2022 Board Effectiveness Survey: Board Management Software, Remote Meetings Are Here to Stay

Survey Result Takeaways

Board Effectiveness Survey results provided OnBoard with 3 primary takeaways to share. We’ll cover the third takeaway in another blog. For now, let’s focus on the first two conclusions:

1. Using board meeting software consistently makes participants more effective, more collaborative, and more confident in the security of board communications.

Here’s the data that led OnBoard to this conclusion:

• 69% of respondents said their board has been more effective in the last 12 months
• 63% said their board is more collaborative in the last 12 months
• 85% are confident in board communications security today

Maybe more telling, 74% of respondents who use board management software say their board was more effective in the last 12 months. Meanwhile, 63% of boards who don’t use board meeting software say their board was more effective during the same time period.

Finally, 91% of those who use board management software felt confident in their board’s security, while 78% of respondents who don’t use it felt confident in theirs.

While those disparities might not seem significant on the surface, consider this:

• Board meetings often occur infrequently, such as once every three months, and typically last multiple hours. That puts efficient, effective, well-communicated meetings at a premium. An 11% increase in effectiveness could mean the difference between a smooth meeting that produces solid results for your organization, and one that falls short of those objectives.
• The average cost of a data breach in 2021 was $4.24 million, according to an IBM report. That’s a 10% increase from 2020. Is a 13% increase in board security the difference between a data breach and secure board communications?

2. Board member engagement is the primary driver of board effectiveness. The ability to focus on strategic imperatives also defines board effectiveness, according to respondents.

Here’s what board leaders told OnBoard that prompted this conclusion:

• 49% of respondents say a more engaged board is a primary driver of board effectiveness
• Board leaders ranked “focus on strategic imperatives” as the primary way they measure effectiveness, by a wide margin (see chart below). “Governance and continuity,” “Establish and hit financial goals,” and “Meet shareholder needs” ranked second through fourth, respectively.