How can side conversations impact your chosen industry in both positive and negative ways? Side
conversations are positive especially when it is between healthcare providers and patients. They
can put them at ease and best have them open to understand them. I think it helps a lot to be
able to support them. It also makes the communication of information easier and faster between
nurses and doctors. In a negative way, side conversations are limited, and they can easily be
misinterpreted and most likely have a team not on the same page which would cause mistakes. It
would be hard to track where the miscommunication stemmed from. b
How can side conversations impact internal and external stakeholders within your chosen industry?
Side conversations can help for informal feedback and it can impact collaboration between internal
stakeholders. However, it is hard to control the type of side conversations held. Negative side
conversations include gossip and exclusion which hinders a workplace. Side conversations help
people feel more familiarized with and more confident. b
The industries of professional sports and specifically soccer, or as the rest of the world calls it,
football. Soccer is such an influential sport across the world and has major political and economic
influences. Boards for professional soccer are very important, because they create the strategic
direction that their club embarks on (The collective role of the board, n.d.). Board members must
act in the best interest of their club, which is important to monitor because board members may
be affiliated with other organizations and businesses (The collective role of the board, n.d.). b
Side conversations can impact this industry in a negative way. Side conversations leave boards in all
industries including this one, vulnerable to bias (Gardner & Peterson, 2019). As previously stated,
board members may have interest and connections to other organizations and areas and it is
possible for them to utilize side conversations to sway others to siding with a decision that is
beneficial for one individual. This is considered a major issue for boards and it is imperative to
ensure there is no conflict of interest within the board (Gardner & Peterson, 2019).
However, side conversations can also have a positive impact on the industry. There are a lot of
important decisions and discussions that must be discussed and side conversations can give
members the time to fully understand someone’s perspective and why they believe a certain
decision should be made (Gardner & Peterson, 2019). Frequent communication is encouraged for
the members on these boards and this can help everyone make better decisions (The collective
role of the board, n.d.). There may not always be time in regular board meetings for everyone to
communicate everything they have to say and side conversations can be a positive space for
everyone to finish what they need to say. b
Resources b
Gardner, H. K., & Peterson, R. S. (2019). Back Channels in the Boardroom. Harvard Business Review,
97(5), 106–113.
https://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&
AN=138211199&site=ehost-live&scope=site b
The Collective Role of the Board, (n.d.). FSA. https://thefsa.org.uk/fan-resources/resource-
training/community-owned-clubs/board-best-practice/roles-and-respo
