3 Ways to Declutter Your Board Reports

Board reports are one of the most commonly produced — and most commonly misread — governance documents in any organisation. The problem isn’t usually a lack of information. It’s too much information, poorly organised, written in a style that makes it slow to read and hard to act on.

A cluttered board report doesn’t just waste the director’s time. It obscures the decision that needs to be made. And a board that can’t clearly see the decision usually defers it, which means the item returns to the next agenda.

Here are three specific ways to make your reports work harder.

1. Write in the Active Voice

The most common reason board reports feel sluggish to read is passive voice. Passive constructions put the action at the end of the sentence, bury the agent, and add words without adding meaning.

Compare:

Passive: “It was determined by the finance sub-committee that the expenditure would need to be approved by the board.”

Active: “The finance sub-committee recommends the board approve the expenditure.”

The active version is half the length and twice as clear. The reader immediately knows who did what and what they’re being asked to do.

The same principle applies to the language around decisions. “The board is invited to consider whether it might wish to endorse the approach outlined above” is passive hedging. “The board is asked to resolve to endorse the approach” is a motion ready to be moved.

Active voice also removes jargon more naturally. When you force yourself to name a subject and an action, the vague “synergies will be leveraged” becomes the clear “the partnership will reduce our printing costs by 15%.” Specificity is a byproduct of active construction.

2. Structure Every Report the Same Way

An executive reading their fifth sub-committee report in a ninety-page board pack should be able to locate the recommendation in the same place in every report. If your organisation’s reports have different structures depending on who wrote them, some reports will be skimmed and others won’t be read at all.

A consistent structure for board reports:

1. Purpose: What is this report about and what decision (if any) is required?
2. Background: How did this issue arise, and what’s the relevant context?
3. Analysis: What options were considered and what do the relevant research or data show?
4. Recommendation: What is the author’s recommended course of action?
5. Proposed resolution: The exact wording of the motion the board is being asked to pass

This structure serves the board as a decision-making body. It starts with the decision, supports it with context, and ends with a formal resolution ready to be moved. Directors who’ve read the report know exactly what they’re voting on before the meeting begins.

3. Lead With the Executive Summary

The executive summary is the most important part of the report — and the most commonly miswritten. It is not an introduction. It is not “in this report we will examine.” It is a brief, standalone summary of the report’s key findings and recommendation, written so a reader who only reads the summary has enough information to vote.

A good executive summary for a board report:

• States the issue in one sentence
• Summarises the key finding or recommendation in two to three sentences
• States the proposed resolution (what the board is asked to decide)

That’s it. If the summary runs longer than a third of a page, it’s either a full report masquerading as a summary, or the report is too long.

The executive summary goes first — before the body of the report, not after. Directors under time pressure will read the summary, flip to the recommendation, and be equipped to contribute to the discussion. Directors with more time will work through the full report. Both are served.

One final test before you submit any board report: ask yourself whether a director who read only the executive summary and the proposed resolution could cast an informed vote. If the answer is yes, the report is ready.