Putting together an advisory board? You’ve come to the right place. At CTC, we’ve been delivering expert advisory board solutions for over 30 years. Here are 7 quick tips to immediately add value to your next project:
1. Start with the End in Mind
- Clearly define objectives and desired outcomes.
- What does success look like? How will it be measured?
- Are you refining a clinical development plan? Interpreting trial data? Identifying educational gaps?
- Outcome-driven objectives will shape everything from advisor selection to agenda design.
- Clear goals ensure insights are actionable and aligned with internal strategy.
2. Recruit the Right Mix of Advisors
- Aim for diversity in experience, geography, gender, age, specialty and mindset.
- Diversity of thought (pluralism) leads to richer discussion, reduces bias, and avoids echo chambers.
- Include both early-career and seasoned KOLs to gather a range of perspectives.
3. Invest in Pre-Meeting Preparation
- Share a concise pre-read with background data, meeting goals, and key questions - advisors offer more valuable insights when they're well-informed.
- Use a pre-meeting survey to gather individual feedback.
- Strong pre-work maximizes live meeting time for deeper discussion and complex problem-solving.
4. Facilitate Thoughtfully
- Use open-ended questions and call on specific advisors to initiate conversation.
- Engage quieter participants and manage dominant voices.
- If a KOL is moderating, ensure they're prepped on the content and meeting objectives.
- Advisors appreciate clarity. Be direct.
- Consider agency support to develop high-impact discussion questions.
5. Run Creative Workshops
- Integrate creative workshop formats to boost engagement.
- Workshop insights often differ from plenary discussions.
- Breakout rooms (virtual or in-person) allow more voices to be heard and energize the agenda.
- For virtual boards, prioritize strong moderation and interactive elements like polling.
6. Capture and Analyze Insights
- Capture notes in real-time, focusing on key action items.
- Follow up with a brief internal email summarizing the most important takeaways.
- Create a professional meeting report with key themes, critical insights, and strategic recommendations.
- Synthesize insights into clear next steps:
- How can the advisors' direction inform tactics and strategy?
- Keep the report concise and digestible.
CTC has an example advisory board report that you can download for free as a template!
7. Thank the Advisors and Debrief
- Send a personalized thank-you message to advisors.
- Debrief internally and with your agency partner to determine next steps.
Want to elevate your next advisory board? Let's talk. At CTC, we help pharma teams design and deliver high-impact engagements that drive strategy forward.
Brennan Smith
Brennan leads the strategic direction of CTC and plays an active role in client engagement and project execution. With careful listening and application of years of expertise, Brennan helps shape practical medical communications solutions that meet the needs of our healthcare and pharmaceutical clients. Brennan also leads the team at CTC. His leadership stance is one of support, approachability, and transparency, and everyone is encouraged to have a voice. It is the people at CTC that bring the unmatched value our clients look forward to when working with CTC.