executive-board-pack-preparationlisted

# Board and committee pack preparation ## Purpose A board paper has one job: allow a group of people with limited time and no operational context to take a decision they can defend later. Most papers do the opposite — they narrate the work, bury the ask on page nine, present one option dressed as an analysis, and list generic risks nobody will act on. This skill fixes the order, forces genuine alternatives, and separates what the decision needs from what merely evidences it. ## Prerequisites - **Inputs:** the decision actually being sought and who has the authority to take it; the options genuinely available; the figures behind them, sourced and already through `data-analytics-report-qa`; the current risk position; the terms of reference or delegated authority of the forum. - **Access:** the previous pack and the minutes of the last meeting, so the paper can state what changed and close out prior actions. - **Timing:** the papers deadline and the reading expectation. A paper tabled at the meeting is a paper that was not read. If the decision is not yet defined, stop and define it. A paper "for discussion" with no proposition consumes the scarcest governance time there is and produces no minute. ## Data classification and stop condition Board material is **Confidential** by default, and frequently price-sensitive, legally privileged, or subject to regulatory notification. Handle accordingly: - State the classification and the distribution list on the front pa