Effective board management requires directors to take their responsibilities seriously, commit to the process and strive to keep improving. It also requires a robust infrastructure to allow the board to perform its best work and accelerates the efforts of board members as well as the management team. This includes the governance tools, processes and systems in place to handle the scheduling of meetings, the development of materials the management of portals logistics, communications and logistics.
The most effective boards are marked by a constant examination of the most important, mission-critical drivers as well as opportunities and risks, and an emphasis on the importance of stakeholder engagement. This includes asking for reports on customer, supplier and other key stakeholders’ actions and trends. Also, it is about economic headwinds and opportunities. It also means going out into boardroomevent.com the field to see firsthand how the company operates and bringing these insights back for discussion with the board.
This pillar is based on the trust and respect between board members, which need to be present to permit quality discussion and debates. It is also necessary to create an environment where it is acceptable and even expected that the board will disagree with management.
The ability of the board to perform its job depends on the quality and accessibility of the information. Boards that are successful effectively make decisions through the use of an information infrastructure that is aligned with the board’s mission and engagement model as well as its vision for excellence. This includes an explicit authority matrix (sometimes called a RACI map) that clearly identifies which individuals and groups are responsible for, accountable for and consultative about particular topics and when their roles and responsibilities are met.
