What are the best practices for board development in times of change and uncertainty?

Diversity on the board is incredibly important and what I am referring to goes beyond diversity of race, balance of men and women etc. Diversity of skills and even more important is diversity in whys of thinking, creativity and approach. If boards can bring a varied group of people together to serve the organisation, they will not only effectively lead on strategy but innovate new best practices that take their organisation from survive to thrive.

In times of change and uncertainty, prioritize a diverse board composition to bring varied perspectives. Ensure members possess critical skills like crisis management and adaptability. Regularly assess and update the board's skill matrix. Foster open communication and collaborative culture. Implement continuous education and strategic foresight. Establish clear roles and responsibilities, with emphasis on agility and resilience.

Ensure that the board comprises individuals with diverse backgrounds, skills, and perspectives. This diversity will bring fresh insights and ideas to address complex issues.

While it is ideal to have mix in experience etc in board, practical reality could be different. Such cases, ideal to be transparent and educative supportive rather than display of knowledge and expertise. Carry the board along

> implement shorter, more frequent board meetings (e.g., monthly rather than quarterly) by agile principles > make real-time decisions and share information with digital tools > form flexible committee structures to tackle emerging issues on a timely basis > follow COSO enterprise risk management guidelines, which emphasize the integration of risk management with strategy and performance > identify and prepare for low-probability, high-impact events through regular black swan workshops > create a dynamic risk dashboard that all board members can access in real-time > use techniques like Delphi and cross-impact analysis to conduct regular strategic foresight sessions.

Nowadays you should have diversity as a fix part of the Board Culture implemented, further you should have all the following Board Membership skills being covered: 1) Finance and even more important Investment (especially for Startups, contacts to Venture Capital money) 2) Platform & Software Development (Data and AI) 3) Sales & Strategy (Going to market)

Everyone has shared good insights. I like to add that the Board should perform in cohesive manner. Let us take an example of cricket team. All the players selected are talented. But the match is won only when all the team members perform in cohesive manner.

I believe the Board should always comprise of following: 1) Executive Leadership of the company 2) Industry Subject matter Expert & Thought leader 3) Independent Tech/Operations Expert (some one who was involved in building Product/s/Operations) 4) Independent People & Culture expert and Mental Coach This ensures that all aspects are covered while the company grows and the independents bring external validation to the table and ensure none of the areas are missed.

A strong board culture is where there is an active promotion of an open discussion of diverse views. Alignment on values, which is important to board governance, should be confused with alignment of thinking. There is a risk that conformity is seen as a sign of "strength" when it risks masking over vulnerabilities. A constant check in needs to be undertaken to ensure the Board is open to self-criticism and widening its lense to hear all the voices in the room. This creates a strong set of behaviours and norms to be shared and promoted with senior organizational leadership.

The leaders of the organization at both the staff and volunteer level play a major role in setting the tone and creating a positive board culture. Good leadership is vital to promote productive communication that should be two-way between chair and board members or staff. Leaders must remain vigilant in ensuring discussions stay at a high level and do not get into the weeds or that board meetings do not turn into committee meetings. Boards can also have "detractors" among their memberships who may intentionally disrupt a meeting with an excessive amount of questions or create diversions to topics not on the agenda in an effort to avoid discussion and decisions on the main agenda topic.

The board’s fundamental mandate is to provide insight, foresight, and oversight on mission-critical issues. This includes driving the company’s governance, advancing its strategy, managing operations, ensuring financial performance, and engaging stakeholders to drive long-term corporate value. Effective board members honour core traditional leadership values such as strong ethics, integrity, diligence, conscientiousness, executive-level communication skills, and a commitment to progress.

Hay que facilitar la opinión de todos y cada uno de los integrantes de la junta, con pensamiento crítico y actitud positiva y de crecimiento. Normalmente son profesionales con dilatada experiencia profesional, muy expertos y que no suelen obtener beneficio económico por su participación, por lo que el aspecto participativo es fundamental para crear un entorno amigable y exigente a la vez.

Los tiempos de incertidumbre traen cambios constantes, y esto requiere de procesos de adaptación, lo cual siempre viene de la mano del estrés. Hay que recordar que el estrés es un proceso de adaptación a unas nuevas exigencias. Así pues, saber manejar el estrés personalmente y a nivel de equipo, es una de las habilidades clave para una junta que afronta tiempos de incertidumbre. Y esto no es tan sencillo como se cree, pues hace falta algo más que una lectura superficial sobre estrés y resiliencia para integrar estas habilidades.

