The Hygiene Factor: Getting Meetings Right

Things to avoid: Basement rooms that make you feel sleepy almost as soon as you walk in, even if it’s first thing in the morning. Rooms with windows that are carefully covered to reduce glare but also the chances of staying awake. Rooms that are too small for the number of people in them. Rooms whose heating systems have only two options: too hot and too cold. Rooms whose air conditioning has only two options: too stuffy or too noisy.

Don’t put up with background noise – air conditioning systems being the most common offenders. Don’t just turn it off (see above…). If you can’t get it fixed so it works quietly, find a different room. And don’t think that microphones and amplification will be a solution, unless of course you really want the boardroom discussion to take on the character of parliamentary debate, with people taking it in turns to make speeches.

Don’t presume that, being experienced and mature (in both attitude and age), a director will be able to cope with eight hours of back-to-back meetings. Or that they can withstand the impact of the previous day’s meetings combined with training sessions, extra one-to-one meetings and a late dinner, with a bit of late night preparation and jet lag thrown in. Few can remain top of their game in these circumstances (or possibly anywhere near it) – but that’s what’s needed and expected. So increase the chances by getting the timing right and give the board meeting priority.

If you’re the chair of the meeting, don’t suppose that your own stamina sets the benchmark for everyone else. The fact is, the chair is the most engaged in the meeting and that keeps him or her going in a way that doesn’t apply to everyone else. And don’t let yourself be so focused on the agenda that you forge ahead regardless of directors starting to take it in turns to pop out for a few minutes. It breaks the flow of the conversation and means people miss points made by colleagues. It’s a clear signal that you’re overdue a break.

Don’t allow meeting time to be dissipated by presentation of pre-read. At its worst this involves management standing in front of a screen going through slides. It shouldn’t be necessary if the pre-read works (and the directors prepare). We all know that a “5-minute presentation” easily becomes 25. Allow somebody to present slides and time suddenly passes at an exponential rate, with the chairman losing control. And if you want to use the meeting as an opportunity to have exposure to the management team, you’ll have a much better encounter through Q&A than being hit with PowerPoint.

Avoid letting seating be a bit of a free for all. That way the chairman can end up facing the wrong people with the “right” people out of the line of sight or perched on a corner. For example, an audit committee chairman needs carefully to think through where to seat the CFO and Financial Controller, the Head of Internal Audit and the audit partner, as well as the committee members.

Don’t just put up with what you’re given. It’s not an unreasonable assumption that the board’s discussions are important and decisions potentially critical. So it’s valid to ask whether the table needs replacing if its shape is undermining good dialogue and participation, even if it means spending some money. It’s not much in relation to the value of getting the board around it.

Avoid allowing the presence – and even worse, participation – of non-members to grow unchallenged. Not everyone has to be there all of the time. And don’t disregard the effect on meeting dynamics of the numbers in the room. As a general rule, the more bodies in the room the less effective the discussion.