Strengthening Board Effectiveness in 2026

Last week, in A 2026 Lens on Board Effectiveness, I shared the five challenges we see most often when reviewing boards.

This second article focuses on what boards can do in response. The aim is simple: to offer practical, evidence-informed actions that support stronger oversight, better decision-making and healthier dynamics.

Below are the steps boards can take to strengthen their effectiveness in 2026.

1. Improving Board Packs and Information Flow

Effective governance begins with high-quality information. Boards can strengthen their information flow by:

• Clarifying what “good” looks like: Create a simple, standard template that highlights the purpose of the paper, key insights, decisions required, implications, expected timings and relevant hyperlinks to ease navigation in large packs.
• Shifting from reporting to insight: Encouraging authors to focus on analysis, themes and strategic consequences.
• Using visual summaries: Dashboards, heat maps and trend lines improve accessibility, especially for risk and performance data.
• Introducing a ‘seven-day rule’: Papers issued at least a week in advance, with late submissions only allowed in exceptional circumstances.
• Reducing duplication across committees and the main board.

When information becomes clearer and more strategic, meeting time can be used more productively.

2. Strengthening Board Composition, Renewal & Succession Planning

Forward-looking boards treat composition and succession as ongoing governance disciplines, not periodic exercises. To build a future-ready board, consider:

• Skills and experience mapping aligned to long-term strategy and emerging risks.
• Routine board refresh conversations to ensure the right balance of continuity and renewal.
• Intentional diversity of perspective, including cognitive, professional and lived experience.
• Succession plans covering NEDs, Chairs, Committee Chairs and the SID with a 2–4 year horizon.
• Targeted development for directors where capability gaps exist (e.g., digital, cyber, AI, consumer vulnerability).

Boards that plan ahead avoid capability gaps and are better placed to navigate future challenges – something I explore in more depth in my earlier article on refreshing your board: The importance of refreshing your board

3. Rebalancing Strategic and Operational Focus

Staying strategic requires conscious discipline from the whole board. Practical ways to maintain a strategic lens include:

• Anchoring discussions in purpose and long-term direction, regularly asking: What does this mean for our strategy, members/customers, and future value?
• Noticing when the board is slipping into operational detail and intentionally stepping back to elevate the conversation.
• Clarifying boundaries between oversight (board) and execution (executive) so decisions stay at the appropriate level.
• Supporting the Chair to steer the conversation at the right level, while all directors take responsibility for maintaining strategic altitude.
• Using focused deep dives on key strategic themes, such as transformation, culture or emerging risks, without collapsing into operational updates.

Boards that consciously stay above the line add far greater value and provide the executive with the clarity and space needed to lead effectively.

4. Enhancing Risk Oversight & Future-Focused Governance

Risk oversight is shifting from monitoring to sense-making. Boards can strengthen their approach by:

• Linking risk and strategy discussions instead of treating them as separate agenda items.
• Integrating emerging risks (AI, cyber, ESG, geopolitical) directly into the risk framework.
• Using scenario planning to explore long-term implications and resilience under different conditions.
• Asking more forward-looking questions, such as:
  • Where is this risk heading?
  • What early indicators should we monitor?
  • What would need to change for this risk profile to materially improve?
• Ensuring dashboards evolve as organisational risks evolve.

A more anticipatory approach strengthens resilience and improves long-term decision-making.

5. Building Stronger Board Dynamics & Constructive Challenge

The quality of board decision-making depends on how directors interact. Boards can strengthen dynamics by:

• Agreeing behavioural expectations for challenge, listening and collaboration.
• Investing in informal relationship-building outside meetings to deepen trust and make constructive challenge easier in the boardroom.
• Using structured facilitation techniques (e.g., round-robins, timed contributions, rotating first speakers) to draw in all voices.
• Running periodic board development sessions on communication, trust and team effectiveness.
• Creating a psychologically safe environment where Directors feel comfortable expressing dissenting views.

Boards that invest in their dynamics create the conditions for better oversight, richer conversation and more confident decision-making.

Pulling It Together

Strengthening board effectiveness is not about adding more process. It’s about the discipline of staying strategic, the quality of the insight boards draw on, and the relationships and behaviours that shape how directors work together.

Boards that invest in thoughtful renewal, maintain a forward-looking perspective, build trust and psychological safety, and deliberately keep discussions at the right level are better equipped to navigate complexity and to lead their organisations with confidence and clarity.

If you’d like to talk through how we can support your firm with an external board effectiveness review, contact me directly and let’s set up time for a call.