Governance policies

What the model asks

Governing bodies should set out their intentions and direction formally in governance policies. They should make sure those they delegate to have the power to create management policies that fit those governance policies, state their intentions as principles for the organization to apply, and make sure the principles are applied by overseeing performance through the organization's reports and the assurance that goes with them. Each governance policy should give its reasons and the outcomes it aims for, the principles to be applied by the organization in its management practices, which governance structures are accountable for applying them, and how the governing body intends to oversee that application. Policies should take account of the organizational governance framework and strategy and of any secondary frameworks and strategies.

What it means when one board controls another

Policies are where the split between reserved and delegated decisions becomes visible. A group governance policy that does not draw that line leaves each entity board to guess, and the efficiency rating should reflect the ambiguity rather than the volume of policy.

Evidence an evaluator asks for

A maturity rating is a claim about how the group governs. The evidence is what proves it operated. Keep both, and keep them together.

• Governance policies: Governance policies carrying rationale, principles, accountable structures and oversight method
• Governance policies: Management policies traceable to governance policies

Where evaluations commonly find gaps

• Policies that list rules without rationale or oversight arrangements

How this requirement enters the rating

This unit supplies the evidence for the efficiency aspect. Rate it on the six-point scale, cite the record that shows it operated in the period, and read the aspect page before you assign a level. The level descriptions for this aspect are on /aspects/efficiency/.

It carries 2 evidence items and 1 common gap in the model. The evidence splits across two artefacts, so record both against the same row rather than choosing the easier one. The group application on this page is ours; the requirement and evidence are the model's, stated in our own words.

Requirements that sit beside it

• 4.4.1 General: governance efficiency and governance components
• 4.4.2 Governance frameworks
• 4.1 General: the purpose of evaluating governance maturity and its three aspects

The three aspects The six-point scale All 35 requirements

Note on the draft: The requirement, evidence and gaps on this page are read from ISO 37004:2023, which the draft states it builds on. The draft's own clause body is not public, so this page does not state it. The clause reference at the top is the draft's public contents heading that this requirement sits under.