How to Write a Well-Crafted Board Report

A well-written report from the board is a powerful tool to encourage transparency, accountability, and collaboration and facilitating strategic alignment. Many organizations struggle to craft board reports that are accurate and timely. The consequences of poor presentation or insufficient data is detrimental to the process of making decisions and the growth of the company.

Make sure you only share the information that is necessary to move your board forward. This will help to avoid excessive information and the need for long explanations.

Begin with a summary, or abstract that outlines the main points of the report. This allows board members to quickly scan and grasp the report’s most important points. Follow this with your company’s key performance indicators (KPIs). Provide specific information within the context of goals and targets that were set last year, and discuss the progress you have made.

Include a section about issues and trends in the industry. This is a great way to give context to the financial data you are sharing and help board members to understand the reasons why your market share increased or decreased, as an example. Also, if you are facing significant regulatory hurdles make sure to mention the information in your report to allow the board members to understand potential legal risks and implications.

Share your next-step strategy with the board. It doesn’t matter if this is an entirely new idea that requires their approval or a review of an existing project.

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