A well-written board report is an effective tool that improves collaboration, promotes transparency and accountability, as well as facilitating strategic alignment. Many organizations struggle to craft board reports that are timely and accurate. The consequences of poor presentation or insufficient data is detrimental to the process of making decisions and the growth of the business.
To make the most of your board member’s time, concentrate on sharing only the information required to get the needle moving forward. This will help avoid information overload and the need for long explanations.
Start with an executive overview, or abstract, which provides an overview of the report’s key points. This allows board members to quickly go through the report and board report understand its major points. Follow this with your company’s key performance indicators (KPIs). Share specific data in the context of goals and targets set for last year, and highlight how these have been achieved or are progressing.
Include a section on industry trends and challenges. This is a great way to give context to the financial information you are sharing and help board members be aware of the reasons how your market share has increased or decreased, for instance. Also, if you’re facing any major regulatory hurdles be sure to mention this information in the report to help the board members to understand the potential legal implications and risks.
Next, you should share your next-step plan with the board. It doesn’t matter if this is a new proposal that needs their approval or a revision of a current project.