<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Research to date on boards of directors focuses on board dynamics and on how board members work together. This paper considers boards of directors from a team perspective and whether a board of directors is a team, drawing on insights from team coaching. The paper first highlights the unique features of boards of directors. The paper applies the team diagnostic survey criteria to boards of directors as a construct to assess whether boards of directors are teams. The paper considers psychological safety, which is critical to team effectiveness, and questions whether boards operating as teams exacerbate boards’ propensity for groupthink. Viewing boards of directors from a team perspective introduces a useful human lens to understand board dynamics better and learn how boards can become more effective.</p>
</abstract>

Research to date on boards of directors focuses on board dynamics and on how board members work together. This paper considers boards of directors from a team perspective and whether a board of directors is a team, drawing on insights from team coaching. The paper first highlights the unique features of boards of directors. The paper applies the team diagnostic survey criteria to boards of directors as a construct to assess whether boards of directors are teams. The paper considers psychological safety, which is critical to team effectiveness, and questions whether boards operating as teams exacerbate boards’ propensity for groupthink. Viewing boards of directors from a team perspective introduces a useful human lens to understand board dynamics better and learn how boards can become more effective.

Is a Board of Directors a Team?

The Irish Journal of Management

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Is a Board of Directors a Team?"}

Research to date on boards of directors focuses on board dynamics and on how board members work together. This paper considers boards of directors from a team...

Is a Board of Directors a Team?

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: May 08, 2022

Page range: 5 - 19

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ijm-2022-0001

Keywords
Board of directors, teams, psychological safety

© 2022 Niamh M. Brennan, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Is a Board of Directors a Team?

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: May 08, 2022

Page range: 5 - 19

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ijm-2022-0001

KeywordsBoard of directors, teams, psychological safety

© 2022 Niamh M. Brennan, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Board of directors, teams, psychological safety