How do we prepare for the questions the board will actually ask?

Start

The draft report is ready for the sponsor's review

The report says where the organisation stands. The board's questions test whether it trusts that, and the person reporting it. In the pack's default cycle, the sponsor reviews 9 working days before the meeting and the rehearsal is 7 working days before, leaving time to fix the report before papers go.

• Then: Have the sponsor mark every sentence they would challenge

Step

Have the sponsor mark every sentence they would challenge

The executive sponsor reads the draft and the one-page summary as a director would, and marks every sentence they would question. Each mark becomes a rehearsal question.

• Then: Pick the questions: most likely, uncomfortable, and unanswered

Step

Pick the questions: most likely, uncomfortable, and unanswered

Take the most likely questions (ten in the pack's default), every uncomfortable one that applies, and any question the board asked last time that the report still does not answer. Uncomfortable ones include: why is this risk still outside appetite, have we been breached, would we pay a ransom, what would you do with more money, what keeps you awake at night.

• Then: Has a breach in your sector or supply chain been in the news?

Decision

Has a breach in your sector or supply chain been in the news?

Directors read the same headlines and may be asked about them by customers, investors or their other boards. Check the news and sector alerts since the last meeting. If you are not sure whether a story will come up, prepare for it.

• Yes, or not sure: Prepare a short 'could this happen to us?' note
• No: Is the organisation in scope of NIS2 or DORA?

Step

Prepare a short 'could this happen to us?' note

In a paragraph: how it happened, in two sentences; whether the same route exists here, checked and not assumed; the answer, yes, partly or no, with the reason; and what is being done. If it is not checked yet, say when it will be. Never answer 'it couldn't happen here', and do not use the headline to ask for money without a costed ask.

• Then: Is the organisation in scope of NIS2 or DORA?

Decision

Is the organisation in scope of NIS2 or DORA?

Both place duties on the management body itself, so directors ask about compliance, their own duties, liability and their own training. If scope has not been confirmed, prepare as if it applies.

• Yes, or not known: Agree the regulation and liability answers with legal first
• No: Rehearse with the sponsor, in the time you will have

Step

Agree the regulation and liability answers with legal first

Expect these questions at every meeting until the board is confident of its duties. Say what the law requires in plain terms and point to legal advice; never tell a director they are not liable. Have the board's training record ready, and the minutes and action log that show its oversight.

• Then: Rehearse with the sponsor, in the time you will have

Step

Rehearse with the sponsor, in the time you will have

Book 60 to 90 minutes (the pack's default) with the sponsor and, if you can, someone who thinks like a director. Present as you will, and stop at the time limit. The sponsor asks the chosen questions in no set order, at least three of them uncomfortable. Answer each in about a minute, with the answer in the first sentence. With no one to rehearse with, record yourself and listen back.

• Then: Did any question go unanswered, or get a guess or jargon?

Decision

Did any question go unanswered, or get a guess or jargon?

Record each gap: a question you could not answer, answered with a guess, or answered with technical detail. A question you could not answer usually means the report is missing something.

• Yes, or not sure: Fix the report or prepare the answer before papers go
• No: Agree who answers which questions

Step

Fix the report or prepare the answer before papers go

Correct the report where the rehearsal found a gap. Prepare 'have ready' material for the likeliest questions as a short appendix or notes you carry, not as extra slides. Every figure comes from the signed-off data workbook.

• Then: Agree who answers which questions

Step

Agree who answers which questions

Some questions belong to the sponsor, to finance or to legal: a legal duty, a budget figure, a personnel matter. Decide in advance who takes them, so nobody improvises outside their authority.

• Then: Send the papers, then freeze the figures

Step

Send the papers, then freeze the figures

Papers go to the board secretary, by default 5 working days before the meeting. From then on, no figure changes without telling the chair. The day before, brief the sponsor on anything that has changed and read the last minutes and action log.

• Then: In the meeting, can you answer from evidence you have?

Decision

In the meeting, can you answer from evidence you have?

Trust is built by accurate answers, not confident ones. A figure said in the meeting goes in the minutes and outlives it. If you are not sure of the figure, treat it as not known.

• Yes: Answer in one sentence first, then give the reason
• No, or not sure: Say you don't know, and give a date to come back

Step

Answer in one sentence first, then give the reason

Answer the question asked, first: yes, no, a number, a position. Label facts, estimates and opinions. Do not reassure beyond the evidence: 'it reduces the risk; it doesn't remove it'. Put bad news first. Answer technical questions briefly and offer the detail afterwards.

• Then: Record commitments, and add new questions to your bank

Step

Say you don't know, and give a date to come back

'I don't know' is a complete answer when followed by what you would need to find out, and when. Never guess a number. Give a date, by default within 5 working days, and record it as an action.

• Then: Record commitments, and add new questions to your bank

Step

Record commitments, and add new questions to your bank

Agree the record of decisions and actions with the board secretary, by default 3 working days after the meeting. Add every unexpected question to your own question bank with the answer that worked. If a question shows a measure is missing, check it against your metric selection.

• Then: Send every promised answer by its date

Outcome

Send every promised answer by its date

Use a one-page written follow-up to the chair through the board secretary: the question as minuted, a short answer, the detail, the source, what changes, and whether a decision is needed at the next meeting. Within a year your own question bank will be more useful than any template.