Every Board should meet from time to time without the CEO.

Directors should have unfettered access to management.

Checklists should never replace responsibility.

You rarely see an argument to reduce the size of the Board.

Newly appointed directors are very often not prepared emotionally and professionally for their first appointment.

All directors should nurture a reputation for independent judgement. Just like a jury member in a Court trial.

Don’t be afraid to be a minority of one.

If two people always agree, one is clearly superfluous.

What is complicated is rarely useful, and what is useful should not be complicated.

Can you recognise when you are being influenced?

Organisation charts lie. They never describe the power lines accurately.

Are your Board agendas reflective of the changing landscape or have they become ritualised?

How would you describe the curiosity coefficients at the Board meetings?

Describe the unspoken conflicts. What are the silent killers in the organisation?

A Chair is a full Board member and not simply a facilitator.

It is hard to have a Board fit for purpose if you don’t know what the purpose is!

Every person you add must be additive to culture and raise the bar.

The CEO runs the company and the Chair is there to make sure that the company is well run.

Board Evaluation Limited is an independent practice led by experienced advisors focused on helping organisations develop governance best practice among Boards and individual directors.

Assembling a team of intelligent, well-meaning and hard-working directors doesn’t always guarantee that the Board will work well. We do not have a rigid approach. We assess the needs of each individual client and design and deliver relevant programmes. Each assignment is, therefore, bespoke to the client and relevant to their current circumstances and requirements. Our range of clients extends from listed companies to smaller privately owned firms as well as public sector and third sector organisations.

The programmes we deliver range from comprehensive Board Effectiveness and Board Governance reviews (which are a regulatory requirement for listed companies) to short programmes such as strategy and financial awareness workshops and one-to-one consultancy and coaching services. Our one to one coaching on financial awareness to directors who want to improve their finance understanding has proven very popular.

Our diagnostic tool on Board Effectiveness is a tried and tested diagnostic tool where organisations can self evaluate so to speak, although we always recommend that this, by itself, does not constitute a robust review. Our other diagnostic tool is a Strategic HealthCheck which is something that is done far too infrequently in organisations. Details on both can be found in Our Services section.

Find out about our Online Board Effectiveness Review