The Problem with Board Meetings and Tips on How to Run Them
It's been written about time and time again. How do you run a good board meeting? Guy took a stab here. I'll just link to his take on this as it summarizes the majority of the opinions and tips you'll find out there on the Web. I think I can summarize this even further. When it comes to running a board, here's two things for a start-up CEO to focus on:
1. Make sure there are no surprises.
It's pretty simple. Prepare your board members for what is to come and make sure it's discussed beforehand with all parties. The better prepared you are (by speaking with everyone and getting feedback), the better prepared you'll be as you'll know what to present and hence will not surprise anyone. Further, by prepping properly, you won't yourself be surprised by what the board decides. I always read in all these tips that you shouldn't surprise your board. What people often forget is to make sure that your board doesn't surprise you. Kinda sucks to come into a board meeting and only find out then and there to you've been or soon will be fired.
2. Offer solutions.
It's pretty simple. You're running the company. You are the closest person to the action and the board is there to help you. At the same time, they are not there to do the work for you, hold your hand or offer the solutions for you. They are there to give you advice whether what you plan on doing is right or wrong. Ultimately, you will have to execute on everything yourself so make sure you are prepared for what is to come.
The rest, specifically board composition, I won't go into as that is a seperate topic. It's also something you really can't generalize. Companies at different stages of development with different management composition all need specific board members. One board may be rockstars for one company and at the same time dead weight for another. Finally, I definately won't go into trying to tell a board member what general tips are for being a good board member. Never forget that board members always thinks they are right!
