Why your organisation needs a new approach to board planning

Governance today involves balancing strategic ambitions against real-time situations that arise. 

This is somewhat ironic, because as the world becomes increasingly volatile, the need for robust board planning has perhaps never been more necessary. 

Well-structured annual board planning ensures that directors cover the most-pressing topics proactively while managing the increasingly reactive and dynamic demands of modern governance .

In this article, we explore common challenges of board planning and provide practical steps to reconcile your board’s proactive strategy with the reactive realities it’s faced with.

Here’s what you’ll learn: 

• The challenges of board planning 
• Practical ways to develop future-proof strategy  
• The ways technology can support effective board planning
• Next steps to get your board planning right 

Let’s dive in! 

Why is board planning challenging?

Finding the right balance between forward-looking strategy and responsiveness is a tightrope that many boards walk — and as a result, defaulting to reactive approaches to governance is becoming more and more common. 

To counteract this, it’s important to understand some of the challenges to board planning that exist — so that you can find practical solutions to help manage them.

Uncertainty, volatility, and disruption

A primary obstacle to proactive board planning is the volatility of the world around us. From geopolitical tensions and conflicts to disruptions in labour market dynamics and turbulent economic headwinds, organisations face more uncertainty now than ever before.

As a result, boards need to steady the ship and provide oversight and governance that helps the companies they oversee respond to these tectonic shifts—swiftly and deliberately.

This means that an element of corporate governance will likely always be reactive, and can’t be planned for. However, this simply demands that boards plan for reactivity — and are realistic with the amount of proactive discussion you anticipate for each year.

Shifting attitudes towards corporate governance

A trend that is reshaping governance is that the attitudes and opinions of stakeholders — from shareholders to employees — towards governance at large are changing. It’s incumbent upon boards to manage these expectations as they develop, and with the goalposts moving regularly, this can make board planning feel impossible at times.

Clear, upfront communication about annual planning, and confirming its alignment with strategic goals, can help your board to build trust and garner support, which in turn should make the ability to plan proactively more possible.

By demonstrating a disciplined approach to planning, your board can clarify its mandate to all stakeholders, manage expectations, and secure stakeholder buy-in as a result.

The disruption of new technology

Technology is transforming governance at an unprecedented rate. From AI-driven insights to automation tools that streamline processes , the digital landscape is evolving rapidly. For boards, this presents both opportunities and challenges.

As a result, one challenge in board planning is keeping up with the rate of change — and deciding which technologies to invest in. Another is ensuring that technology enhances governance without overcomplicating it.

Boards should consider how digital tools can support decision-making, improve data security, and enable seamless collaboration — while ensuring that their use aligns with strategic goals and regulatory requirements.

Balancing innovation and fiscal prudence

Innovation drives growth — but it also requires careful planning. Boards often face the dilemma of advocating for and assessing innovations while trying to maintain the fiscal prudence that investors expect and demand. This can be a challenge in the annual board planning process.

The key is to ensure that investment in innovation aligns with long-term goals. Including technology in your board planning for the year isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s essential to remain competitive.

Practical steps to align your board planning with the future of governance

Strategic alignment involves planning for flexibility as your organisation navigates choppy waters. Here are six practical steps that you can follow to ensure a steady, pragmatic approach to board planning:

Step 1: Identify your core priorities

Think of this step as drawing a map before embarking on a journey. Understanding where to focus your efforts is like plotting a route through uncharted terrain.

Assess shifts in the market, foresee changes in customer behaviour, and evaluate your internal capabilities. By pinpointing the most pressing business priorities, your board can steer resources towards initiatives that promise the strongest impact and the highest returns.

According to Stephen Pitt-Walker, an experienced Non-Executive Director and CEO, “The role of board member abilities does not commence with financial oversight. It begins with developing and agreeing the organisation’s strategy (aspirational objectives and outcomes).”

Step 2: Align the financials up front

It’s important to align your board planning with the fiscal realities ahead of time. To achieve this alignment, it’s important to scrutinise each expense against the broader strategic objectives.

Start with your core priorities, factor in any outside considerations and potential investments that are on the horizon, and arrive at a clear understanding of how your board planning reconciles against the financial planning for the organisation. Any conflict between the two needs to be addressed upfront.

Step 3: Conduct your board planning in rounds

With clear priorities in place and the financials aligned, it’s important to follow an approach to board planning that reflects the challenging headwinds you’re facing. This step involves developing realistic plans that align with your strategic goals while keeping a buffer for the unexpected.

Balancing short-term needs with long-term ambitions, your board should weave in a safety net that can catch any surprises along the way. This approach ensures the financial engine hums along smoothly, powering the organisation forward without a hitch.

Step 4: Embrace continuous improvement

Board planning isn’t a “set-it-and-forget-it” exercise — it’s an evolving process. Regular reviews and reflections should be built into the annual schedule to assess what’s working, what’s not, and how the planning process can be refined.

Your board should foster a culture of continuous improvement, making sure that your board planning can adapt to shifting priorities and ensure that your approach to governance remains relevant and effective. 

Step 5: Optimise your board meetings accordingly

Your board meetings should be a reflection of your planning efforts. Streamlining agendas, ensuring that meeting time is used efficiently, and leveraging technology to eliminate administrative burdens will help boards focus on high-value discussions.

By optimising your board meeting processes and structure, directors can ensure that each meeting is an opportunity for strategic decision-making rather than a routine administrative review.

Step 6: Involve key stakeholders throughout 

To conduct successful board planning, it’s vital to involve key stakeholders early, and keep them involved and engaged throughout the process. This maintains alignment and means that you actively manage expectations that could otherwise lead to blockers or challenges down the line.  

Arkajit Das, Co-Founder at Fraoula, highlights the value of this approach, commenting, “When stakeholders actively participate [in board planning], they are more likely to embrace the resulting strategies and decisions.” 

He continues, “Encourage diverse perspectives to enrich the scenarios and make the process more inclusive. Include representatives from different departments in scenario planning workshops to ensure a comprehensive exploration of potential future scenarios and their implications on various aspects of the organisation.”

How can technology improve your approach to board planning?

Technology isn’t just a support act—it’s the conductor that orchestrates smoother, more effective board planning. With the right software, boards can enhance transparency, gain better oversight, and operate with greater efficiency.

Enhancing planning and oversight

Technology has huge potential in enhancing board planning — and the discussions that lead to an effective plan.
For example, Sherpany provides specific features that are designed to streamline every aspect of the meeting process, freeing up meeting time so that board members can focus on strategic discussions and decision-making, rather than administrative tasks.

Performance monitoring and tracking

With digital tools, boards can seamlessly track financial performance, measure the effectiveness of past decisions, and ensure that strategic objectives are on course. AI-driven insights help directors make data-driven decisions that align with long-term objectives and factor in past context implicitly.

More flexible and dynamic governance processes

Digital platforms enable boards to adapt to change more effectively. With secure, real-time collaboration, directors can respond to emerging challenges without being constrained by rigid meeting schedules, making governance more fluid and impactful.

Get your board planning right today

Successful board planning involves a blend of clear strategy, disciplined budgeting, and proactive use of technology. By following practical steps, boards can create a roadmap that aligns with their organisation’s goals and adapts to change.

Technology plays a critical role in future-proofing board planning, and solutions like Sherpany provide the structure and transparency necessary to keep strategies aligned with budgets and ensure accountability at every level.

Ready to take your board meetings to the next level? Book a free consultation with one of our meeting experts today and find out how Sherpany can help your board achieve more.