The Art of the Start/Kawasaki 138-139

139 Tips for creating a good working relationship with your board.

Save trees…less paper is better than more paper

Provide useful metrics…in addition to accounting…nonfinancial metrics such as # of customers, # of installations, or number of visitors to your site, etc.

Send these reports two days before a board meeting. Board meetings are the time and place for discussing strategic issues—not for conveying the factual information contained in your reports.

You should spend little time in the meeting communicating the facts—and a lot of time figuring out how to improve them in the future.

Never Surprise a Board (Except with Good News) The worst time and place to announce bad news is at a board meeting. When you have bad news, meet privately with each member in advance and explain what happened.Get Feedback in Advance. The corollary of never surprising a board is to prepare board members well in advance to key decisions. If you know that you are going to discuss a key issue at an upcoming meeting, then talk to each member before the meeting. They might provide feedback that will change your perspective about the decision