The board meetings are vital to the overall success of an organization. They require a lot and dedication from both the leadership team and the board members. How do you run a board meeting which is efficient and effective? The answer lies in careful planning, a well-structured meeting agenda, early distribution of materials and meeting materials, smart scheduling, appropriate locations and a simple access to materials.
Introduce the meeting by introducing the agenda, and then extending a warm greeting to everyone present, especially guests or members who are new. Establish the tone by stating the purpose of your board’s discussions and clearly explaining the process for making decisions. It’s important to adhere to the quorum requirement in your governing documents and make sure that all members are present.
Discuss the most significant board agenda items first, making sure that they are given adequate time to be considered and discussed. This will enable you to have the most lively and stimulating discussions and help you stick to your scheduled meeting time.
Discuss how you will take decisions during the meeting, whether by consensus or by voting. This will help ensure that everyone on the board understands and accepts the process of making decisions which is essential to efficient decision-making.
It is important to give the board plenty of time to bring up the unresolved issues that are referred to as “new business.” These will usually be discussions with the aim of reaching a conclusion. However, if you decide that further research is necessary or a decision is not able to be reached during the meeting it is helpful to create a section in the agenda for these items. These issues can be discussed in future meetings or through follow-up discussions.