Avoiding Unspoken Issues – Part 2

In the first article of this series I offered an ad hoc research sample from the Better Board Conference which suggested that we may all have an elephant in the board room that we are not prepared to discuss, or may lack the tools to address. I also outlined some common themes of unspoken issues. In the second article in this series, I will discuss some general tactics for avoiding unspoken issues undermining board performance.

Dealing with Unspoken Issues at Board Level – Part 1

Q: How to do you know when you have passed an elephant? A: You cannot get the toilet seat back down. (Anon children’s joke) At the Better Boards Conference my presentation focussed on dealing with unspoken issues at the board level. Everyone was asked to identify if they had unspoken issues. An overwhelming majority said they definitely had unspoken issues that weakened the board and the remainder thought that they might have them.