The best board meetings engage board members, allowing for robust discussion and decisive action.
In a recent blog post, I shared five tips for improving your board meetings. Here are five more ways to make meetings efficient and effective.
1. Write an anticipated action for each agenda item.
This helps board members know what is expected for each agenda item so they can be better engaged and prepared. For example, “Investment Committee Report – Q & A, no action needed” or “Governance Committee Report – approve new committee charters.”
2. Include at least one of the most important issues facing the organization on the agenda.
What major issues is your organization facing? (e.g., economic downturn, funding, demographic changes, competitors?) Be sure to structure your agenda to include time to discuss one of these issues at each meeting.
3. Develop a culture of respectful dissent and authentic disagreements.
Find opportunities to promote this culture at each meeting by recognizing those board members who provide a different view. For example: “Roger, I appreciate that you disagreed with my opinion in the last discussion. Your perspective made the discussion much more valuable.”
4. Begin on time and finish on time.
Board members are busy people and you want to respect everyone’s time. Set the standard that the meetings start on time. If you are running late with the agenda, you can ask if everyone is able to stay an extra 15 minutes. If everyone agrees then extend; if not, move the most critical agenda items up on the agenda to be sure they are covered.
5. Encourage everyone to contribute at each meeting.
This is the responsibility of the board chair, but all board members can help. If someone is being quiet, you might ask a question, such as “Melissa, we haven’t heard form you on this issue, do you have anything to add to the discussion?” or “Steve, you made some great points at our last meeting about the strategic plan. Is there anything we are overlooking from a strategic standpoint in this discussion?
I know that these five tips – along with the first five – will help you improve your board meetings.
Do you have other tips for running efficient, effective board meetings? Share your thoughts in the comments!