?
Does our governance calendar reflect what we actually do across a year?
Are our board papers giving us what we need to decide well?
4. Strategy
Are we shaping strategy, or just receiving management’s?
What would 'adding value to strategy without micromanaging' look like for us?
What are the 2–3 things this organisation must be famous for in three years?
5. Reading the Financials
Can each director explain our financial position to a new member in plain words?
Which one or two numbers should be on every board agenda?
How many months of reserves do we hold — and is that the right number?
6. Risk
What is our single biggest risk right now — do we agree?
Have we ever actually set our risk appetite, or just reacted to risks?
Where are we confusing risk oversight with risk management?
7. The CEO Relationship
Do we have a clear, written delegations framework — and do we honour it?
How well do we support and hold our CEO to account — honestly?
When did we last give the CEO a proper, structured performance review?
8. Conflicts of Interest
When did we last test whether our conflicts process actually works?
Is there an interest around this table we’ve been treating too lightly?
Do we keep a standing conflicts register, not just one-off declarations?
9. Meetings, Minutes & Board Papers
Do our minutes do their real job — evidence of the decision and the reasoning?
Are our meetings spent on the right altitude of issues?
What would make our board papers 30% more useful?
10. Membership & Member Value
Could each of us state our member value proposition the same way?
What does our retention rate tell us — and do we know why members leave?
How does the board hear the member voice, beyond renewal numbers?
11. AI & the Modern Board
Do we know what AI tools are already in use, and what data goes into them?
Do we have a board-approved position on AI — or a gap?
How will we keep our AI oversight from going stale?
12. When Things Go Wrong
If a crisis hit tomorrow, do we know our first three moves?
Do we have a whistleblower channel people would actually trust?
What’s the one scenario we’re least prepared for?
13. Your First 90 Days
What should a new director on this board read, and who should they meet?
How do we induct directors so they add value sooner?
What would we want a new director to understand about how we really work?