Board meetings are crucial as decisions made by your board – and which often require the majority or even all members to be in agreement – have the ability to profoundly affect your company. You will have to face numerous constraints, but they’re not as hard as you may believe.
In general any successful board meeting will require a lot of planning and planning prior to the meeting. If your board members don’t feel prepared, they could be unable to engage in meaningful discussions at the meeting. This can result in your decision-making process being slowed down or even derailled. Make sure to distribute your board packs at least a couple of days prior to the meeting to avoid this.
Your board chair should go over the rules of the game at beginning of the meeting. This should be discussed with attendees (e.g. how long a discussion should last or the best way to make a decision). This will help everyone understand the rules and create an environment that is friendly.
Reports are typically presented in the next part of an assembly. These could include progress reports, financial statements or any Corporate management other relevant information. The chair of the board will call out each member to attend, making sure that a quorum exists.
In this stage the board can examine and discuss the minutes of the meeting that was held earlier. When these are finalized they can be ratified by the entire board. Any updates or announcements that are relevant to the present meeting can be made available for discussion. The president can also close the meeting or adjourn it.