mission, vision, strategies, action plans … they all need to be aligned.
by steven e. sacks
the supposed purpose behind a cpa firm creating a board is not to micromanage, design a company logo or address human resource issues. neither is its role to sit around and smoke cohiba esplendido cigars and sip louis xiii de remy martin grande cognac. this glad-handing, back-slapping culture led to the financial breakdowns in the early 2000s and is possibly still happening today.
more: how to select your firm’s board | confronting leadership: not such a bad thing | new opportunities for a ‘new normal’ | is trust elusive? | working remotely shouldn’t mean feeling isolated | how engaged are your employees? | managing difficult personalities in the workplace | set your staff on the right course
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why would a firm create a board? in theory, it is designed to build and preserve a firm’s prosperity and longevity, in the same vein as a company board. each board member should have a thorough handle on the profession and the industries that the firm serves. the board members should understand trends, the competitive challenges, and the effectiveness or lack thereof regarding the firm’s structure and operations.
but there is much more to this dynamic. like with any board-driven organization, an effective board needs all members to understand one another: personalities, thought processes and other aspects that play a role in how decisions are made. also needed to be understood is the three-prong relationship between the board, senior management and staff. all this results in building … you guessed it: culture.
“if management is about running the business, governance is about seeing that it is run properly.” – tricker
i don’t mean that firm’s board members share camaraderie (at least projecting the perception of such) or that they participate in meeting discussions. understanding culture means sharing information, mediating or resolving disputes and evaluating the attitudes and inclinations in managing these issues. if there is dysfunction within a board, how useful can it be to carry out its various areas of responsibilities and provide guidance to the rest of the firm?
if a board is operating within a rapidly changing profession or industry, it needs to pivot quickly, reprioritize and encourage innovative thinking. a board may operate with only a couple of its members who usurp floor time, thus giving the impression of more influence and knowledge. in reality, however, this leads to staleness of thinking, narrow and self-serving goals and a disconnect between the board and senior leadership of the firm.
a firm’s board should set aside at the end of each meeting some time to conduct a self-assessment to ascertain if it is being constrained by protocols and philosophies that are incongruous with the needs of the firm.
it does not need to be complicated
an effective board led by the chair should leverage the collective expertise of its members – even if the fields or perspectives they represent are diverse – to help mold the vision and mission of the firm. in addition to regular business, at least twice a year, the board members should go around the table and raise these questions:
- what is our vision?
- what is our mission?
- what are we in business for and whom do we serve?
- what do we want to be in the future even if it is different from today?
this is really not a hard process, but some boards cannot even tell the difference between a vision and a mission. do they regularly review these two elements, and how often? at every meeting? once a year? when a large portion of the board changes composition? the board needs to determine whether the vision and mission reflect the goals of the firm and if the strategies and action plans are aligned. it’s just that pesky process of articulating a vision and mission that needs to be accomplished before anything can be implemented.
one of the impediments to boards attaining consensus of a vision and mission is that there are personal agendas. i’d like to think that some motives are purely altruistic but acknowledge that some are to improve one’s own professional standing or financial position. as mentioned previously, this is where bringing in people from the outside to serve as objective advisors will help to keep the firm’s leadership focused.
overcoming hurdles
let’s assume the firm’s board has agreed on a vision and mission. it should then turn its attention to core strategies that are attainable (and in alignment) in the next 12 to 24 months. during the course of this process, it should become apparent what goals should be set, articulated clearly and shared with everyone in the firm.
in establishing roles and responsibilities, the firm’s board needs to
- identify the relevant goals,
- choose the appropriate endeavors and the individuals to implement them and
- establish standards against which success is measured.
in order for the daily financial operational, administrative and management components to work effectively, trust must be established between the board and the rest of the staff.
a small cadre of members makes decisions for the whole board that will impact the entire firm, thus limiting its effectiveness.
some battles are worth fighting, some are not. it is knowing which is which that can build or impede success, and more important, knowing which side each board member is on.