Boards of directors generally experienced upsides as a result of pandemic-prompted challenges, including the unplanned shift to a remote work environment and increased reliance on technology, according to OnBoard’s survey of 282 directors (73%) and admins and staff (27%) associated with all types of companies across industries.
Among the positive takeaways:
- Nearly 80% of respondents cited increased board effectiveness, with nearly 60% attributing the improvements to remote work and a virtual meeting environment.
- Two-thirds of respondents said their board’s collaboration had improved some (54%) or a lot (12%).
- Nearly half of respondents reported having spent more time on discussing strategic issues and more than two-thirds said they expect their boards will spend more time discussing strategy over the next 12 months.
- More than half of respondents (54%) described having achieved good governance under challenging conditions and an additional 38% said continuity of governance had been maintained but was challenging.
Notwithstanding the upsides associated with virtual board meetings, Manager of the David & Sharon Johnston Centre for Corporate Governance Innovation at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, Matt Fullbrook, cautioned boards against pursuing a hybrid meeting approach that involves a mix of in-person and remote attendance at each meeting over the long term, suggesting instead that companies consider a mix of fully in-person and fully remote meetings so that (subject to ordinary course exceptions) all directors are on a level playing field at each meeting.
See our prior reports: “Pandemic-Prompted Board Practices,” “Back to the Boardroom?”, “Director Speaks! Board Practices, Demands,” “Nom/Gov Committee Considerations,” “COVID-19: Directors Spot Likely Long-Term Governance Changes,” “Director Onboarding COVID-19 Style,” and “COVID-19 Impacts on Corporate Governance, and additional resources on our Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources page »Board Oversight and other topic-specific resource pages.
This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!