Board Committees in a Changing World – is 2025 the moment to take a step back?

COMMITTEE ARCHITECTURE

Board performance is multifaceted. There is an understandable focus on Board composition and dynamic but process and structure matter too.

At Fidelio, our Board assignments reflect a sharp focus on how Committees are constituted, how they are populated and what is their focus.  Key question for all Boards include:

• What matters need to be reserved for the Board and Board discussion?

• Where can Board Committees undertake the heavy lifting?

Clearly Boards are facing increased scrutiny, regulatory pressure and complexity, which has had an impact on the governance architecture. Over the past ten years there has been a marked increase in the number of Board Committees.

IS 2025 THE TIME TO TAKE A STEP BACK?

The building out of Committees and Committee work reflects increased engagement by individual Directors and can support the Board significantly with heavy lifting on technical, thorny or time consuming issues. There is however also a risk of proliferation and over complexity.  

In this Overture, Hans Hirt, Advisory Partner, explores key trends in governance architecture and also challenges Boards to think about the optimal Committee structure.  To read Fidelio's full Overture, please click here.