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Our board meetings are dominated by one person’s views –
we need balance, new perspectives and new skills”
“ We have
become imprisoned by our own thinking – we need fresh eyes”
“ We need to
fundamentally shift both ourselves and our business and need an
outside catalyst for the journey”
“It has brought
a freshness of thinking and rejuvenated our meetings”
“It has
helped all the directors individually and we now use our non exec
for all sorts of useful things – a great value to the business”
“It has brought
more structure to the business planning and business performance
process”
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NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SERVICES - are
just as impactful in small and medium sized businesses as they
have been for large public companies – but different in
the detail.
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the initial biggest influencing factor on the smaller company
board is the realisation by the other directors that a new, experienced,
‘fresh pair of eyes’ has come on the scene. This paves
the way for improvements in boardroom performance and promotes
a more prepared, structured and effective board meeting.
The next important aspect is the contributions that the new non-executive
can make. These usually take two forms. The first relates to input
based upon the non-executive’s own expertise and experience.
The second concerns their appraisal of the board and company.
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The non-executive will invariably have specialised knowledge
and relevant experience from which to draw. These are particularly
important to discussions on the future strategy of the company.
The latter point comes down to the ability of the non-executive
to listen well, absorb detail and ask pertinent questions about
the way the company conducts its affairs. This provides enough
material from which to form a balanced view and then to deliver
a clear report of the company’s strengths and weaknesses.
In smaller companies, the non-executive can work closely with
each of the directors to help them identify their strengths and
weaknesses. This leads on to setting their key performance indicators
and objectives, all of which considerably enhance the company’s
chances of success. Non-Executive Directors should generally be
looked at as a long term, cost effective, relationship, not just
available to attend board meetings, but available as and when
you need help and guidance.
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