Building Better Boards

How can board performance be improved? This article attempts to answer this question, which every company seems to be asking in these difficult economic times. The author, chairman of Mercer Delta, makes several recommendations based on his experience and the results of a study conducted jointly with the Center for Effective Organizations of the University of Southern California. He suggests focusing efforts on self-assessment, using a process to guide collective thinking on improvement opportunities. The article then explores a number of domains with a significant impact on performance, namely board composition, board agenda management, access to information and the prevailing work culture.