Strengthen Your Board’s Teamwork

Four key ways to encourage powerful collaboration among your directors. 

While there’s no “I” in “team,” it is individuals who make up a team. These individuals, who have varied backgrounds and different strengths, can benefit from effective teaming: working together to accomplish goals as set forth by their leader, or from within the team directly. This ultimately results in a cohesive group of individuals that works for the benefit of the company they serve.

 

The Team Power Play

According to board consultant and trainer Mark Pfister, great boards deliver across four dimensions. In his book, Across the Board: The Modern Architecture Behind an Effective Board of Directors, Pfister says that great boards:

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  • Remain primarily strategic.
  • Keep the organization on track to its core values, mission, vision and credo.
  • Foster a clear and viable strategic company roadmap.
  • Leverage knowledge and relationships to further the organization.

Building effective teams requires time to allow team members to learn about each other. It also requires trust. There must be a certain amount of openness and vulnerability among teams. Tenacity in team building is also critical; it enables board members to form a cohesive team by merging their different viewpoints. 

Teaming requires strong individuals to adapt to the needs and expectations of a larger group. While these individuals are powerful and know what they want, they also value a collective and will allow other powerful people to participate at an equal level. 

 

How Your Board Becomes a Team

There are four key ways to ensure your board becomes a team:

Create a team manifesto. This will foster a shared sense of belonging and is a forum where all board members can provide input. While the term “manifesto” assumes a lengthy tome, it can be a simple paragraph with a few sentences; what is ultimately most important is the board having the conversation. 

Ask board members to share examples of high-performing teams. This exercise helps to align team norms at the board level, which in turn reduces friction. 

Create guidelines that will help teams do their best. Documenting guidelines makes it easier for teams to guide their own actions and behaviors. These guidelines can be displayed during board meetings to emphasize their significance or can be included with each board meeting agenda.

Pay attention to individuals and the team as a whole. As individuals make up a team, individuals who serve on boards offer time, expertise and effort. It’s important for all team members to honor others’ schedules, situations and life changes. This will provide more room for arriving at different types of decisions. 

 

Setting the Ego Aside

Like any other group of professionals, boards that are effective as a team see deep returns. One of the benefits of working together as a team is fostering resilience. Solid teams can set their egos aside to collaborate and arrive at a goal or solution that will ultimately benefit the organization, regardless of individual viewpoints.

A collaborative approach can also result in high-level priorities for the C-suite to focus on. Regardless of the board members’ roles, clear priorities for leadership will provide new ways of thinking among the leadership team. 

In addition to providing expectations for company leadership, collaborative boards can also communicate clear expectations for themselves. Boards can be more effective with their own norms on how to operate, which exist outside of formal board agreements. This can lead to faster, more powerful decision-making and better alignment with the company’s mission, vision and values.

A board that works as a team can generally provide stronger feedback loops to the leadership team, and it has a clear understanding of organizational goals and how to achieve them.

 

Why a Team Mindset is Crucial

A lack of focus on teamwork and collaboration can result in negative outcomes both for the board and for the organization its members serve. 

Without a clear direction for meeting the company’s mission and living its values, board members are compromised. Direction is a result of diffusing energy among team members to develop successful strategies.

Board conflict distracts from the organization’s overall mission. Board members who work in silos or are unable to collaborate often are not productive or successful.

When board members limit feedback and input to their team and the organization as a whole, accomplishments are minimal.

Stuart McCalla is managing partner and David Shechtman is partner at Evolution, a coaching, culture and investment firm.

About the Author(s)

Bill Hayes

Bill Hayes is the editor in chief of Private Company Director.


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