The post pandemic board - a new collaborative endeavour PR File - Flipbook - Page 12
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The post pandemic board: a new collaborative endeavour
Boards used to be very private bodies and decisions
never really had to be explained. But now there is
more public scrutiny generally and chairs really
need to be able to articulate the ‘why?’ decisions that have
been made, not just report back on the ‘what’.
Discussion that has a clear bearing on personal
values and individual standpoints is still held
mainly around the board table, face to face. In this
atmosphere, chairs say they find it easier to create
a buzz, achieve sharper focus and attention and deal
with divergent opinion when non-verbal cues are
there for all to pick up in both body language and
tone.
The 15 minutes immediately prior to and after
meetings are felt to be particularly lost on Zoom,
when “this is the window into the real issues and
real people”.
A few boards have, however, chosen to move
permanently to virtual working or to a hybrid
approach. In contrast to valuing non-verbal
communication when meeting in person, the
levelling move to remote working, with everyone
being the same size on screen, has been viewed
positively by those whose colleagues can have an
over-weighted presence.
The option to work remotely has also been
helpful in removing barriers to accessing boards.
It has enabled those in full time work, or who
have competing commitments or are in different
geographical locations, to participate more easily. At
a time of new collegiality between non-executives
and executives, remote working platforms also offer
a quick and easy way of bringing smaller groups
together for focused discussion and debate: “Hybrid
is unmitigatedly positive but the touch points are
important. With only four to six meetings a year it
takes you two years to decide anything. So hybrid
means you can make progress in between them.”
Hybrid meetings with attendees in the room and
others on screen are, however, unpopular. The
requirement to manage complicated interpersonal
dynamics is experienced by many chairs as
distracting and stressful.
Some boards have retained, to some degree, the
innovations they originally implemented as a means
of getting through the lockdown period. Some
have retained or further developed online portals
for board resources, carried on posting videos to
accompany board papers or are still holding online
seminars. Others have held on to WhatsApp groups
that were seen as a necessary evil in 2020, having
discovered that this means of communication suits
a free-flowing post-pandemic board environment.
Others have repurposed and repackaged ways of
working originally developed for formal meetings
for other needs, such as using online briefings and
seminars for induction and onboarding.
As is to be expected in such a fluid environment
there is no ideal way when it comes to running
boards in a hybrid world. Instead, chairs are taking
a practical and needs-led approach, adopting and
evolving practices as they go: “I know it’s an awful
phrase, but it’s ‘horses for courses’ and the really
smart organisations have got this right for them”.