As a leader of the board, you have the responsibility of making sure that the board members have all the information they require to fulfill their roles and meet their obligations. This includes ensuring that the board receives the information it requires from the management. This should ideally involve conducting regular Board Effectiveness Reviews.
A robust evaluation process will aid the board in gaining an understanding of range of issues that could be affecting the performance of the board. These can range from operational concerns like the duration of meetings or composition of agendas for board meetings to more complicated concerns about the role of the board and the insufficient knowledge and abilities on the board. It could also indicate the need for new directors or changes to directorships already in place.
The board must be clear about the objectives of its evaluation and should guide the process with the help of senior managers who work with the board regularly. The board should agree to examine the results together and resolve any issues that arise.
A recent study that was based on nine years of self-evaluation data for board members from a top Australian consulting firm specializing in survey research and corporate governance services. They identified 11 reliable factors that are essential to the effectiveness of the board. Six of these factors correlated specifically or mostly to Leblanc and Gillies’ (2005) “how” items, which reflect distinct factors that govern how boards can operate effectively. These include teamwork and communication within the board as well as leadership by the chair, committee leadership, effective meetings, self-assessment for the board and efficient record keeping and information management.
