The Role of the Board in Transformation

We’ve all heard the saying “the only constant is change”. In the current market landscape, this holds true. For organisations to cope with such shifts, fundamental changes in how business is conducted must be made in order to successfully transform. Furthermore, transformation should be led from the top, and the Board brings unique value to successful transformations.

Boards add value by creating clarity around the growth agenda and letting the senior leadership team pursue that agenda. They provide the parameters for growth, what the acceptable risks are, what the non-negotiable items from the Board are, and what success should look like.

In turn, the senior leadership team has clarity on what to deliver rather than being paralysed by uncertainty or wasting resources by pursuing too many opportunities that don’t add value to the transformation objectives.

There are many valuable ways that a Board can govern and guide business transformation, including the following:

• Providing clarity by defining both the direction for the organisation and the parameters for growth and transformation
• The Chair is accountable for the alignment of the Board. This is to ensure any division does not impact important decisions. Additionally, the role of the Directors is to bring questions and challenges to the debate to ensure any misalignment can be resolved
• The Board needs to ensure that the senior leadership team is directed towards the areas of greatest impact to contribute to transformation objectives. It would only be wasted effort to put energy into secondary issues that are not aligned with the business transformation
• The Board can ensure the senior leadership team extract lessons learnt from the transformation effort to support the future needs of the organisation
• The Chair can implement Board performance reviews to ensure they have the right people to deliver the transformation objectives. Improving the Board’s efficiency is critical to effective governance

Boards can greatly influence and help lead transformation initiatives. They support the senior leadership team and drive transformation objectives.

If your company requires assistance with transformation or major projects, contact myself or PM-Partners today on +65 6818 5771.