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A Great Big Governance Glossary: Fee's A - Z of governance terminology and tips

| 3 minute read
ARTICLE Governance Glossary

Each year, experienced governance professionals Fee Stagg updates her 'Great Big Governance Glossary'

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It's an A-Z of governance terms and a useful induction document for new governors as well as being of interest to experienced governors with useful pages of advice, links and definitions.

We caught up with Fee to ask her a few questions about this year's guide.

Fee, first of all, what is The Great Big Governance Glossary?

The Great Big Governance Glossary takes as its premise the notion that there is no such thing as a silly question. It guides the reader through key documentation, top tips, definitions of governance, and range of other key words and phrases that you might not ordinarily associate with governance.

I also pose a range of questions along the way to help governors and boards reflect on their practice. The Glossary has been made available as a download so you can save it and share it whilst at the same time having the assurance that any links to DfE documents will be automatically updated.

How long have you been writing it and what prompted you to start in the first place?

I've been writing The Great Big Governance Glossary on and off for about 5 years but this year published it as a free download. As an experienced chair, governance professional and trustee, I am keen to support and help those new to governance with their first few weeks and months in the role. The Glossary is labour of love and not a professionally curated document and in writing it I learnt new things too.

What's the problem when new governors are faced with too much jargon and too many new and complex words?

If you have been in governance for a while now cast your minds back to your first governing board or trust board meeting - did you know what was going on and could you understand what everybody was talking about? I certainly didn’t.

If you don’t have the toolkit about what words and phrases mean then you can’t participate fully in a meeting and equally you can’t keep stopping the flow of the conversation to ask what an acronym means. Mind you if everyone around the board table looks lost then I strongly encourage you to ask your question!

What are your top tips for someone about to embark on their first meeting?

Firstly remember everyone had a first meeting once upon a time. Try to read all the documents before the meeting especially the agenda and headteacher or CEO reports. These should contain a wealth of useful information.

Also be ready to undertake your safeguarding and induction training but don’t over commit yourself by joining every committee and offering to chair and be a link governor. Take it steady and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Your questions are just as valid as everyone else’s. It is ok to be a curious bystander for the first meeting or two.

The glossary is very comprehensive - can you pick out some of your more unusual or even most important terms and tips and explain why they matter?

The Glossary takes each letter of the alphabet in turn as you would expect but also under each definition I take people on a journey through governance that not only provides them with the comfort that they are not alone in wondering what an acronym means but gives the opportunity to pause and consider what words and phrases mean in practice. The illustrations in the Glossary not only break up the text but they also offer a pause for reflection. I also hope it makes people smile in recognition.
The Glossary starts with A is for Accountability, where I pose 6 simple questions, and moves through to G is not for Guess where I respectfully suggest that being prepared for meetings is an antidote to some extent to the shifting sands of funding. I then look at the Q is for Quorate (which is an issue not just for your governance professional to worry about) and finish with Z is for Zero where I remind everyone not to get too mired in the detail and the minor inaccuracies.
Taking a bigger picture view of our roles as governors, trustees and Governance Professionals creates the essential building blocks to effective governance in which we all play a key part.

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Comments

  • Nicola Waters 31 Oct 2024, 10:43 (8 days ago)

    Wow, what a phenomenal and helpful piece of work!

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  • Jean Reid 31 Oct 2024, 10:11 (8 days ago)

    Thank you Fee really appreciate it, a great resource, it will be very useful 😊

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  • Ghazala Khan 31 Oct 2024, 07:54 (8 days ago)

    Thank you

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  • Penny Catchpole 31 Oct 2024, 07:27 (8 days ago)

    What a great idea

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  • Jess Shulman 23 Oct 2024, 23:50 (15 days ago)

    Fee, thank you so much for sharing your expertise and putting this together. It is an excellent resource and I have shared it widely with my network, all of whom have appreciated it - thank you. I have donated to the Trussell Trust by way of thanks.

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    • Fee Stagg 24 Oct 2024, 10:31 (15 days ago)

      Thank you Jess but especially for your donation to the Trussell Trust.

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