Agenda for CEO / Advisor meetings
The agenda is an opportunity for the CEO to think clearly and organize their thoughts into priority sequence and budget their time accordingly. Visualize how you want the meeting to progress and how much time each topic should take.
Time in the meeting is spent either Teaching (Status Review) or Learning (Discussion). The CEO wants to reduce the time he invests in Teaching his advisors and optimize the time and results he gets in the Learning (Discussion) section.
In highly effective meetings time spent in the Teaching section is zero. The information is consumed prior to the meeting, when the agenda is delivered. There is no need to have a 1-1 verbal discussion of what can be written down, and linked to. This allows attendees to review the material in a much more efficient time-shifted method. And this frees up almost all of the bandwidth in the meeting to focus on the serious issues, and advisors can ask questions.
The job of the CEO is to state the goals, establish a plan for achieving them, then manage the execution of the plan. Primarily his job is one of communication. Communicate the dream, the opportunity, the mission, the vision, the purpose, etc. The successful CEO will be a great communicator. The most effective communications are in writing, least effective are verbal. Written communications are far more valuable than verbal.
Therefore, the CEO wants to avoid a lot of verbal Teaching in the meetings. It is far more effective for the CEO to be Learning by asking questions. The bulk of any background information needed to answer the CEO's questions during the meeting should be in the form of links that can be accessed prior to the meeting.
Get the best out of your time in this meeting, and the greatest value from your advisors, by stating your discussion items in a question format.
In highly effective meetings time spent in the Teaching section is zero. The information is consumed prior to the meeting, when the agenda is delivered. There is no need to have a 1-1 verbal discussion of what can be written down, and linked to. This allows attendees to review the material in a much more efficient time-shifted method. And this frees up almost all of the bandwidth in the meeting to focus on the serious issues, and advisors can ask questions.
The job of the CEO is to state the goals, establish a plan for achieving them, then manage the execution of the plan. Primarily his job is one of communication. Communicate the dream, the opportunity, the mission, the vision, the purpose, etc. The successful CEO will be a great communicator. The most effective communications are in writing, least effective are verbal. Written communications are far more valuable than verbal.
Therefore, the CEO wants to avoid a lot of verbal Teaching in the meetings. It is far more effective for the CEO to be Learning by asking questions. The bulk of any background information needed to answer the CEO's questions during the meeting should be in the form of links that can be accessed prior to the meeting.
Get the best out of your time in this meeting, and the greatest value from your advisors, by stating your discussion items in a question format.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A G E N D A
Your company name/logo
(link to public website)
CEO name/link
(Meeting Date/time)
(Attendees names)
(Online attendance link)
1. Statement of Purpose of this meeting
Write in this space.
What does the CEO want to achieve in this meeting?
(learn, action items, plan, decisions, ideas, confidence, help, etc)
2. Status Review - 5 minutes
A. CEO's Positive review
Write a few paragraphs.
CEO summary of last period, positive actions taken, results achieved.
Advisors give standing ovation.
B. Status Checklist
(Cash Runway), (Net Promoter Score), Links to other KPI pages
CEO
(Energy level), (Stress Level)
Link to CEO's Overall Health Plan
Link to business calendar
Links for LinkedIn, FB, blogs, Twitter, etc
Link to ToDo list
Link to strategic plan
Link to priorities
Link to Who-What-When
Financial - Links to P/L, Balance Sheet, etc
Sales and Marketing - Links
People - (morale measurement), Links to Organization chart/data/Who What When
Product roadmap - Links
Customer support - Links
Legal - Links, cap table, fundraising documents (executive summary, deck, etc)
Company Library - Links
Websites - Links
Strategic Plans - Links (SWOT analysis, Acquisitions, stock plans)
Business Philosophy - Links to Values, Mission, Vision,
3. Discussion - 55 minutes
A. Important and Urgent Topics in Priority sequence
(Cash Flow, Legal, Stockholders, Personnel, Sales, Competition)
Links to separate documents where you have written
your important and urgent challenges, along with supporting information, research, etc.
State the situation as a question: "How do I decide...?", "What's best policy for...?"
B. Other Important Topics
More of the same, just not as urgent.
(as time permits)
Meeting Notes:
Action items:
Who does What by When,
policy statements,
Next meeting
date/time/place
Agenda items for next meeting
How can we improve these meetings?
Action items:
Who does What by When,
policy statements,
Next meeting
date/time/place
Agenda items for next meeting
How can we improve these meetings?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
