Preparing for a board conference is a stressful task, since you must deal with multiple stakeholders and adhere to deadlines. By following a predefined structure and using the right tools along with it, you can reduce the stress on all parties and maximise the enjoyment.
Plan your agenda for board meetings to maximize the amount of discussion and decision-making time you can make available. Each item on the agenda should be accompanied by an allocated time period and a clear goal of either educating or seeking information or making an answer. If the discussion gets off-topic, gently guide the conversation back to agenda topic. Make sure someone is taking notes to ensure that the key decisions and results are captured.
Be sure that everyone has been informed about the meeting, including the time, date and the location. This is best done using a portal for boards that will make it easier to distribute these materials.
Introduce all attendees to the meeting, including guests and special guests. Then, roll call to determine if there’s enough quorum for the meeting to continue. Discuss any business that is not resolved from the previous meeting. Then, approve the minutes.
If you have time left, you can use this time to discuss new business items or anything that needs a discussion prior to the meeting being ended. It’s also a good opportunity to update any public notices with the date, time and location of the next meeting.
