Skip to content

24 June, 2025

  • Saved Articles
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Log In
  • Log Out

Board Agenda

  • Governance
  • Strategy
  • Risk
  • Ethics
  • News
  • Insight
    • Categories

      • View all
      • Governance
      • Strategy
      • Risk
      • Ethics
      • Board Expertise
      • finance
      • Technology
    • long-term stewardship

      Stewardship strategies

      In times of uncertainty and growing risk complexity, boards need to evolve beyond stability. Here...

    • clear cyber risk

      UK companies face a clear cyber risk

      Boards need a laser focus on digital risks—and the UK needs stronger audit, governance and...

    • public markets

      How can we boost public markets?

      Growing companies need adequate liquidity, together with smart regulation and corporate governance that is not...

  • Comment
      • View all
    • clear cyber risk

      UK companies face a clear cyber risk

      Boards need a laser focus on digital risks—and the UK needs stronger audit, governance and...

    • Warren Buffett CEO succession: what boards can learn from Warren Buffett

      The billionaire investor is handing the reins to Greg Abel, after a long, strategic succession...

    • gender pay gap Act now to close the gender pay gap

      This month, it is 55 years since the Equal Pay Act, yet pay inequality persists....

  • Interviews
      • View All Interviews
      • Podcasts
      • Webinars
    • UK Corporate Governance Code Board meetings ‘are not up to scratch’

      Nearly three-quarters of board members believe the board’s performance in meetings needs improvement, an expert...

    • financial sanctions Tariffs chaos drives boardroom focus on resilience

      Business leaders will prioritise the resilience of their organisations in the face of economic upheaval...

    • ai boards Corporate world has a ‘huge appetite’ for artificial intelligence

      AI could change boardrooms to the extent that directors’ duties would change too, a panel...

  • Board Careers
  • Resource Centre
      • White Paper Downloads
      • Book Reviews
      • Board Advisory & Corporate Services
    • Korn Ferry CHRO 2025 (Copy)

      On The Highwire: Being a CHRO in 2025

      Korn Ferry surveyed 750 senior HR leaders (including 450 CHROs) to understand their key priorities...

    • Boardroom Bellwether CGI 2025 cover

      Boardroom Bellwether 2025

      Boardroom Bellwether is the annual survey by The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland (CGIUKI),...

    • ACCA sustainability reporting 2025 cover

      Sustainability reporting: risk and materiality 2025

      ACCA’s sustainability guide takes a practical approach to helping businesses with sustainability reporting.

  • Events
  • Search by topic
    • Governance
    • Strategy
    • Risk
    • Ethics
    • Regulation
    • ESG
    • Investor Relations
    • Careers
    • Board Expertise
    • finance
    • Technology

Board packs too large and ‘backward-looking’, says research

by Lucy Trevelyan on December 19, 2017

Board packs are too backward-looking, internally focused and time-consuming to produce, according to research by ICSA: The Governance Institute.

documents, business papers, board packs, board papers

Photo: Shutterstock

Board packs are too backward-looking, internally focused and time-consuming to produce, according to a recent survey of governance professionals.

The report—Challenges to Effective Board Reporting, by ICSA: The Governance Institute and Board Intelligence—also suggests that the size of board packs is an obstacle to effective oversight and prevents board members from engaging in forward-looking and strategic conversations.

Indeed, 74% of respondents said that their board packs are bigger than necessary. This figure rises to 85% for the largest organisations (those with a turnover of more than £500m), where board packs average more than 250 pages per meeting—or in excess of 2,000 pages a year for main board meetings alone.

“Too often they are dominated by inward and backward-looking detail, rather than the sort of information that will help the board to plan its future strategy.”

–Jennifer Sundberg, Board Intelligence

Some 68% of respondents overall and 86% of the smallest organisations (those with a turnover of less than £10m) said board packs are too focused on operational rather than strategic issues, while 59% overall and 71% of small organisations feel they are not sufficiently forward-looking.

Jennifer Sundberg, co-CEO of Board Intelligence, said the purpose of a board pack is to enable boards to discuss the important issues and take the decisions that have a bearing on the long-term success of their organisation.

“However, this research suggests that in many organisations board papers are a barrier to such discussions, rather than an aid,” she added. “Too often they are dominated by inward and backward-looking detail, rather than the sort of information that will help the board to plan its future strategy.

“Furthermore, the sheer volume of information that board and committee members are presented with makes it unlikely they can read it all, let alone absorb it or pick out the key issues.”

Peter Swabey, policy and research director at ICSA, said his organisation plans to develop a tool that will enable organisations to assess the length and balance of their board packs and identify ways in which they can be improved.

“We will also be producing guidance to help company secretaries and other governance professionals to address some of the challenges identified by this research,” he said.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail

Related Posts

  • IoD: Don’t make audit committees accountable for ESG reporting
    September 8, 2023
    IoD governance

    The Institute of Directors says the FRC proposal on board governance means ‘lines of accountability will be blurred’.

  • Diligent launches its third Modern Governance 100 awards
    July 1, 2021
    Diligent Modern Governance 100

    This year's awards feature six new categories, including ESG & Diversity Trailblazer, Outstanding Community Ally and Cyber Risk Leader.

  • Board effectiveness in the new world of work
    April 21, 2022
    Boardroom at sunrise

    Boards should use this post-pandemic period to reflect and reinvent themselves and their working practices.

  • How to chair the board more effectively
    November 15, 2022
    effective chair

    As boards respond to pressure for immediate results and compliance, a smart chair can help directors to focus on strategic, long-term success.

Search


Follow Us

Register Free

Stay in the know! Register to access the latest governance news; plus receive updates about our events and podcasts – Sign up here

 

Most Popular

Featured Resources

wef global risks 2025

The Global Risks Report 2025

The 20th edition of the Global Risks Report reveals an increasingly fractured global...
Supply chain management cover

Strategic Oversight in Supply Chain Management: A Guide for Corporate Boards 2025

Supply chains have become complex, interdependent and opaque and—according to research...
OB-Cyber-Security

Cyber Security: What Boards Need to Know

Maintaining firewalls, protecting servers and filtering malicious emails rarely make...

The IA’S Principles Of Remuneration 2024 2025

This guidance from the Investment Association is aimed at assisting remuneration...
Diligent 2024 leadership tech cover

Leadership, decision-making & the role of technology: Business survey 2024

This research report by Board Agenda and Diligent sheds light on how board directors...

Director Reference Guide: Navigating Conflict in the Boardroom

The 'Director Reference Guide' on navigating conflict in the boardroom provides practical...
Nasdaq 2024 governance report cover

Nasdaq 2024 Global Governance Pulse

This Nasdaq survey gathered data from more than 870 board members, executives, and...

Becoming a non-executive director (4th edition)

Board composition is the subject of much debate, while the role of the non-executive...
art & science brainloop new cover

The Art & Science of Creating an Effective Board

Boards are coming under more scrutiny and pressure than ever before from regulators,...
SAA First time NED guide

First Time Guide for Non-Executive Directors

The role of the non-executive director has never been more vital: to advise, support,...

Register Free

Stay in the know! Register to access the latest governance news; plus receive updates about our events and podcasts. Register


  • Editors & Contributors
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • Board Advisory & Corporate Services
  • Media Marketing Solutions
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Board Director Network
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
|

Copyright © 2025 Questor Media Group Ltd.

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap