The Impossible Dream: One-Page Board Papers

Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, Digital Transformation Strategy (145-slide PowerPoint presentation). Digital Transformation is being embraced by organizations across most industries, as the role of technology shifts from being a business enabler to a business driver. This has only been accelerated by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Thus, to remain competitive and outcompete in today's fast paced, [read more]

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“Impossible.” That was management’s view when the Chair of a major Corporation said they wanted board papers to be one page long with a maximum of 10 supporting “PowerPoint charts.”  But it has happened.

This Chair is not alone — other Boards that are sick of being inundated with massive, inconsistent and poorly thought out board papers are also moving toward one-pagers. They see this as a way of reducing the time and risks involved in untangling poorly prepared papers while supporting better discussion and decision making.

Here are the steps that this Chair took to achieve this “impossible” dream:

Got buy in. The Board needed to want to drive clarity and streamline board papers while ensuring all the corporate governance checks were met.

Built capability.  We ran workshops for all the senior team and their direct reports who authored board papers about simple approaches to structuring problem solving (to avoid the rubbish in rubbish out syndrome), synthesizing ideas into a clear and compelling argument and creating a clear board paper and supporting exhibits.  One of our clients has had the board members come and talk to the board paper authors about what they are looking for in a board paper and what their hot buttons are.

Got the Board aligned.  We also explained our approach and thinking to the Board so they would know how to “read” the new board papers.

Agreed ground rules.  These vary by board, but the basics are the same:

• Every board paper author must produce a “storyline” for their board paper. Click here to learn how to prepare a storyline.
• The storyline needs to be signed off with the senior level sponsor.
  • Every board paper must conform to the agreed format and length. Some Boards include these in the board paper itself as an executive summary

Shared the love.  It’s important to share the learning across all board paper authors and also to share examples of great board papers that others can use as a model.

Click here if you would like some more guidance on writing board papers and some templates that will help you prepare your next one.

The result — clearer board papers and more time spent of discussing the right issues!

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