The board meeting is a crucial opportunity for your company to gain insight from the experience and perspectives that Important People on your board bring to the table. However, if you let them spend the meeting reading reports, completing administrative formalities and debating procedural issues — your board will walk away with a lot less than they would have.

The most efficient board meetings are those that include productive discussions and concrete actions. Follow these steps to make your meetings more effective.

Before you meet, make sure you have an knowledge of the schedules of your board members. Use a tool like Doodle to find common dates that are available on the calendars of your board members. Once you’ve identified the most convenient time, talk to those who manage their own schedules directly and ask them for a final confirmation of their availability.

Start the meeting by giving an overview of most important issues and the inputs needed. This will include a brief recap of the highlights of the pre-meeting conference call as well as the board’s report.

Give your department heads and committees time and space to share important reports and updates. This will keep the board informed and up-to-date. Remember that the board may require a revisit or discussion of issues that weren’t addressed at the previous meeting. It is helpful to assign a specific point https://boardroomapp.org/5-tactics-that-will-make-your-executive-board-highly-effective-during-the-meeting/ person from your team to follow up on these topics after the meeting. The board should also decide on any critical next steps. This should be clearly documented in the minutes, and include a deadline and expectation for each item.