Chairs in Conversation: Peter Hollins

What do you think makes a thriving board, and how can a chair inspire that?

The first step is making sure that you have the right people around the table, and that you monitor this as the needs of the organisation change. What might be the right skills and mix for one set of circumstances won’t suit another, so annual reviews are extremely important.

Secondly, you must be clear on the role of the trustees. A surprising number of people see being appointed to a board as is a matter of prestige, and it’s not — it’s hard work!

The requirements of the role should be clear to potential trustees before they join the board, and the first question that they should ask is “what’s the strategy?”. I’ve always been fascinated by the organisations that seem to be able to trundle along without being clear what their purpose is.

The next consideration is that the quality of board papers is critical. The purpose of a board paper is to define a situation, indicate what the critical issues are, and present options to the board. I’ve always said that if you can’t do that in under six pages, you haven’t understood the challenge.

Finally, it’s important to have some fun together as a group. You can’t force yourself to like each other, but as a Chair you can create a board in which you can have some enjoyment and fun. I often reflect on chairing the CLIC Sargent Board, and there aren’t very many more grim subjects than young people with cancer. One of the reasons that the board worked really well is because the quality of the personal relationships was there and having a sense of fun got us through some very difficult and challenging decisions.