The post pandemic board - a new collaborative endeavour PR File - Flipbook - Page 15
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The post pandemic board: a new collaborative endeavour
“We’re in a new age of fragility: the best boards
are really getting this and recognising it in more
supportive challenge to their organisations.”
In stark contrast to the remote, transactional boards
of the past, the post covid board has to recognise
strength in unity and collaborative endeavour: “if it
wasn’t already, it is now a fundamental consideration
to believe in what you are doing. The best boards have
challenging and supportive members who aren’t
there for themselves”.
Individual roles and responsibilities have not
necessarily changed but compound pressures and
the need to address issues rapidly have brought about
a more collaborative atmosphere. This is reflected
in increased permeability between executive and
non-executive, higher levels of co-production and
a renewed emphasis on motivation and common
purpose.
More open engagement and dispersed responsibility
day to day for aspects of governance or programmes
relevant to the organisation’s sustainability mean
that chief executives (and in some cases individual
directors) are by and large spending more time with
their boards.
Some have referred to this distinct atmosphere as
one of kinship, defined by having a strong shared
purpose that unites everybody regardless of their
role and inspires them to move forward together. By
and large the shift is, of course, viewed positively;
however, it may also account for a few reports by
CEOs of the additional pressures generated by the
need to brief board members more frequently.
Collaboration at committee level is also changing:
“as the agenda becomes more dense, the role
of our sub-committees has also become far
more important…” and more active and engaged.
Committee workloads have increased as smaller
groups of executives and non-executive counterparts
come together and take more time to work through
significant issues pre-Board meetings. Some have
rewired their committee structure to make it more
focused, or more load-bearing.
Finally, the atmosphere and tone of engagement
between non-executive and executive still rests on
the Chair / CEO axis; that is unchanged.