The business environment and stakeholder priorities change in subtle or seismic ways. In a dynamic board environment effective governance is essential to the long-term prosperity of a business. There isn’t one solution that is universally applicable however, the most effective boards use proven approaches to evaluate, motivate and improve the effectiveness of their board.

These best practices include a clearly defined process for evaluating and a culture of board development, and digital tools to improve efficiency and transparency. These tools and techniques will help to assess the effectiveness of boards in their role as trustee and fiduciary for the business, while also encouraging collaboration among all directors.

Board members must devote their time to an assessment and provide honest feedback. Boards should be able to agree early on the goals they want to achieve for the assessment and allocate time to discuss and agree on these goals. Boards can also make use of a board portal to make it easier for directors to share ideas and information, and keep track of progress towards their goals.

Another aspect to be considered is the structure and composition chairman vs ceo of a board. This includes the size of a board as well as the number of committees that are established, along with how often they meet. Be sure that the committees have the right size to manage their workload, and that they remain focused on the long-term values of the company.

The chair’s ability to facilitate effective board discussions and decision-making processes is critical. This includes the chair’s communication and relationship-building skills with the board, other directors, and management. The chair should also be willing to constructive criticism of his or his or her leadership.