A well-written agenda is vital to a successful and productive board meeting. An agenda that is well-written provides the framework to discuss and make decisions and allows all stakeholders to leave a meeting with a common understanding of the issues discussed and voted on. An effective board meeting agenda can allow you to quickly move between meeting topics and keep you from getting bogged in details, and make your meetings more engaging for everyone.
Begin with the most important items. Start with the most important items on your agenda. This allows leadership to gain feedback and to begin discussions while attendees are fresh in their minds. This approach can help attendees to arrive earlier, since they are aware that the most exciting discussions will start immediately.
Review all reports submitted by the committees, board members and executives. This is crucial to ensure that any required follow-ups have been addressed. It will also prevent wasting meeting time reviewing old business issues that should have been addressed by the various committees on the board.
Give enough time to long-term discussions and strategic discussions. This is essential to the board’s ability https://learnboardroom.com/key-benefits-of-board-management-software/ to manage the organization effectively. Make sure you have a section for “old business” and “new business,” so that the board can review all relevant follow-ups and propose new strategies.
Long reports and other routine issues can delay meetings and divert board members from the most important issues. The “parking lot agenda” or “consent schedule” can help cut down the time spent on these issues.