A successful board meeting is a combination between planning, preparation and execution. Board meetings can take a lot of time, but they are vital to the growth of a business. With this in mind it’s essential for companies to maximize the effectiveness of board meetings by executing on best practices that facilitate effective decision making.
Start and End at the same time
It’s not a secret that a lot of board meetings start late and can last longer than they should. Meetings must start and end on time to avoid fatigue.
Prioritize the Meeting
In board meetings, it is easy to get distracted by new issues that eat up valuable time. To avoid this, prioritize two crucial issues to be discussed and limit every discussion to 30 minutes. This will help keep the discussion productive and focused on the main issues.
Distribute Directors with the Board Pack in advance
By distributing the agenda for the board and materials for the meeting in advance members can prepare themselves and arrive on time at the meeting.
Evaluate Your Meetings
Every year, at least a few times, give each board member sticky notes at the end of each meeting and ask them to write on the notes a “+” for what’s working well and an “-” for what needs improvement. This gives the board members honest feedback and can lead to better board meetings going forward.