A dynamic interaction with the board is always wanted by a CEO. The board is expected to be open and up front with the goals' settings. The boards governance must be clear and in black and white , I have seen the lack of governance when medium to small companies or family owned companies have to make decisions but a clear governance is missing. A CEO can trigger the enhancement of a board culture to conduct the proper decisions at board level and not almost in all the cased by the CEO. There are boards that don't allow conflicts of interest when a board member has an external activity which could fall into a conflict of interest , a clear board culture and guidelines must be imposed and executed.

In times of change and uncertainty, the conversation around board development often gravitates towards strengthening governance, enhancing communication, & fostering adaptability. However, one crucial aspect that’s frequently overlooked is the importance of resilience-building through scenario-based role-play. As I work with fintech & regtech startups, I've observed that boards often prepare for change with theoretical planning but fail to test their strategies in practical, high-pressure situations. This gap can be bridged by integrating scenario-based role-play exercises into the board’s development plan. These exercises simulate crises/unexpected challenges, allowing board members to practice decision-making in real-time, under stress.

Profit or non-profit, your board members are your safety net. Their experience can offer angles that yours cannot. The more your board members participate personally in your presentations to stockholders, new potential investment partners, and customers, the better. It demonstrates their commitment to the corporate direction. It makes their involvement and agreement plain to customers, lenders, stockholders, grantmakers, and back. It adds the board members' credibility to your credibility. This can be true only if you have kept them deeply involved in the planning process including dangers as well as opportunities and core focuses. The diverse views of the board can plug holes in your plan. This is not merely valuable. It is essential.

Board should guide the management and provide direction; while leaving it to management to execute it! High level goals and measurable outcomes should be reviewed by the board.

The Board Governance should be such that while it performs all the functions of the Board it should allow the freedom and flexibility to the management team and not intervene in the day to day functions of the organisation.

At a time of change and uncertainty, the board should assess whether the current strategic direction and indeed the core purpose of the organisation is relevant in the light of uncertain or changed circumstances. The board should not be fearful of changing in response to changed circumstances. Boards should follow the advice of famed economist Paul Samuelson who said - 'when the facts change, I change my mind- what do you do?

Not-for-profit organizations are different. The mission and ROI is not financial. The Carver model of governance is by far the best!

Identification of who is responsible for each role is key to effective governance. This means a regular reminder that the board governs, the staff manages and the directors are the fiduciaries on behalf of the members of the organization. The board needs to provide specificity and clarity for the staff so they might carry out/manage the objectives the board has outlined.

It’s fair to say that the business landscape is constantly evolving, especially in uncertain times. So I think Board members should engage in continuous education and training to stay abreast of the latest trends, regulations, and technologies. This proactive approach equips them with the knowledge needed to navigate complex challenges.

At Board level, governance can have two different meanings. The governance of the company (or group of companies) and the governance of the Board itself. For the second aspect, the Board should ensure to set the tone and that all important areas are covered, but could well leave in most cases the details of implementation to the management. While, for the first aspect, it is a clear Board competence. In my view, a governance of a Board should be relatively short and simple, mostly, quite flexible and leave room to different approaches, given the variety of issues and problems that will have to be faced. It should also ensure that all necessary acts are performed timely and properly.

The Board governance is important. It should ensure that all the mandatory activities are performed, and in time. But I would not overstate its importance. If the Board has to change a by-law for a change in law, the governance will help. But, if the Board wants to change a by-law because for changing the organization for business reasons, in my view it is not a matter of good governance. It is rather a matter of a well-functioning Board, that does not depend on the Board governance rules, but on the Board members selection.

In turbulent times, training is important for your board to be plan full and strategic. Does every board member understand the financial details-how costs are allocated, where contingencies can be made, etc. are your board members able to identify emerging trends-policy shifts, competition, etc. Boards can make better plans and take strategic action if they have the knowledge and tools.

Though a board is a little different than most teams in an organisation, it still on some level needs to function and come together as a team. Certain essential foundations of good teamwork work therefore need to be in place including, for example, clarity of emerging purpose and direction, psychological safety, good communication, and connection to other stakeholders. Sometimes a board will benefit from team coaching or group facilitation days.

The engagement of the Board is not something that can be discussed. It has to be there. There is not much to elaborate, in my view. It is a pre-condition for a functioning Board. If it is not there, it is like not having a Board. But the same should apply to the entire management team, of course.

Eine Umfrage hierzu müsste 5 Fragen beinhalten: 1. Verstehen Sie Ihre Rolle als Boardmember, hier ist die Sichtweise des Boardmembers (Perzeption) interessant und wahrscheinlich ausbaufähig. 2. Wie schätzen Sie die Effektivität des Boards ein (Struktur, Visionen). 3. Wie schätzen Sie die Boardmeetings ein (Rating). 4 Welche Herausforderungen birgt Ihre Rolle. 5. Wie können wir das Engagement verbessern? Hier ist Offenheit und Klarheit der Aussagen wichtig um Probleme und Hindernisse aufzudecken und zu beheben. Das wird die Zusammenarbeit verbessern.

