Many people think of board management efficiency mostly in terms of directors themselves and how they are equipped to drive best practices and speed up decision-making. But, a successful and efficient board is a complex set of various components that have to be able to coexist in order to be effective. This includes shaping the board structure with the focus on performance and regular evaluation procedures and creating a culture of collaboration that can support high-performance boards.
An important component to achieving this is the effective use of tools for managing boards. Board portals are an effective way to streamline communication and allow board members to share documents in a safe environment. This eliminates the need for lengthy chain of emails that could lead to confusion over versioning and allows all participants to quickly access and read what they need.
It is also important to ensure that all committees and groups benefit from the same efficiencies of the board through the use of board software for their everyday activities. This way, everyone is able to have the data they require at their fingertips to make decisions swiftly, while ensuring sensitive information is protected and accessible only to the appropriate individuals.
This can be achieved by making sure that everyone has the ability to access the full suite of board features, such as chat and annotating tools and convenient virtual meeting integrations, yet being able to create specific accessibility controls for any confidential information. Memorial Health System has, for instance, widened its use of board-software to include multiple internal groups and committees, providing more efficiencies beyond the traditional board level.