Society public company (89%) and private company (11%) members across company sizes and industries* responding to the most recent Society/Deloitte Board Practices Quarterly survey: “Back to basics: Board meetings” provided insights on whether and how board practices were impacted by and changed for the long-term in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pandemic impact - More than half of respondents indicated that the pandemic had a moderate impact on their board’s overall processes and practices. Just 2% said there was no impact.
Board efficiencies - More than half of respondents reported that changes in their board’s processes and practices facilitated moderate board efficiencies; 18% indicated that changes in processes and practices had no impact on board efficiencies and 11% said they did not institute any long-term changes.
Board meeting frequency & length - Nearly 60% of respondents reported no long-term changes to board meeting frequency; 18% reported an increase and 2% reported a decrease. A plurality of respondents (35%) said they have not implemented or planned changes to their board meeting length; 12% reported shorter meetings and 10% reported longer meetings.
Regular board meeting attendance practices - A plurality of respondents (42%) said they have implemented or planned to hold some regular board meetings in person (only) and some in a virtual-only format, while nearly one-third noted a hybrid attendance policy, where some directors will attend each meeting in-person and others remotely, as shown here:
Virtual board meeting practices - A majority of respondents (60%) indicated that their directors are expected to be on camera in video conference meetings; however, 35% said their directors can choose whether to be on camera. One-third of respondents reported holding virtual breakout groups for separate discussion such as executive sessions. This question also addressed the implementation of virtual meeting conduct rules, practices to mitigate “screen fatigue,” socializing opportunities, and company reimbursement practices for tech-related products.
Board pre-read materials and agendas - Most respondents indicated no changes (implemented or planned) to board pre-read materials or meeting agendas.
*Public company respondent market capitalization as of December 2021: 50% large-cap (which includes mega- and large-cap) (> $10 billion); 42% mid-cap ($2 billion to $10 billion); and 8% small-cap (includes small-, micro-, and nano-cap) (< $2 billion). Private company respondent annual revenue as of December 2021: 50% large (> $1 billion); 28% medium ($250 million to $1 billion); 17% small (<$250 million); and 6% not able to share. Respondent industry breakdown: 35% energy, resources, and industrials; 27% financial services; 20% consumer; 12% technology, media, and telecommunications; and 5% life sciences and health care.
Responses tended to vary by company size and type. Access the survey results online and by company size and type here.
See Deloitte’s select findings and additional resources on our Board Meetings and Board Practices pages.
This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!