Board Engagement is changing and mainly depending on giving value ads to the C-Level. In the past it was more a static Board Engagement culture visible, over the last 10 years it changed a lot, mainly from US Startups which started to interact with its Board Members in a more frequent was as before (from quarterly or monthly to weekly or even daily), as a major output - getting faster and Expert approved decission proposals for the Management.

One thing that I found helpful was engaging the Board A. By organising field trips to see the work B. Regular sharing of reports C. Encouraging interaction with larger leadership This builds their belief in the organisation as well brings them abreast of the work as well as issues and challenges faced by the field teams.

Beef Up the Board's Business Acumen Change and uncertainty are constants in the startup space. To effectively navigate a startup through the fog of venturing, the board must possess an equal or greater degree of cognitive complexity relative to the demands of the market. In other words, the venture's board needs to be as smart as, if not smarter than, the market. Boards, though, rarely engage in learning experiences designed to enrich their learning capacity, competencies, or capabilities. Yet, it's imperative that boards governing adaptable ventures continuously skill-up their acumen as directors and business practitioners. Venture With Vision 😎

Continuous learning and development of a Board, is an interesting issue. Often underestimated. I do believe that workshops, industry conventions, webinars, meeting with key experts can definitely contribute positively, in this respect.

Mainly the C-Levels should learn from their Board Members, from wrong or good decisions in the past. Complexity of customers, Technology or Going to Market approaches. So far it should be a daily collaborative way of communication and mainly data exchange.

Good board composition, with an eye towards diversity of experience, will will go a long way. However, in times of change - planter or unplanned - it helps to bring in a subject matter expert for education, followed by discussion. The discussion part is important, because I keeps board members engaged, particularly during virtual meetings. (Haven’t we all seen enough slides?) Further, the type of questions asked and statements made help board members better understand each other’s perspectives and highlights areas were additional learning may be needed. The subject matter expert often values the experience, as it helps them expand their network and gives them access to an audience they may not readily encounter in their everyday experience.

Boards will increasingly need to be actively engaged in understanding the implications of AI - both in terms of the competitive landscape and also to assess the capability development for their own organization.

Continuous learning of the Board, should mainly be provided by the company's management. Indeed, it should bring to the Board attention in-depth analysis, not only on the company itself, but also on the sectors, the competitors, the technological evolution in absolute terms and comparatively, the expected future market trends and discontinuity.

Dear "Board Learning Plan" sollte dabei folgende Schritte beinhalten: 1. Zieldefinition, 2. Sammlung und Strukturierung des Lernmaterials (Information), 3. Prioritäten und Schwerpunkte setzen und unterteilen (Bewertung), 4. Methode festlegen, 5 Aufwand einschätzen und Zeitplan erstellen, 6. Motivation fördern (praxisnah, interessenbedingt), 7. Reflexion und Überprüfung der Ergebnisse, gegebenenfalls Korrektur. Auch können Techtools wie AI als Hilfsmittel für eineige Bereiche verwendet werden. Stimmen dem alle zu ist auch eine allgemeine Zustimmung zu den Ergebnissen wahrscheinlich.

Boards should be learning to watch for emerging trends through experience, research, data and national associations. Help your board to access these resources and develop an eye for watching the signs in the external environment.

If a board chair or board member starts a conversation with: “How can we innovate?”, it will be greeted by crickets. Worse yet, a board member chimes in with, “We should do more #ai” to which every member around the table nods sagely. Innovation is born from challenge or opportunity. As such, a fruitful discussion about innovation starts with these questions: #1 What is the organization already doing well that can be supercharged through innovation? #2 What changes are on the horizon (market, climate, customers) that we can use innovation to get/stay ahead of? #3 What is not going well that applying innovation (versus existing methods) can directly improve?

If a Board resists innovation, the organization risks stagnation, missed opportunities, and a loss of competitive advantage. This resistance can lead to employee disengagement, an inability to address industry challenges, and a negative impact on the organization's reputation. Additionally, it may increase vulnerability to disruptions and limit the attraction of top talent. To avoid these consequences, boards should recognize the importance of innovation, foster a culture of adaptability, and actively seek opportunities for positive change. ✨️

Innovation on boards isn’t just about new ideas—it’s about creating a culture that’s always looking ahead. Being on boards, I’ve seen the most effective boards focus not just on are we ready for change? But how do we make readiness part of everything we do? A Board Innovation Audit can be a game-changer, but only if it drives real action. The key is aligning the board’s innovation strategy with the organization’s risk appetite & goals. Real innovation happens when diverse perspectives challenge the status quo. On boards I’ve served, innovation wasn’t just a buzzword—it delivered results. From piloting bold ideas to embedding innovation into the culture, it’s been critical to building sustainable impact & future-proofing the organization.

