Boards require a variety information to make informed decisions. This includes both qualitative data (e.g. the impact the decision will impact the culture of an organization, or the stakeholders affected) and quantitative information (e.g. legal due diligence, return on investment analysis). Management is responsible to ensure that the appropriate people are gathering the information, strategically analyzing it and packaging this information for board decision-making.

In order to make strategic decisions, it is essential that the board of directors has a good understanding of the present activities of the business. This will enable them to better comprehend the future opportunities and risks of the business. This can be achieved through an internal performance monitoring system or by conducting a post-completion review of major projects and initiatives.

It is important to ensure that, when making a strategic decision the board is aware of its own limitations. It must also be prepared to delegate some decisions to its committees. This is especially critical in cases of conflicts of interest, community benefit as well as CEO evaluation and compensation.

The board should be prepared to sit in a place of uncertainty. This will allow the board’s collective knowledge as well as expertise to be used while remaining attentive and patient instead of reacting. This can be accomplished through various methods, including asking management to construct an image or mental model about the decision, establishing a “red team/blue-team” process, which involves a panel of experts with different perspectives, or by committing time to talk about a https://boardmeetingtool.net/leading-software-to-improve-board-management-decision-making/ difficult issue.