A well-run board director meeting allows your board to make informed and ethical decisions. The board must be able to review documents, participate in discussions and reach a consensus on complex issues. Documentation is vital to allow for future reference and compliance. The process can be a bit difficult to navigate, but making sure the board is making the most of its time and resources is crucial to the success of your organization.
Board work can be exhilarating and exhausting. To keep meetings productive, it is important to avoid these common pitfalls.
1. Rehashing discussion points from the previous meeting
Rehashing the discussions from the previous board meeting will occupy your time and distract you from the most important agenda items. Also, you won’t be able achieve the board’s meeting goals if you get sidetracked with new topics for discussion. If you must discuss the topic that was not originally on the agenda, then have the members agree to push it to the end of the meeting with the commitment to revisit and reassess whether the subject needs to be investigated further or added to the www.americanboardroom.com/how-to-run-a-board-meeting/ following agenda or delegated as an assignment.
2. Sharing too many details
Board members should be well-informed. However the information that is provided to them should not be a complete list of all the information available. Instead, it should be a package that encourages discussions and questions. It may sound like the board is acting as a pre-school teacher but it allows them to focus on the important decisions.