from High Performance Boards, Improving and Energizing your Governance, Didier Cossin, 2020
Governance is the quality of decision-making at the very top of the organisation.
It has become critical to success and is about balance, responsibility and genuine personal accoutability.Board members need the necessary maturity and self-possession.
A board’s effectiveness rests on 4 pillars :
- People
- Information architecture
- Structures and processes
- Dynamics and board culture
Due diligence is made on the Board thanks to a relevant set of questions :
- People : who is on the virtuous board and what is each member’s unique contribution (skills, background, personality, expertise ) ? how dedicated is each member ?
- Information architecture : what is the quality and pertinence of the information accessed to make decisions on strategy delivery and risk monitoring ? what are the board brief papers like ? are there other sources of information ?
- Structrues and processes : what kind of processes and structures does the Board have in place to stay ahead of trends and regulations ? how does it ensure directors have a sufficient board-level view of risk (growth strategy, key vulnerabilities) ? Does it have a risk committee ? an investment committee ?
- Dynamics and board culture : what is the virtuous boardroom culture like ? what is the style of the Chair ? what kind of dyanamics / interractions are at play ? how much passion about the firm ? how does each director view the contribution of one another ?