Making Better Decisions in Uncertain Times
As the uncertainty of the global pandemic continues, a lot of businesses are struggling with questions around growth opportunities, the flexibility and adaptation of work structures, how to optimise performance and manage capital to ensure long-term sustainability.
Life is certainly tough at the top and the isolation it can bring can be detrimental when decisions are being made in this vacuum of perspective. Successful business leaders are increasingly seeking help to challenge their thinking. They are also looking for support to gain innovative solutions to strategic decisions that are being made on a monthly and sometimes weekly basis.
If you have not previously thought about setting up an advisory board, you would not be alone. However, now is a good time to do it. Utilising external support through the function of an advisory board is one of the most reliable and objective forms of good decision making your organisation can engage in.
In 2019, the State of the Market Report showed that Australian business leaders were backing a global trend and introducing independent advisory boards to help shape their future with 74% of businesses appointing an advisory board to assist with growth strategies. A further 17% are tapping into the independent expertise delivered by an advisory board for succession planning.
The most recent report from 2021 discovered that the global pandemic has influenced these findings with a 52% increase globally in organisations utilising Advisory Boards as part of their governance structure.
An advisory board not only takes the pressure off of the owners and directors of the company to be the sole decision makers, but it also brings to the table a much broader perspective that can offer solutions that would otherwise be outside the sphere of influence of the company executive team. An advisory board should be made up of a diverse range of people who think differently from each other with varied industry experience. This is key when putting together this group and will be the strength of the board.
Advisory Board Meetings
Board meetings should be operating on a monthly basis with a set agenda to follow each month. There are nine key areas based on our Nine Pillars™️ of Success framework that your advisory board should be reviewing regularly. These can be broken down into operational and structural areas.
Operational Pillars
People and partnership functions - including accountability for the executive teams, HR issues and external partnership opportunities.
Product review - assessing the effectiveness of current offerings and any updates needing to be done to better service clients.
Sales - presentation of monthly data from the sales pillar of the organisation will inform decision making for the coming months and provide accountability for growth targets
Marketing - review of brand positioning, current activities and growth initiatives around the brand. KPI’s reviewed.
Structural Pillars:
Governance and compliance - reviewing the structure of the company, any compliance issues arising or that need reviewing, process and rules of leadership hierarchy.
Leadership & Management - reviewing the vision, key trends, strategy development and the execution towards KPI’s.
Reporting - this includes but is not limited to financial reports, reviewing the month that has been, looking at the quarter ahead and any decisions that need to be made based on the data presented and the alignment with the strategic plan.
Information Technology - with changes happening regularly, progress should be continually made to progress the utilisation of technology within the company. Regular updates on this progress can be reviewed to keep teams accountable.
Business Process - in line with the strategic vision, processes within the company should be constantly reviewed to reflect greater efficiencies
The key role played here by the board members is to play the role of devil's advocate in challenging the management or executive team to think differently, see alternatives and look at decision making from an objective standpoint.
An advisory board should never rely only on the information presented on the surface from the management team but should always be probing for more information. The quality of the decision-outcome is the level of debate that goes on around a decision before an end is reached. This ensures plenty of perspectives have surfaced. Review and approve is not going to serve the organisation well. Though opposing views can sometimes feel uncomfortable, they should be welcomed to see a healthy well-rounded resolution.
When under fire due to external circumstances (like the constant changes brought about by the pandemic), advisory boards should be the first port of call for management teams and if necessary more regular meetings called to help navigate the storm.
Board meetings are an essential part of our advisory services. If you’d like to chat through how we can support your organisation with regular board meetings, get in touch.
Get our monthly board meeting agenda HERE.
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