Understanding the board audience

• What information board members want and need

• Differences between management reports and board papers

• Board decision-making criteria

• Shifting from documenting detail to presenting strategy

• Impact of providing too much or too little information

• The ideal length of a board paper

Using the template

• Understanding standard board paper headings

• What each heading is asking for

• How templates support consistency and decision-making

Addressing standard headings

• Title

• Executive summary or core message

• Recommendations

• Background

• Key information, including:

  • Strategic impact

  • Alignment to the Strategic Plan

  • Options considered

  • Financial implications

  • Communications and engagement

  • Context and consultation

  • Risks

  • Attachments

General characteristics of effective board papers

• Factual

• Non-emotive

• Unbiased

• Honest and solution-focused

Planning the board paper

• Distilling information for the reader

• Using a spidergram to identify and plan content

• Writing efficiently from the spidergram

Editing and proofreading board papers

Editing techniques to increase readability and quick comprehension:

• Sentence length and structure

• Main message first in sentences and paragraphs

• Passive versus active voice

• Plain English and appropriate word choice

• Eliminating wasted words

• Formatting techniques, including diagrams, tables and bullet points

• Using AI to polish the document

Proofreading techniques to ensure accuracy and consistency.

Communicating in business 

• The difference between academic writing, creative writing and business writing

• The Government Style Guide as a source of technique

• Internal style guides

The composing process 

• The 4 step process to writing 

  • Gather material for the specific purpose of the document

    • Who is reading the document and why are they reading it?

  • Use a spidergram to order information

  • Draft

  • Edit

Techniques to increase comprehensibility: 

• Sentence length and structure

• Main message first

• Passive/active voice

• Conversation style

• Use minimum words

• Modern formatting techniques and visual presentation

• Tone

  • Word choice to suit the reader

  • Personalise through pronouns

  • Positive phraseology

  • Responding to complaint letters

• Using AI to help polish the document

Writing emails 

• Email etiquette and policy

• Structure

Letter writing

• Contemporary layout

• Structure