Is your board effective? Good board processes and tools make an effective board.
Boards add value before, during and after board meetings.
Before:
Do board members read the board packs? Are the board packs provided to board members in time? Are board packs adequately prepared and comprehensive for the board members to gain informed insights about the business?
Board packs have different objectives: information, updates, decisions or resolutions, among others.
Several board papers make a board pack.
For each board paper, why is it included in the pack? Avoid giving information that is not relevant or which the board member can easily find elsewhere. You add value to the pack by putting context and perspective with respect to the business.
A board paper that requires aboard to take a decision should be formatted as follows:
Required Resolutions from the Board
Part 1: IT department
1.1) Decision required and cost implications:
To upgrade the core banking app from the current version v 9 to the new release v15.
This is estimated to cost US $150,000. The money was budgeted for and is available if the timely implementation is commenced.
We are losing over US $20,000 monthly due to doing certain processes like anti-money laundering compliance, data analytics and intelligence manually which the new ver 15 automates.
Options available and costs:
Option 1: xx and costs
Option 2: xx and costs xx
Option 3: xx and cost xx
Recommendation:
We recommend option 2 because it is
-
- Cheaper by xx
- Has more impact on our stakeholders in line with GoU vision 2040 priorities. This gives us edge to win.
- Etc
A board paper written in the above format is easier to read and makes the board effective.
To be continued.
Copyright Mustapha B Mugisa, 2020. All rights reserved.
