When I received detailed communications about my companies on a regular basis, I found I was both more likely to remember what was going on when it came time for the next board meeting and less likely to continually call my CEOs to figure out the bottom line. “Board love notes’ are a win-win.

Take a few minutes at the beginning of a board meeting to give the board the big picture before asking them to analyze individual pieces of your narrative. At RA Capital, we encourage our companies to use a tool called the Elephant Slide. This slide helps visualize a company’s value proposition, goals, challenges, and upcoming decisions in one place - allowing you to address the elephant in the room.

There are many ways to conduct an efficient board meeting, and every management team and board member has different preferences. But here are four key principles I believe will improve everyone’s experience.