The CEO Report

Your Board Papers are vitally important. They prepare the board for the decisions that must be made and provide the board with the information they need to discharge their duty of oversight. Of all the Board Papers the CEO report is probably the most important.

Experienced directors will turn to and read this paper first. It sets the context for every other paper in the pack.

As such, it's a wonderful opportunity to prepare your board to be totally effective during the upcoming meeting.

However, many CEOs struggle, when faced with the tyranny of a blank screen, to put down their thoughts in a compelling and clear fashion that will engage the board and help to prepare them for a highly effective meeting.

Ideally your board report should serve two purposes:

1. to inform the board of the key changes that have occurred during the period since the last board meeting
2. to engage the board in providing advice and assistance to the CEO

Whilst many CEO reports do a good job with the first objective, most CEOs struggle with the second simply because they do not wish to put on record the areas that they are finding difficult. But here’s the problem, directors find it hard to read a report that is packed with information but that has no call to action or stimulus for creative thinking. Directors greatly prefer a report that has something in it for them to do.

Let’s look at each function in turn. And then let’s explore some tips to help you write quickly, effectively, and succinctly.