This Q1 season has had us going deeper, learning and unlearning (yes, we are now heavy on the trending buzzwords 😎 ) on the things we knew as Governance Practitioners, but did not have the language for. Thanks to lecturing the Advanced Level Certified Public Secretaries (CPS) Course at the Kenya School of Law, one of those things was the term ‘Boardroom Dynamics’ – Unit 16 of the CPS Course.

So by definition, Boardroom Dynamics is:
1. (Noun)The theory and application of the behavioral aspects of board functioning.
2.(An Adjective) The psychological processes that influence how boards function.
3. Board dynamics opens the ‘black box’ of the boardroom behavior to see how things actually play out rather than what is supposed to happen on paper.
4. Board dynamics is about how boards behave, and misbehave, rather than about what tasks they do. It is about HOW they discuss issues rather than WHAT issues they discuss.

Karl George, the Managing Director of the Governance Forum states: ‘Bad board behaviour is the thing that scuppers good governance every time. The people element of governance is so essential. It’s the number-one reason companies fail’

Researchers such as Solange Charas found that that though demographic factors did have an impact on profitability, the impact was extremely small, explaining less than 0.5% of performance. However, people (and Board) dynamics had at least an 800% positive impact on profitability. Healthy board dynamics increase board effectiveness, facilitate collaborative decision-making and generate value for stakeholders

Board dynamics are healthy when:
*ideas are debated robustly, in a constructive way and respectfully;
*all board members have an opportunity to speak and express themselves;
*Relationships between board members are strong.

You can facilitate good board dynamics by:
1. Bringing the right skillsets to the board – helping you define what capabilities you need at your board table, including the right behaviours.
2. Creating a structure for success – determining the right policies and procedures that will support and nurture a highly productive board.
3. Defining board deliverables – setting clear, achievable goals and developing the assessment tools to regularly assess board performance.

Signs of bad board dynamics:
1. An issue is discussed for a whole meeting then left unsettled and revisited at the next meeting.
2. Personal conflict exists between members, and debates are around personalities not opinions.
3. Dominant members take over meetings and dissenters only alert the chair on their concerns after the meeting.
4. Board members appear uninterested, for example, through erratic board attendance, not reading board papers, getting distracted by phones or side conversations, not carrying out agreed actions.

Check the temperature of your Board’s dynamic today and take steps to remedy them at your earliest opportunity.