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Building on its recent report exploring directors' views on board effectiveness, EY's newly released framework for board effectiveness offers a practical approach to help boards evaluate and strengthen their governance practices. Rather than prescribing a single model, the framework is intended as a discussion tool to help boards identify blind spots, prioritize improvements, and translate evaluation findings into concrete actions.

At the center of the framework are the board's role and responsibilities, supported by two foundational elements—information flows and board culture—that EY identifies as shaping performance across every aspect of board oversight. These elements influence five additional dimensions of board effectiveness: composition, structure and leadership; operations; decision-making; and outcomes and evaluation. The framework reflects the findings of EY's survey discussed in its recent report, which we summarized here.

For each dimension, EY outlines leading practices and provides a series of "conversation starters" boards can use in evaluations or governance discussions. Among other suggestions, the framework encourages boards to:

• Clearly define expectations for board materials, including when board decisions or input are required, and periodically reassess the quality, timing, and format of information provided by management.
• Foster a board culture that encourages constructive challenge, independent thinking, respectful dissent, and broad participation while avoiding groupthink.
• Maintain an ongoing approach to board composition and succession planning by regularly updating skills matrices, evaluating future leadership needs, and aligning board capabilities with evolving strategy and risk.
• Design board meetings to maximize discussion rather than presentations, using executive sessions, streamlined agendas, and operational site visits to strengthen oversight.
• Clarify decision rights among the board, committees, and management while ensuring significant decisions are supported by rigorous analysis and documented for future learning.
• Treat board evaluations as a continuous improvement process by translating evaluation findings into specific changes to board practices, leadership, information flows, and education, with progress monitored over time. 

The framework also highlights questions boards should periodically ask themselves, including whether management is providing the right information in the right format, whether board culture consistently encourages meaningful debate, whether board meeting time is being used effectively, and whether evaluation results are producing measurable improvements in governance practices.