The board pack is where most governance quietly dies — either nothing arrives, or forty pages arrive the night before and everyone reads them in the car park. The fix isn't effort; it's a template that puts decisions first. Here is the one I install as chair, copy-usable today.
A board pack has one test: could a competent outsider make the meeting's decisions from what was circulated? Reporting that doesn't serve a decision belongs in an appendix or nowhere. Everything below is built off that test.
| Section | What it is | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · CEO summary | The month in plain words: wins, misses, worries, asks | 1 page |
| 2 · KPI dashboard | The same ≤10 numbers every month, with trend and target | 1 page |
| 3 · Finance | P&L vs budget, 13-week cash, headline balance sheet movements | 2 pages |
| 4 · Decision papers | One per decision — the heart of the pack (template below) | 1 page each |
| 5 · Function exceptions | Only what's off-plan in sales, ops, people — by exception | ≤2 pages |
| 6 · Risk movements | What changed on the top five risks since last meeting | ½ page |
| 7 · Minutes & actions | Last meeting's minutes and the action list, by name | as is |
This single page does more for decision quality than any other governance artefact. It forces the thinking before the room, gives challenge something concrete to bite on, and turns minutes into a record of choices rather than conversations.
The pack circulates three working days before the meeting — non-negotiable, because the alternative is performing reading in the room. Late numbers ship as "flash" estimates with finals to follow; a late pack is worse than an imperfect one. And the meeting itself opens with section 7, not section 1: actions reviewed by name before any new business. The meeting agenda guide shows where each section lands in a 90-minute session.
The CEO owns section 1; finance owns 2–3; whoever sponsors a decision writes its paper — the discipline of writing is half the value. The chair edits for honesty: a pack that only carries good news is a pack that's lying somewhere.
If your current pack is a long way from this, that gap is measurable — the Governance Health Check scores the information pillar directly, and a Governance Review rebuilds it with you in four to six weeks.
Five questions if you want structure. One email if you'd rather talk. Either way, a straight answer about what your board needs.
