The subject of today's Insider Business Club, a web seminar available to finance directors and financial controllers, was "The Designer FD" - a discussion on the skills and attributes that the modern finance director needs in order to be successful.

Joining us were Carolyn Bresh, global head of finance at Reuters; Steve Dunn, finance director of Microsoft UK and Chris Jackson, head of the ICAEW's Finance and Management faculty.

We started with the assumption that the traditional bean-counting FD is no longer, which left us plenty of time to get into the nitty-gritty of exploring what finance directors must do to ensure that they make time for all the new, business-focused elements of their roles.

So, here's a few brief pointers:

• Talent management: make sure you recruit the right people to allow you to focus on the bigger picture;
• Especially, ensure you have an excellent financial controller;
• Trust your team: again, this will allow you to move on to other aspects of the business;
• Develop your negotiation, communication and management skills;
• But: absolutely challenge decisions where necessary;
• Maintain a balance in your roles as FD;
• Investigate technology and new ways of working, such as shared service models and outsourcing, to free up more time.

We'd be interested to hear more from readers.

If you missed the discussion, it will be available for download from the Insider Business Club website later today.