An internally-facilitated board review is a good way to support your board’s continuous development, check progress between external reviews, monitor the impact of changes in board composition or strategic shifts. It can also be an opportunity for a more in-depth evaluation of one specific area of the board’s work. Our online board assessment platform, Thinking Board®, offers solutions designed to meet your board’s development needs.
Thinking Board® Evaluator
A fully-automated assessment of the 12 key areas of board effectiveness with board-ready reporting
Supported Thinking Board® Review
Includes extra options for committee reviews, meeting observation and additional support from us.
Why not just do your own internal review?
We have distilled over twenty years’ experience of assessing hundreds of boards to create Thinking Board® questionnaires that do so much more than provide an effectiveness score.
Will you get any better insight?
Conventional questionnaires rarely provide any surprising insights. Thinking Board® is different with a unique question structure that helps you understand what’s underlying the scores. It makes the whole board review process more engaging, and overcomes the typical problems with questionnaires. Time and again our clients tell us they were impressed and surprised by the analysis they got from our questionnaire-based report.
What if you need to deliver a difficult message?
Sometimes there are sensitive issues that need to be addressed. Experience has taught us that people provide more honest feedback when confidentiality is guaranteed. With Thinking Board® all responses remain anonymous.
How can you get a better response rate?
Our online system tracks respondents and flags late responders – so we can work with you to give them a nudge. And we’ll give you a template email for the Chair to encourage a good response.
How much of the CoSec’s time will this board review take?
Very little. Once we have the respondents’ email addresses, it’s over to us and things happen fast. Thinking Board® allows you to complete the whole internal review process and obtain a board-ready report in as little as three weeks.
Is it time to do something a bit different this year?
Is your board suffering questionnaire fatigue? Our library of Thinking Board® options means you can vary the approach from year to year. Take a deep dive into risk oversight, focus on ESG or explore individual director contributions. See our suite of Thinking Board options here.
Can you track progress easily?
More boards are opting for a continuous board development cycle over a three-year period. With Thinking Board®, you can compare results from year to year, to monitor the impact of development actions and spot potential issues before they escalate.
Can I get help interpreting the results?
Yes. For a small fee we can provide an analytical report that highlights priority areas for consideration. Or, for a bit more, you can turn your internal review into an external Independent Audit report.
Thinking Board® distils twenty years or board
review experience to deliver unparalleled insights
Scoping phase
We listen carefully to ensure we understand your board’s specific context and objectives. Then, work with you to implement a review process that will deliver the results you want.
Information gathering
Thinking Board® gathers individual responses entirely confidentially in a fully-automated process. For further insight, we can review board papers and observe key meetings.
Report preparation
Thinking Board® provides insightful analysis that allows you to identify key themes and response patterns. It can also provide board-ready reporting, or an experienced advisor can assist with identifying areas for discussion.
Follow up
We can offer further guidance on development elements as needed. Our advisors remain in touch from year to year to support your evolving governance development.
Download our summary today!
Our model for effective governance
Comprehensive coverage and incisive focus on key priorities
Our model for effective boards covers the 12 foundational areas critical to a board’s success. We check your board’s performance against all of these elements, but we also cover other angles that are specific to your organization and your board. We prioritise suggestions to help you create a workable action plan.
What our clients say about us
We listen carefully to feedback from our clients to ensure our service stays relevant and provides practical, valuable outcomes.
“We really appreciated IAL’s flexible approach to the review process. They worked with us to design a process that worked for the Company. The report was succinct and to the point, confirming many things we already knew and helpfully drawing out a few we didn’t. Overall, it was a very worthwhile experience that provoked valuable discussion at the Board.”
Paul Barrett,
GC and Company Secretary
“Independent Audit created an effective approach for our board – including engagement, dialogue and de-briefings. They assessed how we were performing today and what we could strengthen in the future. We benefitted from the Independent Audit team’s regulatory and industry experience, knowledge, and insights. They provided a roadmap to improve our effectiveness and training for our teams.”
Ted Sotir,
Chair
“When it came to choosing IAL for our board review, the deciding factor was the positive personal connection we felt with the project leader. We also felt confident that they would provide a service better tailored to the specific needs of our business. The review process was enjoyable as well as valuable. IAL fostered a collaborative atmosphere and the final report was well-structured and helpful, highlighting priorities for action.”
Peter Wood,
Chair, Karndean