How New Hope Corporation Reduced Board Meeting Prep Time
A lean CoSec team at an ASX-listed resources company automates the coordination work to focus on governance quality.
KEY RESULTS
30%
less prep time per meeting
1-3 days
saved per meeting cycle
<30 seconds
to build a Diligent book structure
More capacity
for higher-value governance work
Jaya Prasad
Senior Sustainability Advisor & Assistant Company Secretary
Sylvia Lee
Governance Administrator
.png "New Hope Group Logo (1)")
New Hope Corporation
New Hope Corporation (ASX: NHC) is an ASX 200-listed Australian resources company founded in 1952, with a market capitalisation in excess of A$4 billion. Its operations include Bengalla Mine (NSW), New Acland Mine (QLD), and the Queensland Bulk Handling coal export terminal. As an ASX-listed company, strong and consistent board governance is central to how NHC operates.
Size: 1,500+ employees | Boards/Committees: 1 board + 3 committees + subsidiary boards | Customer since: April 2025
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
New Hope Corporation's three-person Company Secretariat team supports a board and three standing committees, along with numerous subsidiary and JV boards, across a demanding annual meeting calendar. Before boardcycle, every agenda change triggered a cascade of manual rework: timings to recalculate, items to renumber, cross-references to verify. Under the tight turnaround times typical of listed company governance, small errors were easy to miss.
Since implementing boardcycle, the team has reduced meeting preparation time by approximately 30% - cutting the prep cycle from 3-5 business days to 2-3 business days per meeting. The time recovered is now invested in higher-value work: supporting internal stakeholders to prepare more effective board papers.
THE CHALLENGE
The cumulative weight of manual changes
New Hope Corporation's Company Secretariat team was managing an inherently manual process. Agendas, shell minutes, run sheets and action trackers were all built in Word, then revised - sometimes repeatedly - as papers arrived, presenters changed, or meeting structure evolved. Each revision meant manually recalculating timings, renumbering agenda items, and checking cross-references.
3-5 days
prep time per meeting cycle
20+
meetings held annually
All manual
across all documents
Every change
cascading through all documents
The Specific Pain Points
Compounding re-work: "Any agenda change meant reworking timings, renumbering items, and double-checking cross-references. With tight turnaround times, it was easy for small errors to slip in."
Co-ordination overhead: Managing the meeting cycle across the team - with papers arriving from multiple stakeholders and timelines shifting - required constant coordination and document updates. The cumulative effort of keeping everything consistent was significant.
"It was a general creep of repetitive conversations about updating Board meeting documents - the day-to-day effort of keeping everything coordinated and consistent - that made it clear we needed a more streamlined way to manage the process."
THE SOLUTION
One Process, Four Outputs
For the New Hope team it wasn't one single feature that sold them on boardcycle - it was the whole package - agendas, run sheets, shell minutes and action tracking, all managed in a single, automated workflow.
Why boardcycle
Automatic cascading updates: Drag-and-drop agenda management recalculates timings, renumbers items, and updates cross-references automatically with every change. The manual rework that previously accompanied every agenda revision is eliminated.
One-click shell minutes and run sheet: Professional shell minutes and run sheets are produced in a single click as part of the agenda building process with no second step.
Bookbuilder: The Bookbuilder auto-creates board book structures in seconds, allowing seamless handoff from boardcycle to New Hope's board reporting software.
No disruption to existing workflows: Outputs are delivered in Word, meaning existing templates and sign-off processes didn't have to change.
"Being able to drag and drop agenda items and have timings, numbering, and cross-references update automatically has been the biggest change. Day to day, we spend less time on “admin” rework."
THE RESULTS
Less Time on Admin. Better Governance Results.
"We estimate we're saving approximately 30% of our prep time per meeting compared to before."
"There's less manual handling, so we see fewer numbering, timing and cross-referencing errors. The quality has improved."
"It frees us up to support internal stakeholders to prepare improved board papers, rather than spending time on manual formatting and rework."
"When things inevitably change last minute, we're better prepared. It lowers stress around meeting deadlines and helps us run meetings more consistently."
Supporting Better Board Papers
For New Hope Corporation, the hours recovered from manual rework have a clear destination. They are going into the governance work that actually requires the team's expertise: working with the organisation to improve what goes before the board. The distinction boardcycle enables is not just efficiency. It is a CoSec team operating at the level their role actually demands.
A Cleaner Process for Everyone
The benefit extends beyond the CoSec team itself. When the agenda is right and the documents are ready, the board and committees get a more consistent, better-prepared meeting experience - regardless of what changed at the last minute.
"The workflow is much smoother. We have a clear reporting schedule and can address last-minute updates with more consistency and less error."
Ready to streamline your board prep?
Ready to build and manage agendas faster and better? Ready for shell minutes in one click? Ready to focus on what really matters, and let us handle the rest? Then get in touch.
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