Firstly there needs to be a distinction between "renovation" and innovation. Renovation is the iterative improvements to products/portfolios that are often mislabeled as innovation. By nature, innovation is often disruptive and not arising from a linear path of organised reviews. So, boards need to be open to disruptive thinking - external speakers, tours of facilities of forward thinking companies, having very diverse boards with experiences that challenge existing thinking... And a culture that actively promotes this!

I would agree that it is important that a Board progresses over time, innovates, and introduces innovation in its company, on a continuative basis. In principle, effectiveness in this respect should be checked. But I think that an audit would be an inappropriate mean for the purpose. Essentially, but not only, for two main reasons. First, there are confidentiality reasons that suggest avoiding third parties to enter too much into a Board dynamic and documents. Second, a Board actions is made also of a non-formal acts and decision, non-minuted or documented. An audit will never capture these aspects. I would rather recommend a self-assessment based on medium or long term, and the shareholders' evaluation in the appropriate assemblies.

Mischformen von Selbstaudits und geführten Audits sollten u.a. die Elemente Kosten-Nutzen Verhältnis, Verfügbarkeit der benötigten Daten, Unabhängigkeit der Auditoren, Kommunikation zwischen Auditoren und Unternehmen, Individualisierung des Audits, Unterstützung durch die Unternehmensleitung, Dokumentation, qualifizierte Mitarbeiter enthalten. In der Umsetzung müssen die Audits in einem Abschlussbericht bewertet werden, Ist-Zustand und Stärken und Schwächen sollen herausgestellt werden, auch ist es sinnvoll Benchmarking (Vergleich mit stärkstem Wetttbewerber v.a. auch international) zu betreiben. Aus den Erkenntnissen wird ein Maßnahmenkatalog erstellt, die Maßnahmen sollten praxistauglich, finanziell plan und überschaubar sein.

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 plays a crucial role in board development. Some techniques include: Encouraging the board to engage in scenario planning exercises by developing multiple future scenarios, each exploring different potential outcomes. Emphasizing the importance of continuous monitoring of the business environment eg.market trends, regulatory changes, and emerging risks. Promoting diversity within the board to ensure a wide range of perspectives and expertise. These practices will help boards navigate change and uncertainty while maintaining a forward-looking and adaptive approach to governance.

During times of change and uncertainty, developing your board effectively is crucial for navigating challenges. To ensure the board is well-prepared, it's essential to focus on communication, transparency, and adaptability. Encourage open dialogue among board members to address concerns and share insights. Additionally, providing training and resources to board members can enhance their skills and readiness for dynamic situations. Emphasizing collaboration and a shared vision can help align the board towards common goals, even in uncertain times.

Board should discuss milestones with management.Management should be given freedom to set the execution (what how and who) but then Board could discuss if they desire some variations and then monitor and pre agreed quarters or monthly. Results to an engaged Board.

1. Talk often and openly. 2. Don't ignore the outside/global forces that can have a substantial impact on the business. 3. Continue to prepare for the future and review the strategic plan. 4. Review senior staff and board members to determine if the company has the right personnel to help the company advance in uncertain times.

Incorporate simulations regularly into board development ensures that members are not only prepared with the right strategies but are also mentally and emotionally equipped to navigate crises with confidence and clarity. This proactive approach to resilience can transform a board’s capability to lead effectively, turning potential disruption into opportunities for growth and innovation. By fostering a culture of continuous, scenario-based learning, boards can move beyond simply managing uncertainty—they can actively thrive in it, setting a powerful example for the rest of the organization.

Agile Strategy: Adapt quickly to changing circumstances by regularly reviewing and adjusting the strategic plan to ensure alignment with the evolving business landscape. Long-term Focus: Balance short-term exigencies with long-term goals to sustain the organization's resilience and competitiveness amidst uncertainty. Continual Evaluation: Regularly evaluate board performance, governance structures, and processes to identify areas for improvement and enhance overall effectiveness in navigating challenges.

Em primeiro lugar os membros do conselho devem ter expertise em áreas vitais para o crescimento da empresa e devem também ser inclusivos lembrando sempre que o critério chave de escolha é a agregação de valor. O conselho tem papel fundamental na definição dá estratégia tendo que estar necessariamente envolvido nos processos de M&A. É fundamental que os conselheiros conheçam como a empresa ganha dinheiro e como funcionam as operações. O conselho tem papel fundamental na avaliação e promoção da cultura organizacional e da liderança que a empresa considera apropriada para seu progresso. Finalmente, é necessários que os resultados do conselho e o desempenho de cada conselheiro sejam avaliados periodicamente.