Board meetings are a great place to have productive discussions that help the company reach its goals. The most effective boards encourage lively conversations and a wide range of opinions to generate new ideas. However, the effectiveness of meetings isn’t always guaranteed. Board members are often distracted by personal issues or technology, or even a lack of organisation when making plans for their meetings. To ensure that meetings are conducted smoothly and efficiently, it’s important to determine the root of poor board meetings.
A common cause of unproductive board meetings is rehashing the same issues. This is because board members don’t know the actions they are accountable for, or when they failed to take action following previous meetings. To prevent this from occurring, it is crucial to take clear and concise board meeting minutes.
Another issue that is often encountered is drowning members in lengthy reports and other routine agenda items. This can cause members to become disengaged and less active. To reduce meeting length, it is recommended to limit report time to 25 percent of the meeting. This will leave the majority of meeting time for strategic conversations.
It is also important that all attendees are prepared for the meeting in advance. To accomplish this the agenda, as well as any other necessary documents should be shared with attendees before the meeting. With all the pertinent information in one place, board members are more prepared for discussion and focus on the important topics that are at hand.
Leave a Reply