Board meetings are crucial for making strategic decisions, establishing corporate policies, and much more. Yet, these meetings are also often boring and full of routine items that are time-consuming to prepare for. While it could appear that preparing for a meeting of the board is merely another task board members who are well-prepared can create a lasting impression for their colleagues on the board.
Start planning meetings for the board by creating a draft agenda that specifies the time for each item to be discussed. It is helpful to plan the agenda around a number of hours that allows enough time to discuss each subject in depth and to allow for questions.
Once the agenda is set and distributed to board members so that they can begin to prepare. At about a day before the meeting, send the agenda to board members. For boards that utilize a board portal it is as simple as clicking a button to gather and send out all the necessary documents required for a meeting.
You should decide the level of formality or casualness that your board wants its meetings to be. This will impact how you conduct your meetings and also the manner in which you address other members. Some boards, like that use Robert’s Rules of Order which is a formal procedure that includes the board members’ names as “Mr.” and “Madam”. It is essential to get familiar with board meeting preparation the rules, regardless of the style that you select. This will ensure that you will not be astonished at the first meeting.
Leave a Reply