One of our favourite reads at Governeering is Company Director magazine distributed by the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
There is a terrific article in the February 2024 edition from Tony Boyd which touches on the importance of timing, structure and content of board papers. Tony refers to comments made by the Bank of Queensland Chair, Warwick Negus at their AGM which called out very late distribution of board papers which were heavy on details and therefore often difficult to understand the key issues because of the information overload.
At Governeering we work with our clients to streamline their board papers by establishing an easy to follow template which includes guidance on how to complete the board paper. We encourage succinct board papers that really embody the old cliche of less is more. There is a fine balance between providing too little and too much information, and if in doubt, we recommend working with your Board Chair to understand their information appetite.
We also set a framework around the preparation and distribution of papers to ensure that papers are prepared and distributed in a timely manner. Board papers, in our opinion, must be issued no later than 7 days before a meeting of the Board, or Committee.
