Board service is a great way to expand your horizons and develop your ability to take a look at a company in its entirety instead of just the functional areas you’ve managed. It also exposes you an array of challenges and issues that companies confront. For instance, you may be faced with difficult decisions which affect employees negatively, such as choosing redundancies or closing branches. These scenarios teach you to think clearly and not be swayed either by your own feelings or those of your colleagues.
Another issue that comes up is how to ensure that a wide spectrum of voices are heard in the process of deliberations and decision-making. Boards employ a variety of techniques to achieve this. For example some boards allow directors to play devil’s advocate at meetings, while others employ a whiteboard approach to brainstorm and’spitball’ possible solutions prior to making an important decision. This helps to separate decision-making from the personality of individuals and can help avoid groupthink.
Boards can also boost their effectiveness by being prepared to challenge the norms that have been in place for a long time. A lot of board members, for instance are re-examining committee structures. They are asking themselves if they are serving their purpose and are the most efficient way to run meetings. They are looking into new ways of identifying patterns and insights that could be hidden in the data and digital tools.
