Board members
Selecting members
With the right board design in place, you can now turn your attention to recruiting and selecting the right members to your board. It is important to take into account both the individual qualifications and the collective skills and team dynamics of your board.
You should seek individual team members who offer the right personal skills and experience for your board. Typically, these might include:
- Broad business experience of ventures at your stage of evolution
- A specific area of skill or knowledge that will be of value to the board
- A deep understanding of the role of a board and individual board members
- The ability to work and collaborate in a team, yet independent minded and able to think and reach conclusions without being unduly influenced by others
- Strong ethical standards and an understanding of legal and regulatory requirements
- A good listener, able to ask questions, alert and inquisitive with sound problem-solving skills and judgment
- An effective meeting participant with strong communication skills.
In addition, you should try to achieve a balance of skills, experience and personalities on your board. Ideally, your board will consist of the right mix of people to provide the full set of skills, knowledge and perspectives your venture needs to realize maximum value and results.
Reviewing board member and team performance
Just as your management team should be reviewed periodically individually and collectively, so too should your board. In our experience, this is rare for venture boards, but it is a powerful process that generates significant benefits.
From time to time the board should take time to review and critique its own performance. Led by the chairman, the board should evaluate its results against goals, and also evaluate its working practices against best practices. Such an exercise can generate rich lessons for your board.
In addition, the board should define processes for performance review of individual members. Typically these reviews are conducted by the chairman or by an independent board observer or advisor. The reviews should be based on the board member’s performance against responsibilities, and should include assessing the extent to which the board member is:
- Devoting adequate time and attention to board matters
- Developing an appropriate level of company-specific knowledge
- Doing an appropriate level of preparation for board meetings
- Participating effectively in board meetings
- Maintaining independence and avoiding potential conflicts of interest.
Such reviews serve to improve the individual performance and contribution of board members. Unlike with management, board member reviews do not carry the potential sanction of dismissal. Board members can typically only be removed in accordance with the organization’s board policies and bylaws.
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