213. Why is our boardroom laid out the way it is? (Question #11)

This season, every episode of OMG focuses on a question that directors really need to answer. OMG is written, produced, narrated and scored by Matt Fullbrook.   TRANSCRIPT: Question #11: Why is our boardroom laid out the way it is? This question was basically at the beginning of the origin story of my current definition of good governance – the one about intentionally cultivating effective conditions. At the time, I had been in somewhere between 200 and 300 boardrooms and it struck me one day that every single one of them was functionally identical. And because of that I’m highly confident that *your* boardroom is functionally identical to essentially all other boardrooms. But why? Seriously! Why is your boardroom laid out the way it is? Here’s another way to think through it. What are the things you hope will happen in your boardroom? What are the behaviours you hope to experience and observe? What are the feelings you hope people will feel? What conversations do you hope will happen? If you could start with a blank slate, what elements would you include and how? From the type and style of furniture to the use of technology to the lighting and windows and everything else. Every time I’ve had this conversation with an organization, the dream layout bears little resemblance to a typical boardroom. I’m not advising you throw out your board table and start from scratch – at least not if you don’t want to. But if the layout of the room isn’t ideal for the stuff you hope to happen in the room, then you might want to cultivate other conditions to compensate.