Context

Understanding the wider challenges facing a Board will allow you to place your interactions correctly

Understanding the challenges

In many organisations, the Board is dealing with any number of non-public challenges from merger and acquisitions, separation, disintermediation and diversification to consolidation and even external forces such as Brexit. So, when preparing for the Board, it’s important to be mindful of these possible hidden agendas.

In the first instance, you may need to go right to the source, seeking advice from an individual Board member or non-executive to understand some of the current challenges. By having clearer knowledge around the context, you can consider the most important factors at play and tailor your approach. In response, this will give you more weight to what you say in the Boardroom.

How is the Board measured?

Context can include non-public tangible elements impacting the company. Boards preparing for an exit or merger may be concentrating on asset building for example, something they would not be overt with. Yet it may be driving priorities.

It’s important to get to the source of what they are being asked to deliver, so you know whether you’re supporting or challenging them.

Negative outcomes

As we break down ‘context’ further, we can see how it can also be a breeding ground for undesirable traits. The most significant of which is the inability to keep momentum, also known as inertia.

The source of inertia is almost always ambiguity, which can come in many forms from goals, objectives and outcomes to priorities, personalities, capabilities, funding and accountabilities. If you don’t get to the root of the ambiguity, by looking into the context around what could be driving it, it will be another hindrance to preventing the best actions.

This is why it is vital to get back to the source of the challenge, instead of just dealing with the symptoms. By aligning the Board on how to solve the ambiguity with a clear understanding of context, you can quickly overcome inertia.

Another source of inertia can come from different parts of a business operating at different speeds. This leads to inaction to get things done based on a belief that one party dictates or cannot change their pace. By opening the conversation with the Board, as they may be unaware, can help them agree on the constraints and how to overcome them.

Is there misalignment?

Another context dynamic to look for is that the Board itself may be dysfunctional or misaligned as described in the book by Patrick Lencioni: Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Ideally, you should understand if any of these dysfunctions exist, but you may not necessarily be able to solve this issue. Instead, you can approach individuals and appeal to them with something that resonates. For example, where there is an absence of trust you can be the intermediary that brings about a joint view despite that lack of trust. The Board dysfunctions themselves can only be solved by self-analysing and correcting as a united Board.

Is the Board working from the truth?

From experiences in the expert session, it was revealed that in many cases, the Board was reacting or acting against inaccurate information or views. Misleading PMO reports was cited as a key reason for misalignment, where PMO and project colleagues would understate status to prevent being hauled in front of a governing board. Another reason was an over dominant Board member presenting a picture that would not be questioned by the others, leading to a united but incorrect direction.

This is why the context is vital, some of which may be externally sourced. Always make sure you understand the information the Board has as a basis for leading conversations on change.

Changing priorities can be really difficult to influence but there are other ways of increasing the profile of an issue or opportunity as described below.

A quote from the discussion by Adrian Wakefield, Transformation Director;

“Instead of challenging the number one priority of creating shareholder value, how about asking the Board what is their second most important objective and use this to steer the conversation and help wake up the Board to other very important challenges or opportunities”.