New Board Members Induction Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends New board members, Non-executive directors and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-CG-053

Before you join: Participants should have management, professional or specialist experience and basic familiarity with how their organisation operates.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

New board members are expected to contribute from their first meeting while respecting the boundary between governance and management. They must interpret board papers, question executive assumptions, understand their legal and fiduciary duties, recognise conflicts of interest, and make sound decisions under uncertainty. Without a structured induction, directors can either remain passive or intervene in operational matters that belong to management.

This course prepares newly appointed directors, non-executive directors and trustees to perform the board role with discipline and informed judgement. Participants examine board purpose, director duties, governance codes, committee structures, financial oversight, risk governance, strategy challenge, stakeholder accountability and board decision-making. They practise analysing a board pack, framing constructive challenge, assessing management information, responding to conflicts and recording decisions that can withstand scrutiny.

Instructor-led sessions combine concise briefings with boardroom cases drawn from regulated businesses, public bodies, NGOs and multinational companies. Participants work with realistic agendas, minutes, risk registers, financial reports, committee terms of reference and crisis scenarios. Each participant develops a personal Board Member Induction Action Plan, supported by practical checklists and templates for use in their first 90 days.

The course suits directors joining established boards, executives preparing for their first board appointment, and senior leaders who need to understand how boards govern, oversee and challenge management. It is also relevant to company secretaries and governance professionals responsible for strengthening director induction.

What you will be able to do

  • Apply director duties and fiduciary principles to board-level decisions
  • Distinguish governance responsibilities from executive management accountabilities
  • Interpret board papers, financial reports and management performance information
  • Use constructive challenge techniques to test executive recommendations
  • Assess enterprise risks using risk appetite and assurance frameworks
  • Manage conflicts of interest, related-party matters and confidential information
  • Evaluate board and committee effectiveness using structured governance criteria
  • Produce a 90-day board induction action plan

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Contribute confidently during early board and committee meetings
  • Recognise when to challenge management without entering operational management
  • Read financial, risk and performance papers with greater discipline
  • Handle conflicts, confidentiality and collective responsibility appropriately
  • Build a focused first-90-days plan for the board role

For your organisation

  • Faster director readiness for informed board participation
  • Better quality challenge of strategy, risk and performance reporting
  • Clearer separation between board oversight and executive management
  • More consistent handling of conflicts and confidential information
  • Stronger evidence of structured director induction and governance practice

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can explain the board's purpose, authority and relationship with management.

  • Board purpose defined through stewardship, oversight, accountability and long-term value creation
  • Shareholders, members, trustees and stakeholders: sources of board legitimacy
  • Governance versus management using reserved matters and delegated authority schedules
  • Board composition matched to strategy, independence, diversity and required expertise
  • Chair, chief executive and company secretary roles within governance architecture
  • OECD G20 Principles used to examine accountability and shareholder rights

Participants can apply core director duties and ethical standards to common board situations.

  • Fiduciary duties of care, loyalty, good faith and proper purpose
  • Collective responsibility after dissent, abstention and recorded board decisions
  • Conflicts of interest identified through interests registers and declaration procedures
  • Related-party transactions assessed for fairness, approval and disclosure requirements
  • Confidential information handled under board protocols and information-security obligations
  • Ethical dilemmas tested through stakeholder impact, legality and reputational consequences

Participants can prepare for meetings, assess board papers and challenge constructively.

  • Annual board calendar aligned with strategy, reporting, risk and succession cycles
  • Agenda design separates decision, discussion, monitoring and information items
  • Board papers assessed for decision clarity, evidence, options and recommendations
  • The five-whys technique exposes unsupported assumptions in executive proposals
  • Constructive challenge uses open questions, evidence requests and alternative scenarios
  • Minutes record decisions, rationale, actions, owners and declared interests
  • Consent agendas streamline routine approvals while protecting director accountability

Participants can interpret financial information and ask relevant oversight questions.

  • Income statement drivers analysed through volume, price, cost and margin movements
  • Balance sheet scrutiny covers liquidity, solvency, working capital and covenant headroom
  • Cash flow statements distinguish operating cash, investing flows and financing needs
  • Budget variance analysis separates timing effects, recurring issues and management actions
  • Key performance indicators tested for definitions, targets, comparators and unintended incentives
  • Capital investment proposals assessed using NPV, IRR, payback and sensitivity analysis
  • Audit committee questions address estimates, impairments, provisions and revenue recognition

Participants can oversee risk appetite, controls and assurance without managing risks directly.

  • Risk appetite statements connect strategic objectives, tolerances, triggers and escalation
  • Enterprise risk registers distinguish causes, events, impacts, controls and owners
  • Inherent and residual risk ratings tested for consistency and evidence
  • COSO Internal Control framework links control environment, activities and monitoring
  • Three Lines Model clarifies management, risk functions and internal audit roles
  • Assurance maps identify duplicated reviews, coverage gaps and independent assurance
  • Board risk reports focus on trends, emerging risks and breached tolerances

Participants can challenge strategy and monitor delivery through meaningful performance evidence.

