The Governance Document

Abstract

This is the time for special care. It is so easy, being unfamiliar with writing a governance document, to simply get someone else’s and copy. The thinking is that if it is good enough for them, it must be good enough for us. Trying to fit your organization into someone else’s iron frame is a big mistake, and can make all the difference between success and failure. This document is uniquely yours, your governance, your goals, your risks, and your process. The effort to think through and write a unique document is the main reason for the governance plan. A secondary reason is to memorialize the development process results so that your investment committee and board will hold to the plan rather than ad hoc decisions. The governance document also exists to inform and educate new members as they come along so that the plan has legs and remains long-term. This is not to say it can’t be changed, but changes should come infrequently, and not as an emotional reaction to every stress point.