Top 5 Indicators Your Compliance Board Needs Assistance

The presence of a compliance board on your organizational chart creates the perception that your compliance function has clear governance and oversight from a team of experienced and qualified professionals. The reality can often be very different. For some organizations, that board may exist solely as a placeholder or checklist item, with no opportunity for those board members to directly engage with your compliance team. On that basis, here are five signs to look for in assessing how much help your compliance board may need:

1. Infrequent Reporting

At the very least, summary reports to the board should align with an established meeting schedule – quarterly and annually. If critical events occur between those dates, such as major findings from an audit or significant policy changes, that information should also be conveyed to the board in a timely manner.

2. Lack of Context

The responsibility of governance provides a very different perspective from the work being done on the front line. If your reporting to the board consists of nothing more than copies of compliance documents, the lack of summary context will severely limit the extent of the contribution that board can make to the effective running of the compliance team. Reports should be relevant, focused, and have enough detail for the board to make an appropriate decision.

3. Information Overload

At the opposite end of the spectrum, many organizations will copy board members on everything, just to be safe. Being copied on multiple email threads, along with multiple draft versions of documents does nothing more than drown your board in information.

4. Access Problems

For board members who take the initiative to research additional details on the summary reports they receive, being denied access to that data can be very frustrating. Alternatively, being given access to poorly organized data with no clear delineation of approved or final status on multiple draft documents can be equally confusing.

5. Lack of Engagement

If formal contact with your board is limited to regular summary reports, your organization is missing a valuable opportunity to leverage the experience and insights of qualified personnel. Often, such opportunities are dismissed as requiring too much effort to get the board “up to speed,” but if it’s not “up to speed,” what purpose is the board serving?

Our Compliance Software Products are designed to help you maximize the effectiveness of your compliance board. Using our SharePoint Policy  Management Software and Contract Management Software will enable your organization to manage compliance data to ensure that your board receives detailed and accurate reports in a timely manner. Restricted access to centralized data repositories will also ensure that the confusion of multiple draft documents is a thing of the past. When a board member goes in search of additional information, you can be sure that he or she will have secure access to the most up-to-date and approved version of any document.

To learn more about our software now available on SharePoint 2013, SharePoint Online via Office 365 and as a Software-as-a-Service, schedule a demo now