  • Strategic choices tested against mission, competitive position, capabilities and resources
  • Scenario planning examines plausible futures, strategic responses and leading indicators
  • Board strategy questions distinguish assumptions, choices, trade-offs and execution risks
  • Balanced Scorecard measures financial, customer, process and capability outcomes
  • Strategic milestones tracked through benefits, dependencies, accountabilities and decision gates
  • Management performance reviewed against agreed targets, forecasts and corrective actions
  • Stakeholder expectations incorporated into strategy discussions and materiality assessments

Participants can understand committee mandates and use delegation without losing accountability.

  • Committee terms of reference define purpose, authority, membership and reporting
  • Audit committee oversight covers external audit, internal audit and financial reporting
  • Risk committee mandates address appetite, exposures, controls and assurance findings
  • Remuneration committees align incentives with performance, conduct and risk outcomes
  • Nomination committees plan succession, skills matrices and appointment processes
  • Delegated authorities establish approval thresholds, escalation routes and reporting requirements
  • Committee chairs report key judgments, unresolved issues and recommendations to boards

Participants can oversee culture, leadership succession and stakeholder responsibilities at board level.

  • Organisational culture assessed through conduct data, employee voice and observed behaviours
  • Board oversight of misconduct includes speak-up channels, investigations and remediation
  • Chief executive succession planning addresses emergency cover, candidates and transition risk
  • Senior leadership pipelines reviewed through capability, diversity, retention and development data
  • Stakeholder mapping identifies influence, interests, expectations and engagement priorities
  • Materiality assessments connect stakeholder concerns with strategic and reporting decisions
  • Workforce and customer indicators tested for recurring conduct or service failures

Participants can contribute to board decisions during crises and high-stakes events.

  • Crisis governance defines board activation, executive authority and communication responsibilities
  • Incident reports distinguish confirmed facts, assumptions, impacts and immediate decisions
  • Decision logs capture options considered, evidence reviewed and rationale adopted
  • Media and regulator communications coordinated through approved spokespeople and escalation protocols
  • Reputational risk assessed through stakeholder impact, credibility and recovery actions
  • Post-incident reviews identify control failures, lessons, owners and completion dates
  • Chairing under pressure balances participation, dissent, pace and decision quality

Participants can assess board effectiveness and plan their first 90 days as a director.

  • Board effectiveness reviews assess composition, behaviours, information and decision quality
  • Skills matrices identify current capabilities, succession priorities and recruitment gaps
  • Director induction plans cover documents, relationships, site visits and mandatory briefings
  • Personal contribution plans define expertise, questions, boundaries and development priorities
  • Meeting preparation routines organise papers, issues, questions and follow-up actions
  • Annual director evaluations combine self-assessment, peer feedback and chair discussions
  • First-90-days action plan schedules learning, stakeholder meetings and governance commitments

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Board paper assessment checklist
  2. Director conflict-of-interest decision guide
  3. Board question framework
  4. Risk appetite and assurance map
  5. Committee terms-of-reference template
  6. First-90-days board induction action plan

Who should attend

  • New board members — need a practical foundation for effective early contribution
  • Non-executive directors — need to strengthen independent oversight and challenge
  • First-time directors — need clarity on duties, boundaries and boardroom conduct
  • Senior executives — preparing for a first board or trustee appointment
  • Company secretaries — responsible for director induction and board processes
  • Governance professionals — supporting boards, committees and governance reporting

Skills and tools covered

Board decision-makingFinancial oversightRisk governanceConstructive challengeDirector dutiesCommittee oversight

Tools and standards

OECD G20 Principles of Corporate Governance, COSO Internal Control Framework, Three Lines Model, Balanced Scorecard

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish principles, followed by case work, facilitated group analysis, boardroom simulations and individual application planning. Participants examine realistic board papers, committee reports, financial statements, risk registers and decision records. Simulations focus on questioning executive proposals, handling conflicted interests and reaching collective decisions under time pressure. Facilitated reflection links each method to participants' own board, trustee or governance responsibilities.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have management, professional or specialist experience and basic familiarity with how their organisation operates. They should be able to read business documents such as budgets, performance reports or policy papers. Prior board experience is helpful but not required. The course does not assume legal training, accounting qualifications, prior company secretary experience or detailed knowledge of a particular national governance code. Participants will gain more from the course if they bring a current board agenda, annual report or governance question from their own organisation.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants need management, professional or specialist experience and the ability to read business documents. Previous board service, legal training and accounting qualifications are not required.

Bring a current board agenda, annual report, board paper or governance issue if confidentiality permits. These materials help you apply the methods to your own role, but they are not mandatory.

It is designed for newly appointed directors, non-executive directors, trustees and executives preparing for a first board appointment. Company secretaries and governance professionals also benefit from understanding the director perspective.

This course concentrates on the practical responsibilities and conduct of an individual board member. Specialist governance courses usually place greater emphasis on governance frameworks, reporting obligations and company secretarial administration.

You will use the board paper checklist, question framework, conflict guide and first-90-days action plan in meetings and preparation sessions. The course also provides a structure for discussing induction needs with the chair or company secretary.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, with about 6.5 contact hours daily. Ten modules progress from board role and director duties through finance, risk, strategy, committees, crisis decisions and personal action planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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