How to Improve Your Board of Directors Meetings
The existence of a board of directors is an excellent method of ensuring that your business is run effectively and that decisions are taken in an open fair and honest way. To be efficient, the board must include all members in the process and present at every meeting. Poor attendance at meetings leads to a decline in productivity and a decline in effective leadership. Here are a few tips that can help you improve the quality of your board meetings.
Plan ahead: Make sure that all board members receive pertinent information like reports, financial statements and background documents in advance of the meeting so they are ready to participate with thoughtful questions. The early distribution of information gives board members the opportunity to check their schedules to make sure they can attend.
Start your meeting promptly. The meeting should be called to start and confirm quorum. This will demonstrate to the board that it respects everyone’s time.
Create a clear procedure for making decisions: A clear process for making decisions helps to keep the discussion on track and helps to prevent tangents from distracting or derailing the discussion.
Encourage active participation: Creating a space where all members feel comfortable sharing their ideas and opinions can be difficult. Chairpersons have a major role to play in this in that they can promote participation by inviting input from all sides, and facilitate conversations that are balanced and constructive. They can also set ground rules for the discussion to encourage short remarks and equal time for everyone.