A Board has real work to do. In addition to the most important work which is providing strategic advice, accountability, and feedback to the CEO and the management team, the Board is required to provide oversight on the Company's financial statements, the Company's compensation plans, and the ongoing maintenance of the Board.
As such when a Board gets big enough to justify them, it makes sense to create committees of the Board to deal with these specific responsibilities. A good question to start with is "when is a Board big enough to need committees?". A three person Board should not have committees. The Board will be the default committee for all of this stuff. A five person Board could have committees and should have them if there is a lot of work required for audit and compensation. A seven person Board and larger should most certainly have committees.
To read the full, original article click on this link: A VC: The Board Of Directors: Board Committees
