One fact is unchanged, however: The gap between hours spent by private vs. public company directors continues to be wide. Average total hours reported by private company directors stayed relatively flat at 148 hours a year. In contrast public company directors reported spending significantly more time — 242 hours a year on average — on their board duties.
Overall, respondents to this year’s survey reported spending more time on their board work, with 70% saying the average total number of hours spent on board obligations increased slightly (48%) or significantly (22%), while 27% said they were unchanged. Nearly one-third (30%) of respondents said their board work requires more time than expected (only 1% said less).
For at least some respondents, changing economic and geopolitical risks may have influenced a decline in workload. After volatile years requiring a lot of board attention, from the slow return to normal from COVID to the war in Ukraine, boards may be returning to longer-term norms. As noted by one respondent to an open-ended question: “Time commitment increased significantly a couple years ago and has leveled off.”
Year-over-year change in board time commitment
Directors want more discussion time for strategy/performance, CEO succession, talent and AI
The top three topics warranting additional discussion time, according to surveyed directors, are unchanged from a year ago: strategy/performance (70% of respondents), CEO succession (44%) and talent/human capital (41%). A new answer option, artificial intelligence (AI), tied for third with 41%, and another new one, technology, ranked 10th at 25%. With cybersecurity in fifth place at 33%, the survey shows that directors are focused on overseeing how companies are managing various technological trends, opportunities and risks.
In terms of topics needing less discussion, ESG (cited by 37% of respondents, up from 28% in 2023) and DE&I (37% up from 23%) tied for first place, experiencing sizeable increases from last year. A new response, “None,” ranked third at 27%. Notable changes compared to 2023 are: activism, cited by 26% as needing less time, compared to 32% last year, and strategy/performance, cited by only 11% of respondents compared to 23% last year.
Top 5 areas needing more discussion time
Top 5 areas needing less discussion time
Directors offer suggestions for better using time in board meetings
Nearly three-quarters (74%) of surveyed directors said they have enough time in board meetings to cover pertinent topics. And 81% said they have enough time for executive sessions.
Despite these numbers, many respondents indicated that they believed that directors’ time at meetings could be optimized. An open-field question in our survey about time for executive sessions received more than 100 responses with recommendations for optimizing board meetings and executive sessions. These responses can be grouped into three distinct categories of suggestions to optimize board meetings: more time allocated for executive sessions, enough time for the right issues, and a preference for discussions over presentations. Below we look at these categories in depth:
- Properly allocate time for executive sessions. Several respondents said that executive sessions are often either given too little space on the agenda, or time runs out in the middle of a robust discussion. “We always seem to get to the real meaty issues during exec session which is given a minor slot on the agenda,” one director wrote. “And with many traveling directors, time pressure and flight schedules come in to play. We need to allocate sufficient time — if not at the board meeting then immediately after — to really dig into the most important topics.” Holding executive sessions at both the start and end of board meetings, with the time appropriately allocated and safeguarded, was noted as a best practice.
- Offer the right amount of time for the right issues. Some respondents said meeting schedules did not always give enough time to the most important topics, resulting in time wasted on issues of lesser importance and big issues under-discussed. One respondent suggested more two-day board meetings to enable more board discussion. Another said, “We need more coordination on discussion topics before the actual session begins. We need to prioritize which issues to discuss instead of squandering precious time.” Executive sessions at the start of board meetings can help boards work with the CEO to identify key issues and manage time for the rest of the meeting.
- Limit presentations; prioritize discussions. Several respondents noted how management presentations take up huge portions of the time. Even those intended to be “information-only” can consume more time than expected as board members ask questions, and precious time is spent on topics that don’t necessarily need board attention. One respondent suggested that sharing more management presentations several days before the meeting. “The executive team needs to think more carefully about the board agenda and not overloading it with topics that require lengthy discussions.”
Time to cover key topics at board meetings
1 Overall, 1,205 directors took the survey; this article looks at data from the U.S.-based respondents.
2 “Board work” includes attending board/committee meetings, traveling to/from meetings, connecting with management and other directors outside of formal meetings, and preparing for meetings (pre-work/pre-reads).