Strategies for Effective Board Meeting Preparation

In brief: Directors face an increasingly complex environment in which their businesses must operate, requiring them to engage in continuous learning about new trends and that they master new areas of oversight. This white paper, coproduced by the Ira M. Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership and NACD, argues that directors should rethink how they prepare for and contribute to board meetings and improve their performance by becoming “issue spotters” capable of highlighting interrelationships between new trends. Directors can no longer afford to focus exclusively on financial reporting and management proposals and should consider acting as the “eyes and ears” for management, recognizing new patterns in the business environment. This article makes practical suggestions to help directors optimally prepare for board meetings in this new context.

Boards can use this resource to

• reset expectations for effective board preparations and management reporting;
• accelerate the development of new directors;
• consider nontraditional, external sources of information about the business; and
• change the format and purpose of board meeting agendas.

Relevant audiences: General Counsel, new directors, board chairs, nominating and governance committee chairs