September 17, 2004 8:52 AM

Running an efficient board meeting
Posted by Jason Butlerat 8:52 AM

Ed Sim, a New York venture capitalist, details what he looks for in a board meeting.

Even if you're not at the executive level yet, you should pay close attention to his suggestions on best ways to prepare for the big meetings.

1. Be prepared: Board meetings are like theater. Like any play, I expect the CEO to have a well thought out and scripted agenda for the meeting. The most efficient way to do so is to lay out an agenda and get feedback pre-meeting from the other board members to ensure that the board covers appropriate topics and allocates the right amount of time for each one. From an update and preparedness perspective, the CEO should always go into the meeting having a complete understanding of where the various board members stand in terms of any major decisions. There should be no surprises. This means that the CEO should have individual meetings and calls in advance of the board meeting to walk each director through any decisions that need to be made and the accompanying analyses behind them.