The post pandemic board - a new collaborative endeavour PR File - Flipbook - Page 19
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The post pandemic board: a new collaborative endeavour
Building and chairing inclusive boards, with the full range of experiences and thinking styles, remains
a work in progress for some. However, those who have been able to create them shared the following
five tips:
1.
“Don’t recruit a diverse board until you have a culture that can accommodate and make use of a
wider range of experiences. Be ruthlessly honest about prospective board members’ potential to
contribute, even if you are changing the existing board culture. If you appoint the wrong people,
you will damage the board.”
2.
“All board members need some coaching and development, as you mould the team. But it doesn’t
always have to be the Chair – it can be done by the Vice Chair or a Senior Independent Director.
You do, however, need a really good ‘whole board’ assessment process every now and again.”
3. “You have to paint a picture of where you need to go – that’s your objective – and then stay open
to nuance and alternative options. I always flex my summing up to keep it within the bounds of
that objective. I’m more inclined to reference what I’ve heard or listened to and to give a good
explanation – but then I’ll put my foot down.”
4. “Decide the ‘big ticket’ items for every meeting and gain agreement from the start. Bring
discussion to a close when you said you would. With a broader team I’ve learned not to overload
the agenda, and my meetings are now quite different.”
5. “The Chair role doesn’t have to change because of diversity; it only has to change if you’ve got a
bad chairman.”