What Is a Technical Advisory Board?

A Technical Advisory Board or Committee is a group of experts, in any given field, that provide their insights, skills, guidance, and expertise to an organization’s executive team, research team, or corporate board. To summarize even further, a Technical Advisory Board or TAB offers advice that leads organizational growth and achieves its business goal. In addition, the organization’s reputation can be substantially enhanced by a board of advisors made up of well-known figures and subject matter specialists. For example, if you were a cell phone manufacturer, you might want to bring in Steve Zadesky who oversees product design for the iPhone and iPod. In doing this, you raise your organization’s reputation by having someone who covers both points made previously.

The addition of an advisory board to an organization’s decision-making process can be quite beneficial. These entities are there particularly to give consideration and wisdom to business choices and problems. The members of the advisory board are not shareholders, have no other means of influence, and do not hold any official positions within the business. This enables them to offer unbiased guidance to help the business as a whole. Additionally, since they are not as financially or legally invested in the company in comparison to the organization personnel, executives, or investors, this means they are able to provide their insights free of emotional influence while also providing creative high-risk, high-reward ideas.

Objectives of building a Technical Advisory Board are;

• Make strategic choices objectively, free from bias
• Stay relevant and competitive in your field
• Get experience and support for big decisions
• Benefit from guidance and reassurance
• Save time & accelerate progress, this is time well invested

Grow business through new networks

Checklist for building your Technical Advisory Board?

• Requirement check: Do you need a Technical Advisory Board?
• Resource check: Do you have the right internal resources to achieve a specific objective?
• Skills check: Does your leadership team has skill gaps that need to be recovered?
• Benefit check: Would your company benefit from positive association of skilled experts?
• Expertise check: Would you be able to use the expertise from eventually Technical Advisory Board?

Next, start your search for experts in the field you have a growth focus on. This action is potentially the most important and time intensive part of the formation of your Technology Advisory Board as it will require both effort and time to not only choose a TAB member, but also onboard them. It is critical that you do not only select a candidate that is proficient in the area you want them to be, but also select a candidate that has a passion for the business. They must have good chemistry with your own employees and with other members of the Technology Advisory Board.

Then, once you have selected a short list of candidates, you should start communicating them. During your meetings and discussions with the candidates you should be clear on their role within the advisory board. You should explain what they are expected to do and also what is expected of them. Also the Technical Advisory Board Management Structure must be set. The ultimate decision-making authority that will give the final decision for the Technical advisory Board must be commissioned. The Point of Contact to the Advisory Board, who will be organizing and executing the agenda of the Technical Advisory Board shall be determined. The roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder must be relegated i.e. as a Technical Advisory Board Guidance document. This is the step where you must dedicate some time to make sure both parties are understanding of what is to come. Making sure to sign an NDA during this process is critical.

Finally, once all the details have been ironed out all with the candidate(s), your corporate Technology Advisory Board for your company has kicked-off! Keeping track of what has been done with your TAB is crucial as it lets you track the efficacy of the TAB. If you believe your company would benefit from more members in the TAB, then start this process again of searching for new candidates, your organization can set how many TAB members it believes it requires!

Numerous companies: start-ups, SMEs, large scaled enterprises that show great business success, benefit from their Technical Advisory boards. To keep up with the innovation in the ecosystem and enhance their competitiveness level, fast adapting business structure and many more advantages, consider assessing the needs of your company if you need a Technical Advisory Board!