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Conduct a board review to get an overview of your board's health

A good benchmarked survey is like a good Xray. You get to see the good and not so good areas very quickly and easily.

The best practice board review process

It’s often easier for someone to see the ‘obvious’ when looking from an external point of view. That’s why the common practice for a board review is to conduct a two or three yearly independent externally facilitated board assessment. This works in hand by subsequent annual internal reviews that focus on the extent of improvements achieved in relation to the key findings by the independently facilitated external review.

The external review will normally involve the following steps conducted by a Board Advisory Partner or similarly qualified professional:

Directors, and executives that regularly attend board meetings, complete a validated, benchmarked Board Effectiveness Survey
The Board Advisory Partner synthesises the results of the surveys into the three to five main areas for improvement and writes a detailed report setting out their findings and recommendations
The Chair is debriefed separately on the results of the benchmarked survey and the findings and recommendations included in the report, prior to a similar debrief of the whole board
Depending upon the findings and recommendations, subsequent workshops or action planning sessions might be organised to assist the board understand the hot spots and agree upon the improvement initiatives that will be put in place.

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Whether it be paper, Excel or a templated survey service our experience shows that most boards conduct some form of internal review between their two to three yearly external review. However, using these methods – candid and objective responses are hard to find.

Thankfully there is no need to conduct another cumbersome and less meaningful internal review. Board Surveys has created a survey that is self-managed, affordable, validated and world-class. It not only delivers deeper insights, but benchmarks your board against boards of similar organisations in a streamlined process that you are in control of.

The gold standard

For organisations that want an in-depth understanding of their board current state, its desired future state and the gaps, we recommend using the Larger Organisations Board Effectiveness Surveys as an essential component for your two or three-yearly deep-dive and use the Smaller Organisations and Not-for-Profit Board Effectiveness Surveys yearly in between.

This will not only satisfy most regulatory requirements but also provide valuable insights and identify key improvement opportunities on a regular basis. For many organisations, larger issues arise when things are left stagnant for long periods. Visibility thanks to the key insights provided by these reviews are the most affordable, and efficient way to understand more about your board, company and overall operations. Consider the above information and how it may relate to your organisation, and choose the right board survey setup for your needs today.