A great board meeting is an opportunity to discuss the most important business issues and make decisions, as well as establish the policies of the company. Making the most of every board meeting requires careful planning ahead setting expectations on how much discussion is possible, and being consistent with the agenda.
To avoid boring meetings, establish realistic meeting goals. Refer to them regularly to make sure the meeting stays on track. Overly focused on reports or technicalities that could have been discussed in advance is a waste of time and opportunity for the board members discuss business issues of strategic importance that can’t be solved by your management team alone.
Consider creating a consent agenda in case of items that don’t require discussion (like minutes or financial reports) to save time during the meeting. This allows the board members to quickly approve documents and reports go to the website that don’t require discussion.
Distribute the board package 3 to 4 days prior to the meeting so that attendees can read them prior to the meeting. This will decrease the time spent reading the reports at the event and give attendees a chance to pose questions before the reports become more complex.
Include a “parking lot” at the end of the board’s package in order that items that are not relevant to this meeting can be put off to another meeting and not interfere with the most important agenda items. This will also help reduce the chance that the most important agenda items are pushed later in the meeting and will not be discussed at all.
