Boardroom efficiency is key to optimizing board performance. It requires a clear, concise meeting structure and continuous communication. It also relies on a central platform that allows directors to access their meeting materials and share them with colleagues online in real-time. These goals aren’t easy to achieve, especially for boards with limited time due shorter director terms and constant recruitment.

In an OnBoard webinar Corporate advisors Max Franchitto and Tamara Barr shared key strategies to ensure an optimum level of efficiency in the boardroom. They discussed how to increase engagement and create the diversity of skills and perspectives. They also outlined ways to improve the efficiency of board processes and improve the performance of individual directors.

Certain types of boardroom dynamics are harmful to the ability of a board to exercise an generative form of government. For instance, a disproportionate desire to find consensus and the lack of attention to critical thinking can result in groupthink and ineffectual conversations that hinder the quality of decision making. In the same way, the tendency to dismiss an argument without having a full knowledge of its origins can create distrust and diminish the effectiveness of a board.

To avoid these problems, it’s essential for a board to engage in open communication and provide a forum for all directors to express their opinions and perspectives. Boards can do this by encouraging positive and informal director communication between meetings, by providing opportunities for directors to meet outside of the boardroom to find common interest, and by adding “hang time” in agendas of meetings to Comprehensive Report on the Boardroom Systems functionality allow new members to get to know each other.