They can be used as a decision-making process or as a governance framework meeting of the board is crucial to the success of an organization. The way the board meetings are managed can often limit their effectiveness, regardless of the importance of them.
Making a board meeting effective requires a strategic mindset to ensure that each meeting is lively and that it leads to meaningful discussions. The creation of an agenda which prioritizes key issues and allocates time to each discussion item is a great place to start.
In addition to establishing specific goals for the meeting, ensuring that the board members are properly prepared and provided with board materials before the meeting is a crucial step to make board meetings more productive. Also, preparing precise and concise meeting minutes that record the discussions and the decisions while also including action items along with their associated time frames is a crucial element to successful board meetings.
Limiting the amount of time spent on reports and “have to’s” allows for more productive and effective discussion time. As a general rule it is recommended to not spend more than 25% of the meeting time on routine items and reporting.
Getting sidetracked by new topics of discussion that don’t have any direct impact on company goals can eat up the time of the board and cut into the amount of time that is available to strategic planning and thinking. A lot more tips here of boards have a parking area at the end of their agendas to shift any non-priority issues that require discussion into subsequent meetings.
