Board service can be a great opportunity to step away from your typical business duties and improve your ability to think about an organization as it is, instead of only the functional areas you’ve managed in the past. It also exposes you the wide range of challenges and issues that businesses confront. For instance, you may have to make theseboard.com difficult decisions that affect people negatively, like making redundancies or closing a branch. These situations teach you to take a look at the situation at hand and not be influenced by your personal emotions or those of your team.

Another issue that arises is how to ensure that a broad range of voices are heard in the deliberations and decision-making processes. Boards employ a variety methods to achieve this. For instance certain boards encourage directors to play devil’s advocate at meetings and others use the whiteboard method to brainstorm ideas and «spitball» possible solutions before making an important decision. This removes the decision-making process from the individual’s personality and can help avoid groupthink.

Boards can boost their effectiveness by deciding to challenge long-standing traditions. For instance, a large number of board members are reviewing their committee structures. They are questioning whether they serve their purpose and are the most effective method to conduct meetings. They are looking for innovative ways to identify trends and insights hidden in digital tools and data.