New trends in boardroom behaviours, by the boardroom expert

The first edition of Patrick Dunne CMgr CCMI’s book Boards appeared in March 2020, just as the Covid pandemic was breaking around the world. This was a monumental stress test for boards and board members alike, ushering in and accelerating profound changes in their role, structure and behaviour. 

Instantly, Patrick observes, the workload of board members shot up. Even if an individual had not been serving on too many boards before, they soon found themselves “over-boarded” as every single body on which they served needed their time.

The nature of board meetings changed. Gone were the fixed and regular formats and the occasional strategy away-day; now board meetings were being adjusted to fit the purpose of specific interactions. Snap decisions could be made by Zoom call or using a Board app and CEOs became more comfortable with providing short video updates. 

The intersection between boards and executive management expanded. “In a crisis, the rigid definitions between executive and non-executive blurred as people just mucked in.”