The 2010 NACD Annual Survey of Public Company Governance has found that strategy planning, risk oversight and corporate performance are at the forefront of directors’ focus.

In an effort to create more efficient methods of measurement, accountants, consultants and regulatory agencies have circulated scores of metrics, both financial and non-financial. This, in turn, has led to a great quantity of evaluation tools without a true sense of quality and priority. Boards often get too much information without always knowing what difference it makes to the achievement of corporate goals.

With new regulation being implemented, and shareholder activists lobbying for greater independence between directors and management, NACD Directorship felt the time had come to ask the board for its opinion—about governance, economic conditions, profits outlook, employment and hiring and other key performance indicators.

Pay levels for directors are mostly flat except at the largest 200 companies. The annual survey conducted by the NACD in collaboration with Pearl Meyer & Partners also found that retainers and meeting fees are holding steady and companies of all sizes recommend that half of a company’s director compensation be paid in equity to align directors with shareholders.

Here’s a guide for directors to navigate their way through Washington.