I recently had the privilege of exercising my civil duty by serving on a jury.

As someone whose day job is to sit on boards and make decisions, this should have been a walk in the park. Instead, I found it an eye-opening exercise in group dynamics, and an extreme lesson in the art of (in)effective decision making.

It’s easy to draw the parallels – a trustee board, like a jury, is a group of people tasked with making key decisions that will directly and significantly impact the lives of others. It’s important to remember the humans at the end of our decisions. This is much easier to do when they are sitting in front of you in court, emotions raw on their sleeves; we don’t usually get to meet our pension scheme members face-to-face. Our roles come with huge responsibility and what we do has a real impact on individuals’ lives, trustees and jurors alike.

What happens in the board room stays in the board room

So what can we learn from my experience?* Here are some of the key themes of board effectiveness that my jury service really shone a light on:

• Board diversity – I’m not about to propose that we start selecting our trustee boards by random ballot, or that we appoint an entirely new set of trustees for every decision that needs to be made. However, the advantages of having a truly diverse mix of skills, backgrounds, personality types and life experiences were undeniable. As jurors, we were all able to bring very different perspectives to the situation and challenge each others’ prejudices.

• Planning and preparation – never underestimate the power of a well thought-out agenda alongside a clear, concise and timely meeting pack. With only the indictment to read (minutes) in advance, details of my court case were pieced together over the course of several days. The closing speeches were helpful, but where was the executive summary? A carefully planned meeting:
  • Allows time to prepare, digest and think about questions in advance
  • Guides the meeting (and the mind) to focus on the right areas, allocating appropriate time for discussion on the most pertinent points and keeping other areas succinct
  • Avoids surprises on the day of the meeting (which witnesses will turn up today?)

• The importance of the chair – without a chair, there is no structure and chaos ensues (believe me!). Without a good chair, it might not be quite as catastrophic, but it is difficult to ensure the quality of debate and therefore sound decision-making. Group-think is real, and one or two strong voices can easily sway a whole board; the chair helps to ensure that all voices are heard and respected, summarises and clarifies key messages and makes sure that decisions are actually reached, truly setting the tone for how business is conducted.

• Playing to your strengths – whether you have a close eye for detail or are more of a big-picture strategic thinker, each of us has a unique combination of strengths to bring to the table. But when you don’t know your colleagues, it’s hard to get the best out of your board. It’s worth taking the time to understand what drives and drains your individual board members, so that you can harness your collective strengths and achieve peak performance as a group. I’ve no doubt that some of us might have played quite different roles on the jury had we understood each other a little better.

• Ask the experts – There was no absence of legal jargon in the courtroom, and often the same can be said for our boardrooms (substitute for actuarial / investment / covenant as you wish!). We have a duty as trustees to be conversant with scheme documentation and have knowledge and understanding of the wider pensions world – but, like the jury, we don’t all need to be experts on every matter on the agenda. Knowing when to lean on experts to guide and advise and when to seek out more training is a skill in itself.

Time to reflect

We made our decision and were discharged, likely to never see our fellow jurors again. We’d been thrown together and shared a deep, gruelling experience, which impacted us personally as well as having a lasting impact on those involved in the case. Next time (if there is a next time!), we’ll have to start again with a new group of decision makers, and a new case to consider. 

So, perhaps most frustrating for me, was the lack of opportunity to reflect (until now!) on what we did and didn’t do well as a jury, and how we could improve the efficiency of the process or the efficacy of our decision making for next time.

Thankfully, that’s not the case for trustee boards – The Pensions Regulator expects us all to continually reflect on the effectiveness of our boards and constantly strive to stronger, more effective decision making. There are many approaches you can take to reviewing your board effectiveness – from self-assessment to bringing in a third party to carry out an independent review – and even the best run schemes will find some room for improvement.

*Whilst I can’t talk about any of the specifics of my case, I can point you in the direction of the classic film ‘Twelve Angry Men’, or for those more partial to reality TV, the recent Channel 4 series ‘The Jury: Murder Trial’. The latter gives a fascinating insight into what happens in a jury room, with two juries asked to independently come to a verdict on a re-enacted murder trial and – spoiler alert – their verdicts differ. In either case, for better or for worse, you’re sure to recognise characters and dynamics from your own trustee boards.

If you have any questions or want to find out more on this topic, please get in touch with the author: Nicole Johannesen from the board effectiveness team.