A well-run board meeting ensures alignment, provides you with valuable strategic insights and gives your board members confidence about your leadership. There is no one right way to run a successful board meeting, but there are plenty of wrong ways. One common mistake is to spend the majority of your time giving one-way status updates instead of focusing on deeper discussions.
Below is a framework you can use to get the most out of your board meetings and put you into the best light possible. (Read our post on meeting prep for tips and guidance on creating your board materials.)
1. Sample agenda
Here’s a sample agenda with recommended time allocations for a 3-hour, in-person meeting. Zoom meetings we’d recommend limiting to 2 hours because of zoom-fatigue.
- 15 min - Follow-ups from prior meeting, executive summary, highlights and challenges
- 20 min - Update on core KPIs, financials
- 50 min - Deep dive topic 1 - e.g. 3 year strategic plan
- 50 min - Deep dive topic 2 - e.g. product vs. competition
- 30 min - Closed Session - approvals, commentary on your executive team, feedback on the CEO
- 15 minutes - Executive Session - board discusses CEO performance and thoughts on meeting
2. Limit status updates
You sent materials out in advance so that board members can read through it in advance too. Instead of wasting precious time reading every update in detail during the board meeting, limit your “status updates” to no more than ~25% of your meeting. And instead of just repeating what’s written, highlight and add color to the most interesting/concerning items, and invite questions and discussion. Take control of the meeting’s pace and ensure you cover what you need/want to cover because in most cases your board members won’t know enough, or feel comfortable enough interrupting you, to get you back on track. Otherwise you’ll have wasted 3-hours and left wondering why the meeting sucked.
3. Structure focused deep dives
Aim to spend ~75% of the “open session” diving into two or three important topics. Be thoughtful about which topics you choose and make sure to rotate them from one meeting to the next. Stay away from things that might lead to major disagreements/controversy and anything that risks the conversation going “off the rails.” To address those topics, resolve them one-on-one before or after the meeting.
4. Bring executives (and company counsel)
Bring one or more key team members to each of your board meetings. It gives them an opportunity for professional development, deepens engagement and expands their understanding of your decision-making across issues. It also gives your board members an opportunity to hear directly from the source on key topics instead of everything always being whitewashed by you, the CEO. For example, if one of your deep dive topics is on product, then invite your head of product or CTO to join that meeting and lead the discussion. Your teammates can stay for the entire duration of the open session or just for the parts most relevant to them. Both are standard but plan in advance and communicate that clearly with everyone.
It’s also typical practice to include company counsel in all board meetings. They’re responsible for:
- Writing up meeting minutes which you should ensure are circulated afterwards;
- Providing legal opinions on option grants, ratifying a 409a valuation, fundraising scenarios, etc; and
- Keeping the conversations privileged and confidential by being present.
5. Manage the meeting pace
Don’t let board members hijack your meeting. If the conversation wanders down the wrong path its up to you to bring it back on track. It can be difficult to manage, particularly with all the type A personalities in the room, but it’s your responsibility to keep the discussion on topic.
6. Ask for help where you need it (and not where you don’t)
Your board members can be great for introductions to hard-to-reach customers, potential partners, and future prospective investors. Some board members might even have deep industry expertise or management experience, helping you navigate thorny operational issues. Tap into your board members where you need them, but be weary of asking for help on too many topics if you’re not actually prepared to follow through on their advice. You can inadvertently create unnecessary conflicts.
7. Send meeting recaps promptly afterwards
Send a recap of the meeting via email to your board members right afterwards. Highlight the major points covered with special attention to open follow up items. This quick follow up goes a very long way to demonstrate your urgency and control. Designate someone to take notes for you. Either one of your common board directors or an employee you invite for this purpose.
8. Closed sessions
Reserve time at the end of every meeting for just you and the board members, excusing all other invited guests. Use this time to review sensitive company information: employee stock and compensation changes, personnel performance, feedback on yourself, etc.
9. Executive sessions
Leave scheduled time (no more than 15 minutes) for your board to convene without you. It may get cancelled half the time or more, but keeping it on everyone’s schedule gives you a slot for important conversations about your personal performance, compensation, etc., to take place without kicking off a new scheduling nightmare between board members.
References
Sign up here to apply for a coaching engagement with Hilltop.