The board relationship you're under-investing in

Hi Everyone,

Jeff Bonforte, profiled in First Round Review, meets with each board member one-on-one before every board meeting. He spends 30 to 45 minutes with each director, usually on one main topic.

It is a useful habit, but it needs a clear setup. Without one, board 1:1s can start to feel like a side channel. The chair may not know what concerns are coming up, and the CEO can end up managing several private conversations instead of preparing the board for one better discussion.

That is why the chair should help design the process from the start. Today, we're walking you through how to set that up.

Bring the chair in early

The chair doesn’t need to approve every 1:1 you have with a board member. That would just make the whole thing too heavy. But they should help set the process.

The chair is usually the person who keeps the board working as one group. They hear concerns, shape the agenda, and help make sure the right conversations happen in the right place.

That is why this shouldn’t feel like you are going around them. Sit down with your chair once and agree on the basics:

• Who will you speak to before each board meeting?
• How often will those calls happen?
• What topics are useful for 1:1s?
• What should come back to the chair as a general theme?

Once that is clear, you don’t need to ask for permission every time. You have a rhythm the chair understands, and the board knows why the calls are happening.

Brad Smith did this when he was CEO of Intuit. It helped him go into board meetings knowing which two or three issues needed real input, instead of waiting for them to emerge in the room.

What to cover in each 1:1

Once the chair is aligned on the process, keep the calls simple.

Use the call to find out what they are thinking, answer questions, and get input on the one or two issues where their view would help. You don’t need to re-present the board deck. The director should already have that.

A good 30-minute structure looks like this:

• Quick context (5-10 min). Key metrics vs. plan, cash position, any major external shifts.
• One or two critical topics (20-25 min). Pick one or two things where you actually want input. Label each as Inform, Discuss, Align, or Approve so the director knows what kind of input you need.
• Director-specific asks (5-10 min). End with anything that fits that director: introductions, candidate referrals, or coaching on a specific challenge you're working through.

The point is to walk into the board meeting knowing where people are, what questions they have, and where the real discussion needs to happen.

Don’t use 1:1s for everything. CEO performance, CEO pay, sensitive people issues, and formal decisions should go through the right board process. That might be a committee, an executive session, or a separate conversation with the chair.

If something needs to be shared after the 1:1s, put it in the board portal or another shared board channel. Don’t let important follow-up disappear into personal texts or private email threads. It keeps the process clean and gives everyone the same record.

Keeping the chair in the loop

The chair should know what themes are coming up before the board meeting. That helps them shape the agenda and spot tension early.

You might say:

• “Two directors had questions about sales productivity.”
• “Several people want more time on cash planning.”
• “There’s some concern about how quickly the new strategy is landing with the team.”

That is enough. What you don’t want to do is report every comment back with names attached. If directors feel their 1:1 comments are being repeated word for word, they will become more guarded next time.

The chair needs a read on the room, not a private record of every conversation.

Try this today

Send your chair a short message proposing a 30-minute call to plan how you'll engage each board member between now and the next board meeting. Come with a draft showing who you'll talk to, how often, and what topics you'll cover. Ask what they'd add or change.

The point is to make the work you already do with the board cleaner, more useful, and less political.

Go deeper

👉 First Round Review: The Secret to Making Board Meetings Suck Less — Jeff Bonforte's full playbook on pre-meeting 1:1s, board packets, and assigning directors action items.

👉 NACD: Pillars of CEO-Board Communication — NACD's framework for pre-meeting outreach, material distribution, and the lead director's role.

👉 CFO Playbook: The Boardroom Playbook — The Inform/Discuss/Align/Approve taxonomy and a one-page briefing sheet template for board topics.

👉 Edison Partners: Best Practices to Drive Boardroom Efficiency — Cadence recommendations for private-company boards, including monthly calls and periodic director 1:1s.

Coming up tomorrow

Tomorrow, we’re looking at how to spot weak OKRs before Q3 gets too busy.

That's it for today!

P.S. When did you last talk to a board member outside a formal meeting?