Boardrooms are the new team sport – why agility and practice matter more than ever

12 November 2025 Reading Time: 3 minutes

By Mimi Kyazze, Strategic columnist.

The modern boardroom is a team sport. For today’s communication leaders, understanding how boards operate as high-performing, agile teams offers valuable insights for communicating with, within, and alongside them.

‘The Boardroom: A Team Sport’.

That was the name of the event I attended, which was run jointly by a Boardroom Network and a Big Four firm.

Speakers included Chairs and Board Members from the Premier League, UK Athletics, England Netball and England & Wales Cricket Board. 

At its core, the event explored how the different skills needed on company boards are similar to what’s needed in a team sport. 

It made me think that when most people picture a boardroom, they imagine formality, deliberation, and strategy unfolding around a glass table. 

They don’t exactly envision a playing field, a team huddle, or a coach shouting at their squad to adapt mid-game. 

Yet the more we look at what it takes to manage a successful board, the more it makes sense that today’s boardrooms should operate less like static decision-making frameworks and more like high-performing sports teams.

Diversity wins games

Just as no winning sports team is built on a roster of identical players, no effective board can thrive on homogeneity. A team needs strikers, midfield players and defenders, each bringing unique skills and backgrounds. 

Similarly, boards need diverse expertise to navigate an increasingly fast-paced global landscape. 

I’ve sat on boards where performing a skills matrix became valuable for identifying talent gaps.

The way one event speaker and company Chair described it: while previously, most boards predominantly focused on traditional hard skills, they’re now increasingly looking towards creative critical thinking and adaptability.

Areas such as sustainability insight, digital transformation and crisis response. 

It’s about balancing the need for the board to see the whole field to respond to opportunities on the horizon, as well as risks around the corner.

Practice makes performance

In sport, your natural talent can only take you so far. Champions are made in the hours of training, practice drills, and relentless adjustments. 

In the event, we touched on how this is a lesson from sport that boards can apply. 

The need to ‘practice together’ through scenario planning, crisis simulations, and ongoing reflection to sharpen decision-making. 

Not just relying on raw skills or previous approaches to deliver results. 

Practising planning can make all the difference between a board that reacts and one that anticipates.

Agility is the secret weapon

On and off the field, being able to flex is everything. A playbook written at the start of the match rarely survives by the middle of the game. 

The best teams are those that can adjust their plan in real time. 

The same is true for boards grappling with customer scrutiny, rapid technological change, and rising societal expectations. 

The boards that succeed are those that can evolve as the situation demands.

I recently interviewed an executive coach to leaders in business and sport, and she emphasised the growing need to change approaches depending on the moment. 

Both in business and sport, it’s the skill of knowing what’s needed right now or later when there’s more time to gain additional insights and feedback. Which crisis situations need more directive and assertive approaches to decide what the team or company should do in seconds, versus when you can rely on more participative input. 

It’s having that agility in style and decision-making to keep the whole team moving forward.

The new playbook for boards 

Boardrooms, like sports teams, are not judged by their intent but by outcomes. 

Governance success is no longer defined by stability alone. It’s measured by foresight and the ability to steer through volatility. 

To achieve this, boards are embracing more diverse skills, a commitment to continual practice, and prioritising greater agility. That seems to be the winning formula for boardrooms today.

The best ones will be those who know how to play as a team. 

And like all great teams, they’re not just in it to play and win the game, but to change it.

Mimi Kyazze is an award-winning communications business partner with over 15 years’ experience in the tech sector, Big Four, and FTSE-listed companies. Based in the UK, she has spoken at industry events, judged awards, and led communications for global workforces through major transformations, acquisitions, and crises. She also serves on charity boards, helping to shape strategy and strengthen leadership, and is the founder of an online platform bringing together inspiring voices from business and entrepreneurship. Connect with her on LinkedIn.

Written by: Editor