Programme overview
Technical depth: Practitioner · Practical mode: Case study
Introduction
Organisations grow faster than their governance documents. Policies overlap or contradict one another, procedures describe how work was done years ago, and nobody can say who owns a document or when it was last approved, so decisions and controls depend on individuals rather than on the system. This Core Concept course equips managers to design governance arrangements on international principles and to write, approve and maintain policies and procedures that embed control. Participants apply each method to case material from several sectors and leave with a Governance and Policy Framework for their own organisation.
Course Objectives
- Assess an organisation's governance structures and documentation against international governance principles
- Establish a hierarchy of governance instruments and a policy on policies that sets ownership, approval and review rules
- Draft clear policies using a standard template and plain-language techniques
- Map procedures with BPMN and RACI and embed the controls that address the risks they carry
- Manage policy exceptions, communication, attestation, document control and periodic review
- Produce a Governance and Policy Framework ready for approval by senior management or the board
Target Audience
- Governance and corporate secretariat managers supporting boards and committees
- Policy and procedures managers responsible for organisational documentation
- Compliance and internal control managers embedding requirements into processes
- Quality and process excellence managers maintaining documented information
- Legal and risk managers reviewing policies before approval
Course Outline
Day 1: Governance Foundations and Current-State Review
- Corporate Governance Principles: Accountability, Transparency, Fairness and Responsibility
- Governance Structures: Board, Committees and Executive Management Roles
- Governance Instrument Hierarchy: Charters, Policies, Procedures and Work Instructions
- Governance Gap Assessment Checklist
- Policy Inventory and Documentation Health Check
Day 2: Governance Frameworks and Standards
- G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance
- ISO 37000 Governance of Organizations Principles
- COSO Internal Control – Integrated Framework Components and Principles
- IIA Three Lines Model
- ISO 37301 Compliance Obligations Register as a Policy Input
Day 3: Developing Policies and Procedures
- Policy on Policies: Ownership, Approval and Review Rules
- Policy Template Structure: Purpose, Scope, Statements, Roles and Exceptions
- Plain-Language Policy Drafting Techniques
- Procedure Mapping with BPMN 2.0 and SIPOC
- RACI Matrix for Procedure Roles and Hand-Offs
Day 4: Control, Risk and Document Lifecycle
- Control Embedding in Procedures Using a Risk and Control Matrix
- Document Control Under ISO 10013: Versioning, Approval and Retention
- Policy Exception and Waiver Management Process
- Policy Communication, Attestation and Training Tracking
- Policy Effectiveness Review and Retirement Criteria
Day 5: Case Work and the Governance and Policy Framework
- Family-Owned Group Case Study: Governance Gaps After Rapid Growth
- Public Utility Case Study: Conflicting and Outdated Procurement Procedures
- Policy Register Build for an Own Organisation
- Governance and Policy Framework Drafting
- Peer Review Panel and Framework Defence
Skills You Will Gain
- Governance Assessment
- Policy Architecture Design
- Policy Drafting
- Process Mapping
- Internal Control Design
- Document Lifecycle Management
- Policy Compliance Monitoring
Why Attend This Course
- Return to work with a Governance and Policy Framework for your own organisation, already tested against peer review
- Replace overlapping and outdated documents with a register in which every policy has an owner and a review date
- Write policies and procedures that staff can follow and auditors can test
- Compare governance and documentation practice with managers from other sectors and countries
Conclusion
Sound governance depends on clear decision rights and on policies and procedures that people follow and that are kept current. This course moves from governance principles and the current state of an organisation's documentation, through the international governance, control and compliance frameworks, to drafting policies, mapping procedures, embedding controls and managing the document lifecycle. The final day turns that material into a Governance and Policy Framework that participants take back to senior management, giving them a structured and defensible basis for the next policy review cycle.