Prepare for meetings. Being prepared for board meetings is absolutely critical. Again, I learned that the hard way.
Being totally prepared at the board meetings to answer questions, to lay out your strategies, to articulate them well, pays off.
I usually start about 45 days ahead of the board meeting with a straw-man agenda at least of things I think the board is interested in, and then solicit their input on the agenda ahead of time. That way you make sure people aren’t coming with things they want to talk about that you’re not prepared for.
I try to get an agreement on an agenda probably 45 days in advance to the board meeting. Then, start building my support materials and presentation. A lot of it is financial in nature, so work with your CFO to make sure you’re telling the story you need to tell and make sure you’re highlighting all of the risks and rewards.
Typically, a week before the board meeting, send out a pre-read packet. Getting into a board meeting and trying to dive into a great deal of detail oftentimes leads you down rabbit trails that aren’t productive or places you don’t want to go.
I have taken to trying to provide a lot of detail in the pre-read packet that then I can just reference so we don’t have to go through 900 slides. I can do a quick executive overview in about 10 or 15 slides, reference the materials that were sent out to them in the pre-read packet, and then have a much more productive discussion.
Another key point would be to make sure when you go into your board meetings to know what it is that you want from your board. I always try and go in with two or three key things I would like to get accomplished and specific questions I would like the board to help me answer.
Actively show you’re listening. No. 1, I do take keynotes during the board meetings and there’s always some suggestion of, ‘Oh, next time I’d really appreciate seeing this.’ I just take unofficial notes, and then I review those as I’m putting the agenda together and make sure I include them back in so that they can see, ‘Oh yea, he didn’t forget; he was listening.’
It would be easy to say, ‘Well, that’s not that important; these are the things I want to talk about.’ When you do that, they feel less involved and less satisfied.
A lot of us who are entrepreneurs I think are always in a sales mode because we’re always trying to convince people that our ideas are better.
What I’ve had to learn to do is to really kind of bite my tongue sometimes and sit and listen, and make sure I understand what they’re really trying to say and what they’re telling me.
And, again, that pays off.
How to reach: Centric Health Resources, (636) 519-2400 or www.centrichealthresources.com