Yesterday, as part of the Award in Leading a Family Business Course, we had a Board of Directors Simulation Workshop. Participants were divided in teams, with each team representing a distinct Board of Directors. All teams were presented with a family business case study. The case study was about a family business that had challenges related to performance, governance and ownership and each team was tasked with having a proper board of directors meeting, setting a proper agenda and drawing up proper minutes, to discuss and ultimately decide on how to overcome the outlined challenges.

At the end of the exercise a member from each group where asked to deliver an outline of what was discussed and the decisions taken. It was interesting to see that many discussions took the route of arriving at a decision without a proper rationalising of where priorities lay and most of all how to tackle the root causes of the challenges at hand, rather than just the symptoms. At the end of the session I delivered my view of how the outlined challenges should be tackled. The overwhelming feedback I received was that what I said was so logical and simple, yet it escaped many of the participants when they had thought about the matter within their teams.

This, in my view, shows how important it is that a family business not only has a functional board of directors, but that such board is composed of highly trained, skilled professionals with a wide-ranging experience and background at leading a business. This is the great added value that a professional and experienced external independent director or business advisor can bring along.

REGISTRATIONS for the 2nd COHORT of the AWARD IN LEADING A FAMILY BUSINESS accredited course, starting in February 2024, are now open. Click HERE to register. We will also assist you to gain funding for this course.