Managing Your Board

To be honest, I am not a big fan of board meetings. They tend to be long and tedious, mostly not very productive nor creative. Still, board meetings are very important, it is a good opportunity for you to get feedback from your leading colleagues and investors, a good opportunity for you to share your vision and thoughts, and most importantly, a good opportunity to get the company’s leadership aligned.?

An aligned board is crucial for the company’s long-term success. Amid the demands of steering the company, founders may find it challenging to effectively oversee their boards. To address this, here are ten practical pieces of advice to assist you in navigating boards:?

1. Board Structure: Compact & Professional If possible, keep your board small, ideally, only founders and main investors. However, it is advisable to include an additional expert to ensure that the board has at least one member with a distinct professional perspective.
2. Scheduling?Plan your meetings once a quarter, ideally during the second or third week of the quarter.? Meeting mid-quarter or before its end, may leave you unprepared to discuss results. Conducting meetings early in the quarter, armed with the latest data makes a lot of sense. Always schedule board meetings for the entire year in advance.?
3. Prior to the meeting Make sure to send the board deck (as well as the quarterly summary, if applicable), at least 3-4 days prior to the meeting. When you do so, request that your BOD members read it and ask for clarifications prior to the meeting, this will save a lot of valuable time.?
4. Length I don’t like long meetings. It tend to be a waste of time. However, when companies are growing, there are a lot of issues to discuss. For me, a two-hour timeframe works well for keeping the board meeting efficient (be open to an occasional longer meeting, if needed).?
5. Virtual vs. Physical As someone who used to do all BOD meetings face-to-face I fell in love with the convenience of virtual calls. They simplify things. However, make sure to have at least one face-to-face meeting annually. This provides an important opportunity to connect with people on a personal level and offers a friendly environment for communication. It could also be a good opportunity to extend the session, socialize over dinner, etc.?
6. The Good And The Bad Some CEOs tend to talk only about the positive aspects, pushing any negative news to the background. Don’t do that, make it a point to address your hardships along with the positive. Personally,? I like board decks that start with one slide summarizing the good and the bad of the quarter. When you openly? acknowledge? the difficulties and challenges it builds trust in your leadership and lets the board know that you are transparent about the realities of the business.
7. Define a main topic, a schedule and manage the time? Many board meetings are wasted on routine updates and on anecdotal questions from certain board members (likely not adding much to the meeting). Spend less time on updates. Select a subject to deep dive into during the meeting (such as? product strategy, go-to-market, or marketing). If you do that, meetings will be much more effective.
8. Bring your top management, conduct open and closed sessionsBoard meetings are a great opportunity for the top management to interact with board members. Encourage your executives to participate in relevant portions of the meetings and lead discussions on topics related to their? areas of responsibility.? However, I recommend ending with a closed session, exclusively with the CEO, BOD members, and CFO, to allow an open discussion on all issues (including sensitive ones).???

1. Ask for feedbackBOD meetings are your only opportunity to gather collective feedback from your BOD members. At the end of the closed session, request individual feedback. You will be surprised how effective this could be for you.? Understanding what members think about your work can provide valuable insights. Initiating this request sets the stage for an open yet positive dialog.?

??10. After the meeting

I am not a big fan of long and detailed board summaries. Still, be sure to distribute a board summary (along with other materials) after the call. This should include formal decision points and open issues to be addressed in the next meeting. Try to be fast about this. If you delay sending out materials for? weeks after the meeting, people may forget certain details, leading to repetitive discussions on previously agreed-upon points.

Your board has the power to be a major headache, or a valuable asset. Investing in good board hygiene can play a pivotal role in your journey to success.?