Board Management Decision Making

Boards decide to make a lot of choices — as well as the number is only getting greater. These are decisions with high-stakes, a lot of uncertainty and are also not the type of thing you may delegate.

Suzanne Nimocks: I think it is very important just for the aboard to have a solid decision-making procedure that allows those to do the job they may be paid to do and help management teams produce good decisions. A good process will include such things as challenging the assumptions, playing devil’s advocate and helping management think of alternatives. It will likewise incorporate tips for avoiding groupthink (eg brainstorming, Six Pondering Hats, Disney Planning Technique etc).

This is often helped with the usage of tools such as RACI, and the board could have a formal method to decide which will issues work for its input. It might utilize the output https://boardmeetingtool.net/board-chair-responsibilities from a board retreat or the work of committees that have been requested with several decisions, to be sure that the decision is within the arranged risk urge for food and is actually informed by each of the advice they have received.

Leigh Weiss: I think the key is to have a step spine from the particular decision you are facing and consider, on one hand, the scope of the potential impact (what’s at risk) and, on the other hand, the level of assurance about whether it will arise. This helps you prioritize best places to spend time and be sure that the panel is making a premium quality decision based upon the best facts obtainable.