A Quick Reminder: BoardOps Methodology
BoardOps is a methodology that recognizes that true agility starts at the top — with the organization’s board and the executives who work most closely with the directors. Its purpose: help the board excel at its most important product, sound informed decisions while carrying out the board’s oversight and fiduciary responsibilities. It creates the best experience for all.
BoardOps encompasses organizational processes, culture, and mindset. It integrates everyone associated with board work into a single, more automated workflow: Corporate Secretaries, General Counsel, C-Suite executives, CEOs, Lead Directors, and others. They work together toward a shared objective: improving board effectiveness and corporate performance.
BoardOps extends board meeting planning well beyond routine calendaring and rote repetition. It applies advanced technology to the entire board planning and meeting process – bringing in relevant governance regulatory requirements and investor governance policies. It prioritizes and better informs boards about their most impactful decisions.
Who BoardOps Benefits
BoardOps allows everyone who touches board work and workflows to have the best overall experience and provide the best results to others involved in the process.
Executives Benefit
BoardOps enables CEOs to gain alignment with boards on key issues that could otherwise suffer from drift or disagreement. By adopting BoardOps, CEOs can:
- Elevate the most impactful board agenda topics
- Provide better direction to executive teams. Better direction enables organizations to develop and deliver products and services faster than if using traditional board management methods. That speed and certainty can improve the company’s bottom line and build brand and shareholder value.
- Attract and retain top talent. BoardOps reduces frustrating “back and forth” between management. Board-related workflows are articulated. Direction is clear.
Directors Benefit
Boards benefit from alignment with management regarding priorities. Alignment means that the boards focus more on the most impactful topics. By adopting the BoardOps philosophy, boards:
- More regularly give and receive 360-feedback, improving effectiveness
- Increased alignment with and responsiveness from management
- Reduce wasted board and management time and energy
- Reduce risk
- Know where investors stand on myriad issues which arise in the course of board work. Then, take those views into account when making decisions.
Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals
Corporate Secretaries and governance professionals will find that BoardOps methodologies and advanced technology:
- Reduces time spent on routine and repetitive tasks
- Helps reduce human errors common in manual board workflow
- Improves how they work, independently, with their team members, others in their organization, and others outside the organization
- Encourages flexibility and innovation
Investors
Increasingly, investors and some regulators want to know what agenda topics boards work on and how boards are working on those agenda topics. BoardOps provides the board with a way to talk with investors about how the board works – an explainable framework that lends itself to engagement discussions.
Additionally, BoardOps is easy to explain in the governance practices section of the corporation’s annual proxy statement.
Others
Corporations may find that adopting BoardOps culture is persuasive with credit rating agencies and D&O insurers, evidencing the board and organization’s commitment to bettering governance and organizational performance.
The BoardOps Experience: Continuous Improvement Benefits All
BoardOps is an ongoing process for continuous improvement. Boards’ key work products are decisions. BoardOps focuses on improving the quality and process of this decision-making. It ensures organizational agility does not stop at the boardroom door. The BoardOps experience benefits everyone involved in board workflows and decisions.
About Foresight® by Corporate Governance Partners, Inc.
We believe better boards:
• Build more strategic companies
• Align more effectively with management on goalsValue better human capital management
• Employ more reliable financial controls and reporting
• Generate more profits
and advance a company’s commitment to:
• Ethical, compliant cultures
• Embrace inclusion and celebrate diversity, free from harassment
• Safe workplaces and products
• Consideration of environmental and social impacts in operational and strategic decisions
Therefore, we are working to transform how boards and corporate governance professionals work by building advanced technology to elevate the work of boards. Foresight’s integrated, innovative, information-centric features enable a more agile Board culture which leads to better board decision-making.
