By Coleman Lee Finkel
About board meetings, one executive said: “We need to concentrate more on the board processes than on content.” Other members agree. Unfortunately, little research has been undertaken to study the process of a board’s operation. A question still to be answered is, “How can meetings be made more productive?”
It may help to step back and examine how board meetings currently stack up. According to a poll of 150 board members, meetings do not provide enough information about operations and 65% were not satisfied with the accuracy of the information they were receiving. The CEO tended to act very much in charge rather than as a peer of the directors.
Following are some factors to consider before your next board meeting, to ensure a positive climate that leads to a productive exchange of ideas and high-quality decisions.
Tips for More Productive Board Meetings
- The CEO should no longer act as the principal decision-maker of the company at board meetings. He or she should be considered another resource and voice in deliberations among equals. When a CEO sees himself or herself as the sole voice in sessions, the spirit of trust and respect is lost among members impacting the board’s effectiveness and usefulness.
- When board members disagree with the CEO, that dissent should be welcomed—recognized as broadening the thinking of the group and not a measure of disobedience. In essence, those comments represent the best interests of the stockholder in expressing those contrary points of view.
- When board members interact, each member intellectually and emotionally feels like part of discussion, engendering a feeling of openness. Although some members may play a more dominant role in parts of the discussion because of their specific knowledge on a particular subject, it is important for all members to be engaged in the discussion. One approach, used in other types of meetings to great effect, is periodically to go around the table asking each person if there is any additional comment that he or she would like to make. This may take a little more time of the board, but in this way everyone can be a part of the discussion.
- When presentations are made at board meetings, members tell me that they can be too long. It would be a better use of time, they say, if a summary of the highlights of the subject were presented.
- Not every director need be at each meeting but regular attendance should be a measure of conscientiousness. Indeed, boards may want to introduce a system to evaluate each director on his or her individual contributions.
- Board meetings that are simply called by law or for appearance sake, rather than to discuss important company business, fail to achieve the board’s intrinsic purpose. Companies that solicit agenda items suggestions from the entire board assure the broadest coverage of important subjects while giving members a sense of involvement.
Leadership of the Board Meeting
Although CEOs typically chair board meetings, the skill required doesn’t automatically accompany the title of chief executive officer. The board chair should have knowledge of the psychological principles, learning processes and group interactions involved in guiding a productive meeting of others who also have status, power and knowledge. He or she should facilitate general discussion, controlling its direction and pace, stimulating thinking, encouraging contrary viewpoints and summarizing each topic so that it may serve as a springboard for moving on to other items on the agenda. The ability to perform as a skilled facilitator is not a talent gained from simply having chaired dozen of other meetings. It is a learned talent. One should be aware of its requirements, developed from study and applied with an understanding of its dynamics.
A board may want to consider rotating the chairperson at meetings if the CEO is considered one among a group or peers. Admittedly, tradition and the ego of the CEO may make this awkward, but it is a way to utilize the full skills represented among the board’s membership. Many boards that try this technique find that using directors rather than the CEO keeps the top executive from imposing his or her own agenda on the board.
Board members must choose which philosophy best serves their stockholders:
- A top-down, authoritative approach, with the CEO exercising “military” command, or
- A consensual approach, where ideas are welcome and contributed by all members.
The selection of either of these approaches will have a direct influence on the quality of a board’s deliberations.
Tips for More Effective Stockholder Meetings
Stockholder meetings are an example of how meetings get a bad name. Some corporations treat these meetings as a necessary evil, which may explain the rising tide of resentment among stockholders.
- If the meeting is attended by fewer than 200 people, try this approach: the room is set with tables of ten, a pen and pad put at each person’s place. When everyone is seated, someone at the head table announces: “Spend the next two minutes introducing yourselves to everyone at your table. Now, select one person to chair your meeting. That person should then appoint a recorder. For the next few minutes, discuss and select two questions related to our company’s business that your group would like to address to the board. The recorder will write down those two questions. At the end of the discussion, when I indicate a halt, our personnel will pick-up those questions.” Once the questions have been collected, sort through them and focus the discussion on the ones that are most relevant.
This technique assures stockholders that their concerns are being addressed and that they have a voice in the proceedings.
- For attendance of more than 200, another technique has been successfully employed, given the availability of space. As stockholders enter the room, each receives a colored slip. After the meeting is called to order, attendees are directed to smaller meeting rooms, according to the color of the slip, where they will meet in groups of 100. In each room there is a skilled facilitator for the 100 stockholders in attendance. He or she will skillfully guide discussion in that room for one hour, resulting in three questions to be directed to management.
Although these techniques take planning, they do work. They result in stockholders being appreciative of management’s desire to know their concerns and to protect their interests.
Pre-meeting Preparation
Before a board meeting, members should receive all material that relates to the subjects to be discussed. If members receive background information just before they sit down, they do not have sufficient time to make thoughtful decisions on the issues. Ideally, information should be made available to board members at least two weeks before the meeting, so that they have time not only to read it but also to absorb its implications. Today, it makes sense to send this material electronically.
President Eisenhower insisted that the reports he received be summarized and highlighted in a page or two. If there were areas in which he wanted further information, he would then go to that section of the large report. This technique might also be useful for boards.
With this approach, consider how much time would be saved in reading, digesting and evaluating the information sent in advance without losing the value of its meaning.
The Boardroom
The boardroom both reflects a company’s image and conveys a subliminal message. Aside from the aesthetics of the boardroom, there are practical, utilitarian considerations to consider (i.e., its value as an environment to provide interaction, alertness and ease of communication).
The shape of the board table is an important, though often an overlooked factor, that can either encourage or limit group discussion. Ideally, the table should be shaped like a rectangle rather than the canoe shape that is common in many boardrooms. The latter directs discussion in one direction, to the head of the table, whereas the rectangular or even square shaped table achieves a sense of community and equality.
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Author Bio: Coleman Lee Finkel is president and an owner of The Coleman Center in New York City, a meeting facility for groups of from 10 to 150 individuals. Contact him at Colemanfinkel@colemancenter.com
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