A Little Primer On Annual Meeting Etiquette

Our Top Ten Tips On Meeting Manners – Plus One To Think On

Recently, your editor realized that he may be approaching a world-record for the number of shareholder meetings he’s attended: Well over 500 by his reckoning – although the late Gilbert brothers, who went to meetings as their primary “business activity” – and one with lots of vacation and dining and mooching opportunities they enjoyed to the fullest – and all fully tax deductible back then – may not be surpassable by anyone.

In any event, we also realized that although we’ve published many meeting-planning tips – including a few passing tips on “meeting etiquette” – we’ve never done so from the perspective of meeting-attendees. And, after all, that’s what etiquette is all about, no? Being conscious of what our guests like to have…and delivering it. So here are our top-ten pointers, with one to ponder: 

1. Always remember that meeting attendees are not only your guests, they are indeed “owners of the business” – and expect to be treated accordingly. When they are, they will be happy, and polite, and will think well of you and your company. When they are not – or if they witness what seems to them as a major breach of etiquette – they will be - and have a right to be - rather miffed, to say the least.
2. Accordingly, be sure to set a welcoming tone - from the very first encounter your guest will have with you and your staff until the very end: A neat and attractive venue helps hugely. This - along with welcoming signage, and a truly welcoming staff - are essentials for setting the right tone…from your guests’ perspective.
3. 3. Here’s another important thing to remember: A lot of us shareholders are kind of old…So we appreciate things like big and prominent signage, good lighting, comfortable seating, handicap entrances and facilities, A-V programs that we can hear and see…and again, welcoming and helpful staff. (We’d also promised several friends from internet chat rooms that we’d mention the need to think harder about “special accommodations” for people with visual and hearing impairments, and mobility issues - which many leading companies are indeed thinking about, and acting on these days.)
4. Having light refreshments is a must in our book…something that more and more companies seem to overlook, or try to get away without these days…as a way of hustling us out as fast as possible…And don’t think we’re fooled here either! We don’t need anything real fancy. In fact, too lavish a spread often sends warning signals to share owners. But having tea, coffee, juice, soft drinks and something light to eat is one of the top ‘welcoming signals’ a host can send. (The best refreshment idea we’ve ever seen in our 40+ years of meeting-going was at the old BellSouth, where they served Girl Scout cookies. What could possibly be nicer…or more “proper” in every way at a shareholder meeting? And mighty reasonable too, cost-wise.)
5. We’ve long reminded readers about the many benefits of having officers and directors and business managers and official “hosts” available (with their names and roles or titles on readily-readable and distinctive badges) during at least part of the coffee-hour: Not only does this set a very open and welcoming tone – it often enables potentially hot issues to be addressed and defused ahead of time, and can provide answers to questions that would otherwise prolong the official meeting unnecessarily.
6. As with any other social occasion, attendees like to know the “rules of the road” – and what to expect. So we like to see a written agenda – and written rules of conduct too – and, of course, we expect that all attendees including the hosts – will faithfully abide by them. Our favored procedure is to have the Agenda and Rules personally handed to guests when they arrive, with a friendly suggestion that they review them before the meeting starts: Good etiquette, we say, as opposed to plopping them on the seats…Plus it increases the likelihood that people will read them…Plus, it’s one of the best meeting-security measures around, as long as you are ready to enforce the rules after “fair warning” to rule breakers: What could possibly be a worse breach of etiquette, we’d ask, than letting some loudmouth - or worse yet an unruly mob - take control of the meeting?
7. Apropos, and perhaps the most important rule of meeting etiquette – and our top safety tip too – is our longstanding dictate that the chairman must always be in charge: All questioners must wait to be recognized by the chair, and to properly identify themselves as being shareholders or proxy-holders with a right to speak. All questions must be directed to and disposed of by the meeting chair, who is solely responsible for deciding whether a question is “in order” at that point, and who should answer it…and when.
8. One of our pet peeves at annual meetings –and something that comes across as incredibly rude and disrespectful to attentive and well-mannered shareholder attendees — and maybe to officers and directors too – is when slam- bam introductions of officers and directors are made - and where, typically, the introductions are ungraciously acknowledged to boot: Directors should be expected to stand up straight and face the audience when they are introduced – and to smile, and acknowledge the audience by holding up a hand, or with a little wave, so we can see them – and to remain standing until all directors are introduced and applauded. Same for officers that rate an intro. What bad form to see directors barely rise from their chair, then hunch down and turn quickly around - which happens at the majority of meeting we attend. And what a bad message it sends - as if they’re embarrassed to be there, or have something to fear if they stand up, and out from the crowd. A quick P.S. as to whether directors should face the audience, rather than the chair: The best answer ever came from former Verizon Chairman Ivan Seidenberg, who told a questioner, “The Directors are doing their most important job: Watching ME…to make sure I don’t flub anything.” Case closed.
9. Another item that companies increasingly overlook these days in order to show us the door asap; your editor strongly believes that proper etiquette at a shareholder meeting requires a brief overview of the prior year, and a brief review of the important issues ahead…and the expected outcomes; (a) since it IS a “meeting of shareholders” and (b) to properly set the stage for the items to be voted upon. The new “slam-bam approach” - to race like sixty, to finish the meeting as soon as humanly possible - is literally the height of rudeness to attendees in our etiquette book. We also think that “proper meeting etiquette” requires that the official “business of the meeting” be disposed of FIRST – with a general Q&A period to follow the closing of the polls and the official “adjournment” of the annual meeting until next year.
10. A very important set of issues in our etiquette book is that the hosts should be highly respectful of our time: Never, ever use Robert’s Rules of Order at a shareholder meeting: It is decidedly NOT a parliamentary proceeding and, as mentioned, the chairman must always been in charge. No “moving and seconding” please. Everything is already in the written materials - and most of the votes are already in. Make sure your rules of conduct are fair – and reasonable ones to all reasonable attendees. Shareholders hate it when speakers hog the floor, and try to opine on every single thing. Having reasonable time limits for each section of the meeting, and for each speaker, are simply “good form” - and properly respectful of our valuable time.

Something to think on: What about a parting gift?

In the old days, a gift (or gifts in the case of many consumer products companies) was de rigueur at shareholder meetings. Then, a few boorishly grabby shareholders – coupled with the new-era desire to make the meetings as quick and as boring as possible so we wouldn’t come at all – and then to shoo us out as soon as possible if we DID show up – caused the traditional “goodie bags” to go out of favor.

What does our own etiquette book have to say about this? First, no one should feel obligated to give a guest a parting gift – and none should be expected. But, on the other hand, shareholders ARE our owners – so a sample of our company’s wares is not only an especially gracious touch - it’s educational - and maybe even “promotional”. And face it, everyone loves a freebie. (Fresh news - Hershey Foods, after many years of ditching the traditional big-bar giveaway come the end - and hearing about it annually ever after – recently returned to its old ways – to boundless joy we hear.)

But the best reason for considering a parting gift is that the chair literally holds the meeting in his or her hands if there’s a goodie-bag in the offing: We guarantee that everyone will bolt for the door the second the farewell goodie is mentioned and the gift-desk officially opens up.