A successful board meeting is a mix of strategies designed to improve results and create a conducive environment to work collaboratively. The following suggestions will help you set an energetic mood, increase participation, and help you achieve your desired outcome.
Be clear on the goals of your meeting
Setting clear goals helps keep meetings on track and productive. This can also lead participants to meaningful discussions and decision-making processes. Setting clear goals for meetings will allow organizers to prioritize agenda items, provide enough time to each topic and allow for flexibility in the event that unexpected questions or urgent situations arise during the course of the meeting.
Begin by addressing important issues
Addressing the most important topics first will stimulate your meeting, as it helps to get everyone in the right mindset to have a deeper discussion. It is also a great opportunity to establish the standard that your meetings are focused on issues, not updates, which is often an issue with many board of directors meetings.
Distribute all Meeting Materials advance
The best way to ensure that all Board members are well-prepared for the meeting is to dispersing the meeting materials and reports in advance. This will allow attendees to peruse the materials as well as prepare their thoughts and opinions prior the meeting. This will keep the meeting from getting lost and bogged down in administrative tasks.
Review Your Meetings
Using an online board portal will allow you to keep track of actions items and follow-up tasks during the meeting, and then give them out in an easily digestible format after the meeting has been over. In addition it is important to assess your board meetings regularly to determine the things that are working and what needs improvement.