Board Papers- Reducing the anxiety of preparation and overwhelm in reading them.

For #CompanySecretaries (CS), board seasons are one of the peak stress inducing times of their year. For the CS a board season starts upwards of 4weeks to the #boardmeetings where the CS checks in with the CEO on a draft Board Agenda to sign off with the Board Chair, follows up with the Board Chair for consensus on any changes and then begins the arduous task of collaborating with members of #management in putting the Board Packs together.

Board Packs are meant to be high quality reporting on performance and strategic initiatives by management in order to get insightful feedback, approvals and guidance from the Board.

If done well, Board Packs provide a good summary of where an organisation is at and gives the right information to get the organisation to where it needs to be. It also improves the effectiveness and performance of the #Board .

So here is a short structure of a Board pack:
1. Preliminaries: Agenda, Minutes of the last meeting for confirmation, Summary of Resolutions passed
2. Discussion items:
* The items here should be divided into sections in order to guide the meeting. This includes matters arising, matters for approval, matters for discussion and matters for noting
* Matters arising (use a table format so as to assist a quick discussion)
* Matters for approval- It is useful to have this on one page either before the discussions or after the discussion in order to get clear resolutions
* Matters for discussion: The Board Paper- This is the meat of the meeting and should have an executive summary, decisions coming up for approval, a reminder of the strategy on a single page (helps to have a crisp strategy), the strategic objectives for the year, a dashboard on the progress made on the objectives, a business environment overview which may include a SWOT analysis and a business case for any approvals required
* Matters for noting- these are any updates that do not require discussion, but are important for the Board to note. These could be taken as read during the meeting so as to spend more time on the discussion and approval items
*Use appendices to keep the Board Paper Conscise
3. House Keeping: Any other Business and setting dates for the next meeting as well as any upcoming matters on the annual Board work plan.

The above makes for a good board pack, but this effort would be lost if not sent to the Board Members in time in order for them to prepare for the meeting. The Board Charter may give guidance on this, but if possible, the CS should send the Board Pack at least 7 days before each meeting. The use of technology is encouraged – including use of online board systems such as BoardPro, Diligent, OnBoard and many others.

In summary, a Board Pack is a tool of efficiency for the #Board and the formatting of Board Papers matters. Speak to us at Akira Consult today to fine tune your Board Pack and preparation for a pain free Board season.