Board Now or Board Later

Overview

When I'm working with a start-up one of the more difficult concepts that comes up is the board of directors. This can range from not understanding what one is through to believing that the board will take the company away from them. Not every start up needs a board right away but the earlier that the board is discussed and the process is in place the better.

The definition of a board is "A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organisation."

The key word here is "oversee". A board of directors is there to advise and guide the company management team, not tell it what to do. The management team is the management team and is not replaced or negated by the board of directors.

Purpose

So if the board is not there to tell you what to do, what is it there for?

Advice: The board should be available to the management on a monthly basis to discuss the current issues within the business, be a sounding board and ultimately give advice to the management team.

Guidance

The board should act strategically while the business acts tactically. The longer term trajectory of the business can often be be seen more clearly and objectively from the boards point of view, and the management team needs to allow the board to act in that way by providing all the information it needs.

Compliance

There are several legal requirements for companies that the board is typically best placed to handle - especially within those businesses that have raised VC cash or have private shareholders in place. The board should manage and inform those 3rd parties on behalf of the company and authenticate information coming out of the company that was destined for those 3rd parties.

Format

The board has a format. There is a chairperson - the ringmaster of the board and ultimately the person responsible for the activities of the board, appointments to the board and the interaction between the board and the company. Directors have a board seat. Lastly the board can have an Non-Executive Director contingent - people appointed to the board to advise but don't have a day to day role with the business. 

Constitution

The benefits of a board of directors can be massive as long as the right people are appointed. The Chairperson is the key position. The Chair needs to be someone with the right levels of understanding and background in the sector the business operates in and needs to have the time available to work on the business between board meetings. The Chair should also have connectivity and a network that will benefit the business.

The Chairperson and the management team should then discuss and agree how many and of what DNA the rest of the board should hold. If the business has a large reliance on technology then at least one board member should hold a detailed background in tech. If the company intends to list on the AIM stock-market then at least one board member should have successfully done that before. 

The board members should have two basic abilities, one to deal with the companies core requirements and secondly to be able to plot a route forward for the business. As the company and Chairperson look at the business is should become apparent where the company would benefit from having a board member (sales, marketing, finance, tech etc.) 

Benefits

The benefits of a properly functioning board are massive. The company management should be able to direct the board towards the issues that are holding the company back and get qualified insight back from the board to help the company overcome those issues.

The board should be able to strategise for the management team and bring options and opportunities forward for the management team to consider as part of the development strategy for the company. 

The board should be able to open doors through their combined networks that the business could not access otherwise and be able to bring in expertise that the business can apply to problem areas.

Lastly, the board is the interface to investors, venture capital, share markets and other finance sources to allow the management team to focus on delivering the growth the business needs.

Summary

Its never too early to start the discussion about having a board of directors, the appointment and the use of its members and how to get the most out of it. Its not something that should done lightly or without taking care and attention to learn about how they function and the impact on the company. Start-ups benefit greatly from having a board in place early (as long as its the right people) and establishing trust and a working relationship between the board and the management. If problems set in appointing a board will not save you - it isn't a safety net but correctly dealt with the board should be able to help you pivot out of trouble.

10 Tips for Time Management

Using the following list will help establish where your time currently goes and identify unproductive moments during your work day:

[1] Carry a notebook! Record all your movements, thoughts, conversations and other activities during the week. Create data on how much you get done through a day/week and where your time is going. You'll quickly be able to map out how much time is realistically spent producing results and what percentage of your time is lost on unproductive tasks.

[2] Activity or conversations important to the success of your company should have dedicated time assigned to it. To-do lists get longer and longer to the point where they don't represent a feasible way forward. Go old-school - appointment books work as part of your time management culture. Diarise appointments with yourself and create time silos for high-priority thinking - treat thinking as a task. Schedule when they will begin and end. Have the discipline to keep these appointments.

[3] Plan to spend at least 50% of your available time ring-fenced for thoughts, activities and conversations that produce most of your results.

[4] Schedule time for interruptions. This is a little odd as a concept but if you plan time to be pulled away from what you're doing its less disruptive. Its then possible to tell someone who needs your input or involvement when your next interruption point is and you can leave your planned tasks at the right moment.

[5] Failing to plan is planning to fail as the saying goes. Take the first 20-30 minutes each day to plan your day. Don't start the day until you have a complete break down of what will come when. The most important time needs to be protected and everything else can be sacrificed if necessary.

[6] Take five minutes before every call and task to decide what result you want to attain. This will help you know what success looks like before you start. And it will also slow time down. Take five minutes after each call and activity to determine whether your desired result was achieved. If not, what was missing? How do you put what's missing in your next call or activity?

[7] Put up a "Do not disturb" sign when you absolutely have to get work done. Make sure you do this both physically and digitally. I close the office door which creates a physical barrier to disruptions and then make sure that I have my Skype status set to Do Not Disturb etc. Digital distractions are probably more tempting than the physical type so go to the extremes of logging out of everything if that helps. 

[8] Practice not answering the phone just because it's ringing and e-mails just because they show up. Instantly giving people your attention tends to create the impression that you're always available. If it's absolutely crucial to your business to offer an immediate human response then this has to be part of your time plan. Where possible schedule a time to answer email and return phone calls. I just look at email twice a day as a planned part of my office hours.

[9] If you have staff then think about the level of interaction you need to have with them during the day and make that part of the plan. A new member of staff might take up 80% of your time in the early stages whereas an experienced member of staff might take almost no time. Make sure you delegate correctly to allow senior members of staff to attend to the run-of-the-mill stuff day-to-day.

[10] Remember to review the day at the end and see how your plan held up. If you're not managing to stick to it then there might be other options that allow you to get back on track. If you manage it one day and don't manage it the next then some minor tweaking is probably required. If you're managing to stick to it most days then its probably producing positive results. Either way the post mortem process of going back over the day to see what worked and what didn't is creating knowledge and insight that you can use the following day.