Board members are receiving hundreds of pages of material ahead of meetings, yet many still say the information is too long, too detailed and not focused enough on strategy, research shows.
According to the Society for Corporate Governance and Board Intelligence's latest report, Board and Committee Meeting Materials: Insights, Practices, and Practical Guidance, 50 percent of organizations have received feedback from directors in the past two years that meeting materials are too long, while 43 percent say directors believe materials are too detailed and 29 percent say they have fielded requests for a stronger focus on strategy.
The findings highlight a growing challenge in the boardroom. Directors are expected to oversee more complex issues ranging from technology and risk to capital allocation and compliance. At the same time, the amount of information given to them continues to grow.
As Paul Washington, president and CEO of the Society for Corporate Governance notes, directors are being asked to take in more information than ever before while making critical decisions and providing oversight across a wide range of topics.
From the report, one theme emerges consistently: effective board meetings depend on disciplined preparation long before directors enter the room. Researchers found that 62 percent of organizations schedule regular board meetings at least two years in advance, while 22 percent schedule them at least three years ahead. Meanwhile, 89 percent of governance functions prepare annual board calendars or work plans that identify key agenda items for each meeting.
This planning discipline extends to agenda development. More than half of organizations set meeting agendas at least four weeks in advance and 30 percent do so six weeks or more before meetings. Corporate secretaries play a central role in the process, preparing board agendas at 59 percent of organizations.
The report also argues that the role of the corporate secretary has evolved significantly. Rather than acting just as administrators, they increasingly serve as information curators, with a remit to reduce unnecessary volume, improve clarity and ensure directors focus on the issues that matter most.
Washington highlights the importance of this role, writing that corporate secretaries are 'curators of information, facilitators of discussion and trusted advisors who help equip directors with the right information, in the right form, at the right time.'
The report notes that directors can receive between 300 and more than 500 pages of material across board and committee meetings in a short period. Governance teams are responding by encouraging executive summaries, limiting slide decks, reducing appendices and shifting reference materials to board portals rather than including them in meeting books.
Technology is also helping streamline the process. Nearly all organizations surveyed (97 percent) now use board portals or other online platforms to distribute meeting materials. More than a third are using automation to improve material collection and distribution. At the same time, security remains a priority, with organizations relying on restricted access controls, password protection and secure platforms to safeguard sensitive information.
AI use, however, remains at a nascent stage. Just 10 percent of organizations currently use AI tools to prepare, compile or distribute board materials or document meetings. While 46 percent are exploring or testing AI solutions, adoption remains cautious due to concerns around confidentiality, accuracy and governance.
Perhaps most notably, the report suggests that board effectiveness is increasingly linked to feedback. While 88 percent of organizations ask directors about meeting materials during annual board evaluations, only 11 percent have established a formal feedback process outside that cycle. Governance professionals who collect feedback more frequently are often better positioned to refine materials and improve board discussions.
For companies that want to create board effectiveness, the takeaway is clear: success is less about producing more information and more about delivering better information. As Washington puts it: 'Effective board meetings are rarely accidental; they are the product of thoughtful planning, disciplined preparation and close collaboration'.
Natalie Bannerman
Natalie is a former telecoms and infrastructure journalist, a role she held for nearly seven years. Before this, she worked in the B2C startup space, covering lifestyle, arts and culture reporting. As senior reporter for Governance Intelligence she...
