The Meeting I Never Miss

By: Matt GoldbergTue Dec 18, 2007 at 5:41 PM

There are meetings that defy work, and meetings that define how you work. From Hollywood to Madison Avenue, we meet the people whose meetings make all the difference.

Rites & Rituals

Setting: Le Meridien Hotel in Boston.

Power Seat: Directors sit closest to the CEO and chairman.

Dress Code: Formal.

Talking Stick

Protocols are important because you have very busy people who need to get in and out of a place very quickly - we raise our hands and wait to be recognized. Yet it's a very feisty board and we don't feel constrained. We say what we have to say.

Audio/Visual

Pen and paper. Passionate listening takes 100% of your attention.

Energy Source:

Lobster is a favorite.

Who: Jerry Yang
Company: Yahoo! http://www.yahoo.com
Title: Cofounder and Chief Yahoo
MINM: Yahoo!'s Board meeting
The Players: Founders, CEO, senior managers, directors, and corporate counsel (scribe)
Frequency: Monthly
Purpose: To plan the company's future strategy and find something to get paranoid about.
Why I Never Miss It: It's the meeting that keeps the picture clear. It's like when the 49ers win a game -- they spend ten minutes talking about how great the win was and then it's on to next week.

The California-casual board meetings of the $5.5 million search
engine leader that set off the Internet IPO explosion in early 1996 are a world apart from Hannaford's formal gatherings. Yet the critical success factor is the same: the Mind Rub. In Yahoo!'s case, it's an opportunity for cofounders Jerry Yang, 28, and David Filo, 30, to mix ideas and talk technology with industry veterans like Sequoia Capital partner Michael Moritz; Eric Hippeau, chairman of Ziff-Davis; and Arthur Kern, CEO of American Media - all Yahoo! directors.

Ground Rules

Our CEO runs and controls the pace of the meeting. We usually try to limit discussion to three or four major issues. This board does not micromanage. They make general recommendations and strategic observations.

Rites & Rituals

Setting: Yahoo! main conference room.

Dress Code: None.

Talking Stick

It's an informal discussion. The key is to play as a team. This was critical with the IPO process, which we did in two months - really fast for any company. The whole board worked together to make some really important decisions.

Audio/Visual

We're surprisingly low-tech in regard to meetings. We all bring our PDAs (and board members bring cell-phones) but we don't really open them. It's all about trying to leave all distractions at the door.

Energy Source:

Lots of caffeine and pizza.

Who: Dr. Cheryl L. Shavers, Cheryl_Shavers@ccm.sc.intel.com
Company: Intel http://www.intel.com
Title: General Manager, Advanced Technology Operation
MINM: Strategic Long Range Planning Meeting -- AKA SLURP
The Players: Intel's top management team
Frequency: Annual
Purpose: To roll out long range plans (5 to10 years) and make sure the departments are synched up with company objectives.
Why I Never Miss It: It lets you know there's a light at the end of the tunnel, or if you're even in the tunnel. If you want to know where the company is going, you go. If you want to be in on the action, you go.

True to Intel's reputation for aggressive implementation, rather than waste time on polite presentations at its annual strategy meeting, the top team launches immediately into hardheaded debate about the future of fast-evolving computer processor technology. "It leaves all the rocks uncovered," says Cheryl Shavers. A recent inductee into Women in Technology International's (WITI) Hall of Fame, Shavers is responsible for manufacturing infrastructure and strategic alliances at the chip maker.

Ground Rules

The senior executive vice president runs the meeting and various department heads give presentations. Getting on the agenda is hitting the big time - it means that what your division is working on is of strategic importance to the company.

Rites & Rituals

Setting: A small auditorium with theaterlike seating.

Power Seat: The first few rows.

Dress Code: Business casual.

Talking Stick

We have a process called "constructive confrontation." If you're giving a presentation, anything you say can be challenged by anyone, regardless of your position in the company. At other planning meetings I've attended with other companies, the senior people say, "Here's where we're going, here's what you need to know, goodbye." Here, it's "This is where we're going," and everyone in the room jumps up and says, "Why does that make sense?" It can be a feeding frenzy at times.