How to Deliver Value at Your Board Meetings

If done correctly Board Meetings provide an excellent opportunity to harness the collective intelligence of Important People to address key issues that affect your business and make important decisions. They can influence the direction of your company by steering it out of turbulent waters and into calmer ones. It is essential to ensure that every meeting is productive by making sure that you take decisions on the appropriate topics and involve all of your participants.

To begin the meeting, your chair should announce that a quorum has been established. This can be done through roll call or asking everyone to raise their hand. The chair should then give an overview of what is the primary focus of the meeting, as well as a quick rundown of the important points to be discussed. The chair should make sure that any new items added to the agenda are given ample time for discussion before being voted on.

Before you begin any discussion or decision-making, it is vital to review all relevant information and reports. This includes financial statements, progress reports on initiatives or projects and feedback surveys. The information must be put together into a “board package” and distributed to all members in advance of the meeting, to ensure they are able to absorb the information prior to a discussion being held at the table at the boardroom.

It is vital that your board members are able to participate in honest, open discussions. This can be accomplished by establishing a culture of respect, encouraging quieter members to speak up and encouraging them to question the dominant ideas in a respectful manner. It is also important to ensure that your meetings are structured with regular breaks and refreshments, to go to my blog post about using an automated process management software for executing shareholder actions keep everyone focused and energized.