{"id":6142,"date":"2020-01-20T06:31:01","date_gmt":"2020-01-20T11:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=6142"},"modified":"2020-12-19T22:43:46","modified_gmt":"2020-12-20T03:43:46","slug":"board-excellence-101-your-guide-to-building-a-forward-looking-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/board-excellence-101-your-guide-to-building-a-forward-looking-board\/","title":{"rendered":"Board Excellence 101: Your Guide to Building A Forward-looking Board"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The amount of time the <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/business-toolkit\/board-of-directors\">Board of Directors<\/a> spend on their work and commit to strategy is rising. Directors say they dedicate more time now<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-6145\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/pic-1-Board-Excellence-Primer-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/pic-1-Board-Excellence-Primer-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/pic-1-Board-Excellence-Primer-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/pic-1-Board-Excellence-Primer-1024x683.jpeg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/> to their Board duties than ever before.\u00a0 In fact, since 2011, the directors have cut in half the gap between the actual and ideal amount of time they spend on Board work.<\/p>\n<p>In the newest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/featured-insights\/mckinsey-global-surveys\">McKinsey Global Survey<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/business-toolkit\/corporate-board\">Corporate Boards<\/a>, the results showed that strategy, on average, is the main focus of many Boards.\u00a0 Yet, directors still want more time for strategy when they consider their relative value to their companies.\u00a0 This is more than any other area of the Board work.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Evolving Trends Influencing Board Work<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In recent years, the amount of time the Board of Directors spends on Board work has increased.\u00a0 Compared to 2011, directors now spend five more days per year on Board work. Another trend that is happening is the increase in time. As the number of days has grown, so has the amount of time spent on strategy.<\/p>\n<p>Based on the survey, a total of 772 days was spent on Board work in 2013.\u00a0 This has increased to 1,074 in 2015. Subsequently, 8.91% was spent on strategy in 2015 compared to 7.85% in 2013. With an increased focus on strategy, directors are dedicating more time on <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/strategic-planning\">Strategic Planning<\/a> and to discuss strategic issues.<\/p>\n<p>In the next three years, directors would like to dedicate more time to <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/stream\/strategy-development\">Strategy Development<\/a> and on organizational health and talent management. Directors want to increase the time spent on strategy due to its relative value to their companies.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The 3 Types of Boards<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Performance of Boards based on overall impact, performance, and operation showed that there are<a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/board-excellence-primer-3995\"> 3 types of Boards<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/board-excellence-primer-3995\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-6146\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Pic-2-Board-Performance-Excellence-1024x768.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Pic-2-Board-Performance-Excellence.png 1024w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Pic-2-Board-Performance-Excellence-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Pic-2-Board-Performance-Excellence-768x576.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Ineffective<\/strong>. Ineffective Boards report the lowest overall impact and non-performance of tasks. They have the lowest overall impact on long-term value creation. Ineffective Boards are least effective at the 37 tasks required of the Board and they do not execute some of the tasks at all. Only a few are found to be effective at any one task.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><strong>Complacent<\/strong>. Complacent Boards have a much more favorable view of their over-all contributions. Half of the directors considered their Board having a very high impact on long-term value creation. Complacent Boards have been found to be effective in the performance of tasks on management review of financial performance, setting the company\u2019s overall strategic performance, and formally approving the management team\u2019s strategy.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li><strong>Excellent<\/strong>. Excellent Boards are the most well-rounded of the 3 types of Board of Directors. Their overall impact is very high. Significantly, they project greater effectiveness in the performance of tasks than peers on every single task. Further, they are effective in strategy and performance management.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>Achieving Board Excellence: What Does It Take<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Those <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/board-excellence-primer-3995\">boards that reach Excellence<\/a> are found to be effective at 30 of the 37 tasks undertaken by the Board. Compared to others, they stand out in the ways they operate. They have an especially strong culture and mechanism for feedback. They are more than twice as likely to conduct regular evaluations and ask for input after each meeting.<\/p>\n<p>While this may sound daunting, achieving a value-creating Board is achievable. There are just fundamental principles that the Board needs to follow to achieve Board Excellence. One of these guiding principles is spending more time.\u00a0 Across-the-board increases are often achieved with more time spend on Board work.<\/p>\n<p>Interested in gaining more understanding of <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/board-excellence-primer-3995\">achieving Board Excellence<\/a>? You can learn more and download an <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/board-excellence-primer-3995\">editable PowerPoint about <strong>Board Excellence<\/strong> here<\/a> on the <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\">Flevy documents marketplace<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Do You Find Value in This Framework?<\/h2>\n<p>You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/pro\/library\">FlevyPro Library<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/pro\">FlevyPro<\/a> is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives. Here&#8217;s what some have to say:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today\u2019s market. They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions. I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2013 Bill Branson, Founder at Strategic Business Architects<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power. For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2013 David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;As a small business owner, the resource material available from FlevyPro has proven to be invaluable. The ability to search for material on demand based our project events and client requirements was great for me and proved very beneficial to my clients. Importantly, being able to easily edit and tailor the material for specific purposes helped us to make presentations, knowledge sharing, and toolkit development, which formed part of the overall program collateral. While FlevyPro contains resource material that any consultancy, project or delivery firm must have, it is an essential part of a small firm or independent consultant&#8217;s toolbox.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2013 Michael Duff, Managing Director at Change Strategy (UK)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients. In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over! The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight \u2013 it&#8217;s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2013 Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Several times a month, I browse FlevyPro for presentations relevant to the job challenge I have (I am a consultant). When the subject requires it, I explore further and buy from the Flevy Marketplace. On all occasions, I read them, analyze them. I take the most relevant and applicable ideas for my work; and, of course, all this translates to my and my clients&#8217; benefits.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2013 Omar Hern\u00e1n Montes Parra, CEO at Quantum SFE<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The amount of time the Board of Directors spend on their work and commit to strategy is rising. Directors say they dedicate more time now to their Board duties than ever before.\u00a0 In fact, since 2011, the directors have cut in half the gap between the actual and ideal amount of time they spend on&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/board-excellence-101-your-guide-to-building-a-forward-looking-board\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Board Excellence 101: Your Guide to Building A Forward-looking Board<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":6145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[408],"tags":[1897,1359,1898,27,77],"class_list":["post-6142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-management-leadership","tag-3-types-of-boards","tag-board-of-directors","tag-excellent-boards","tag-strategic-planning","tag-strategy-development"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6142"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8029,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6142\/revisions\/8029"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}