Trustee board skills and qualities

An effective board of trustees should be able to draw on a diverse range of skills, knowledge, qualities and experience to help it fulfil its roles.

These might include:

• ‘hard’ skills such as legal or financial knowledge
• ‘soft’ skills such as teamworking or negotiation
• knowledge of the community or services the organisation provides.

Trustees act collectively to fulfil their duties. All trustees should be able to demonstrate they meet certain key qualities, including to:

• be committed to the purpose, objects and values of the organisation
• be constructive about other trustees’ opinions in discussions, and in response to staff members’ contributions at meetings
• be able to act reasonably and responsibly when undertaking such duties and performing tasks
• be able to maintain confidentiality on sensitive and confidential information
• be supportive of the values (and ethics) of the organisation
• understand the importance and purpose of meetings, and be committed to preparing for them adequately and attending them regularly
• be able to analyse information and, when necessary, challenge constructively
• be able to make collective decisions and stand by them
• be able to respect boundaries between executive (staff or day to day) and governance functions 

A trustee board can identify the skills, knowledge, qualities and experience each trustee brings by carrying out a 'skills audit'.