The board's role in strategy development

Norminstituut Bomen has been an independent foundation since 2022, with the aim of improving quality assurance around trees in the public space. Before that, the Norminstituut worked on the same goal for nine years as a company. Such a change of legal form is a step you don't often see, because owner-directors give up freedom and personal advantage moves to the background in favour of the organisation's public purpose. For the Norminstituut, the new legal form creates more room to work on quality assurance around trees together with other parties. Jester Strategy had been involved earlier in developing the Norminstituut's long-term strategy. With the switch to the new legal form, a board was installed that sets the course together with the director and safeguards the results. This was a new experience for everyone, so Norminstituut Bomen asked Jester Strategy to share its experience with strategy formation and strategic review.

Two series of workshops covered two topics. First, we sharpened the long-term strategy together with the board, the director and the team. The board members' broad knowledge and experience in the field were a valuable addition to the team's external-environment analyses. They were also able to challenge the team on the chosen direction, and the new legal form opened up a number of new opportunities. The Norminstituut has a clear direction for the years ahead, and the board and the team are getting to work on it together. A second series of workshops focused on the board's role in developing, reviewing and monitoring strategy and its execution. Topics covered included evaluating strategy, but also evaluating the performance of the organisation and of the board itself.