Use the ace up your sleeve for an agile 2022

Board & management papers

1 min read

If you’re reading this, then no doubt the word “agility” has bounced between the virtual walls of at least one of your meetings over the past couple of years.

Agility — once the preserve of start-ups and Pilates instructors — was key to the survival of many organisations during Covid-19*. After all, nothing teaches us the importance of being able to pivot on seemingly immutable plans quite like a pandemic.

But, unlike many other corporate buzzwords, this one has staying power. 70% of the business leaders we surveyed believe agility is key to company success and, for four in ten, it’s currently their number one focus this year.

If you too are putting agility at the centre of your 2022 plans, you’re in good company. But for agility to become a reality, you need to ensure that your board can make smart decisions at pace, and directors cannot do this unless they have the right information in front of them. We’re talking about pithy reports that frame the choices accurately without omitting important information or overwhelming with detail.

“You have to be willing to make decisions quickly, and pivot on these, depending on what’s best for the customer... moving at pace and with agility for the sake of the customer can’t happen unless you’re surrounded by smart people who can make decisions.” - Ian Stuart, CEO, HSBC UK

 

If this is something your organisation struggles with, you’re not alone. The business leaders we spoke with cited poor-quality papers as one of their main barriers to agile decision-making, and over a third said it was their biggest obstacle. With that in mind, we’ve produced a guide to help you write papers that drive nimble, informed decision-making in the boardroom — fuelling your plans for an agile 2022.

You’ll learn:

  • Where most organisations go wrong
  • What “good” looks like
  • What’s needed to embed and scale a robust decision-making process

Download your copy here:

   The Definitive Guide to Decision Papers  Get tips from leading directors on what they expect to see in their decision  papers, and how to make sure yours hit the mark. DOWNLOAD HERE

 

 

*In a recent survey conducted by Board Intelligence of 250 C-suite leaders, ‘agile decision-making’ and ‘organisational agility’ were the first and third most cited reasons for company survival during Covid-19.

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