Better Governance: Redesigning Board Meetings at Netflix

David Larcker and Brian Tayan have written an article about Netflix redesigned management's relationship with the Board of Directors, while also rethinking how board meetings should be conducted. They describe how Netflix built a more transparent relationship with the board, while helping the directors gain a better understanding of the business and the management team. Larcker and Tayan explain:

Netflix takes a radically different approach. It incorporates two unique practices. First, board members periodically attend (in an observing capacity only) monthly and quarterly senior management meetings. What’s more, communication with the board comes in the form of a short, online memo that allows directors to ask questions and comment within the document. Executives can amend the text and answer questions in what is essentially a living document. We believe these two innovations meaningfully contributed to Netflix’s extraordinary performance in recent years.

I find the memos be particularly interesting as a means of preparing directors for a fruitful discussion at the board meeting itself.   The roughly 30-page online memos provide links to supporting analysis and to the Netflix systems, so that directors can examine raw data behind the conclusions.  Directors can post questions and comments on this memo before the meeting.  Fellow directors, as well as the executive team, can review these questions prior to the board gathering.  The board meetings themselves become a dialogue, rather than a series of canned presentations filled with tons of powerpoint slides.  

This format provides for a much more productive board meeting.  In my view, management and board meetings should always involve a healthy dose of preparation.   The meetings themselves should be about dialogue, not documents.  The written materials should be distributed and reviewed prior to the in-person meeting.   Insuring equal access to information means that people can come to the table prepared to discuss a topic and not disadvantaged because some in the room have seen the data while they have not.   

What's stopping many boards from adopting these types of practices?  Of course, you know the answer.  It takes a chief executive who is very secure and confident in their abilities, and one who is willing to listen to tough questions and dissenting views.  Moreover, it takes a committed board with members who are prepared to put in the work prior to the meetings.