The post pandemic board - a new collaborative endeavour PR File - Flipbook - Page 8
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The post pandemic board: a new collaborative endeavour
Constant evolution is the essence of any Board. Any Board that is
comfortable is about to be overtaken with reality… The amount of
change we are seeing at the moment is probably the least we will
see in the future: it will continue to accelerate.
Context
“We have to let go; to have our fingers prised off
the ways of working which we’re all used to – but
without anything fixed to move to.”
Change was already underway prior to 2020
as demands on organisations and their boards
crystalised in line with broader political, economic,
social and technological developments, and as new
thinking about board effectiveness also developed.
Yet the 2020-2022 period accelerated existing (and
triggered new) developments, positive and negative,
sometimes directly and in other ways more subtly.
Some of these developments are directly attributable
to an unforeseen and unprecedented time in global
public health and the social, financial and operational
implications. Yet complexity in the environment in
which we are running organisations in 2022 manifests
in far more nuanced, fragile and complicated
ways, often entirely unrelated to anything directly
attributable to the pandemic itself.
The interconnectedness that defines our age means
that instability, insecurity and uncertainty elsewhere
in the world is more likely to be felt closer to home,
with multiple knock-on social, political and economic
impacts. With rising expectations, increased
complexity and ongoing uncertainty the aim is to
balance ‘the ideal’ with ‘the practical’ to keep things
moving forward. We are constantly assessing, with
every decision and each judgement call, what that
balance should be.
Most types of challenge faced by chairs in 2022 are
familiar, yet there is no doubt that the experience of
chairing organisations has changed. That change has
been largely insidious and through a gradual build-up
of different pressures and uncertainties along with
the requirement to change the way we work: “we’re
in the water feeling our way by using only the stones
under our feet”.
“We are now managing the world through a
much more stressed society.”
The pandemic period at large raised awareness
of the perils of uncharted territory for those
who were unprepared and created a new level
of watchfulness within organisations. In an
environment of heightened risk exposure and
heightened public perception, the Board’s role is to
be on constant watch.
A fast-moving digital world adds to the pressure
by making the task of constantly scanning the
horizon increasingly demanding for all involved,
with seemingly little margin for error. Boards must
acknowledge the rapid clock speed created by
digital communication that can turn local issues
into viral social media coverage in hours: “an issue
that 10 years ago could be swept under the carpet
now needs to be dealt with quickly to stay relevant”.
In 2022, existential threats that used to feel rare
are a fact of life for most chairs. Their task is to
ensure that their organisations stay relevant to
continue the mission while occupying a place that
can feel at times like a media or regulatory bell jar.
Yet even within organisations and communities,
chairs are increasingly acting as shock absorbers
because of generally increased levels of stress and
anxiety in society: “as chairs, we are absorbing the
compound social stress inherent in organisations
and stakeholder communities as it rises to the top”.