experience shows the need for frequent and high-quality interaction within audit committees and between independent directors, supervisory boards and auditors; and that non-executive board members should consider carefully the possibility of having meetings without executive board members being present.”’’ Frequency of interaction with management Many audit committee chairpersons conduct interim calls with key members of management between quarterly meetings. Key contacts may include the CEO, CFO, Chief Auditor, and external audit partner. Many boards also schedule dinners prior to formal meetings that allow informal interaction with management. Some companies also require their boards to spend a certain amount of time learning their operations beyond board meeting attendance. Executive sessions These are formally scheduled private meetings between the audit committee and key members of management or the external auditor. These meetings typically are unstructured and provide the opportunity for the committee to obtain the feedback of these managers in private. A key question audit committee members ask in such sessions is: "Is there anything you would like to bring to our attention?" Evaluation Audit committees should complete a self-evaluation annually to identify improvement opportunities. This involves comparing the committee's performance versus its charter, any formal guidelines and rules, and against best practices. Such a review is confidential and may or may not include evaluations of particular members. Survey results Various consulting and public accounting firms perform research on audit committees, to provide benchmarking data. Some results are identified below: 54% of committee members surveyed felt the audit committee was "very effective", while 38% indicated "somewhat effective." Risk management, internal control, and accounting estimates and judgments were the top priority areas for 2007. Most audit committees have 3-4 members and are usually chaired by persons with experience as a CFO, external auditor, or CEO. Audit committees meet 6-10 times per year, either face-to-face or via teleconference, with the former lasting from 1–4 hours and the latter 1–2 hours. Audit committee members devoted 50–150 hours to their responsibilities each year. The percentage of audit committees with oversight responsibility for: IT compliance (66%), business continuity (50%), and information security(45%). 41% were "very satisfied" with the internal audit function, while 52% were "somewhat satisfied." Two-thirds felt the Chief Internal Audit position was for a professional internal auditor, rather than as a "stepping stone" to other roles. 93% indicated the audit committee was "somewhat" or "much more" effective since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was implemented in 2002.