A good board meeting provides a space to discuss the most important business issues take decisions and set company policies. Making the most of every board meeting requires careful planning ahead of time and balancing expectations regarding the amount of discussion possible, and keeping with the agenda.
To avoid boring meetings, set realistic goals for meetings. Remind them regularly to ensure that the meeting stays on the right track. When you get caught up in technicalities or reports which might have been reviewed prior you miss the chance to have your board members debate problems that cannot be resolved by the management team alone.
Consider setting up a consent agenda to items that do not require discussion (like minutes or financial reports) to save time during the meeting. This will allow the board to swiftly approve any documents or reports that don’t require additional discussion, and keeps the meeting from being too long.
Distribute board packets three to four days prior to the meeting in order that attendees are able to look them over prior to the meeting. This will help reduce the time spent reading reports during the meeting and allow attendees an opportunity to ask questions before the reports become more complex.
Include the word “parking lot” at the end of the board package to ensure that items that are not relevant to this meeting can be left for a different meeting and not distract from the most important agenda items. This will also help reduce the risk that most important agenda items are put off until further into the meeting and might not be discussed at all.
