Board members play a crucial role in governance, fostering accountability, and determining the future direction of the organization. It can be challenging to manage a large group at all career stages especially in a physical environment such as an annual board meeting.
Boards face a problem determining how to supervise management without being too micromanaging or influencing. To aid, it’s essential that board members comprehend the difference between higher-level policy decisions and lower-level management policy. It’s also important that the board is able to communicate effectively with management and has clearly stated the way it will share its decisions with management.
To make this happen it is a good idea to schedule regular phone updates with board members for 7-10 days prior to the next board meeting. This lets the board preview any issues boardofdirectors.info/governance-frameworks-and-standards-in-different-countries that are likely to be discussed at the meeting and makes sure that any bad news isn’t made public for the first-time at the actual meeting.
The final key is to formulate policies that outline the responsibilities of the board, medical team, and management. Effectively implemented policies cut down on the amount of «busy work» during each board meeting. This frees time for strategic tasks.
It is essential that the board includes members with a broad spectrum of knowledge across all areas of the business. This includes finance, sales marketing, operations, and finance. It will also help to have some members with prior experience outside of the healthcare industry. This allows the board to get expertise from new sources and make the best decisions for the company.