How to Keep Board Meetings Productive and Engaging

A board meeting is a major discussion and decision-making occasion in the context of a business. Apart from assessing past performance, these gatherings aid in establishing future strategies and approve actions that help to move forward. Depending on the size of the business, these meetings can be private and confidential, or open to anyone who wants to observe.

Usually, the manager assistant or executive secretary usually prepares the agenda for a board session with input from the CEO and chairman. It also includes information on logistics like the date, time and the location of the meeting. It also provides an overview of the previous minutes and pending agenda items. Before discussing new topics, it is essential that board members review the minutes of the previous meeting, and then my latest blog post approve the outcomes.

Long reports and other routine tasks can quickly drown an entire board meeting with details. Try to limit the amount of time spent on reports to 25 percent or less than the total time of the meeting. This will help keep meetings efficient and interesting. Encourage the chairpersons and leaders to provide a summary prior the meeting instead of providing an extensive report.

It’s also helpful to have a parking space at the end of your agenda to accommodate any new discussions that don’t fit into the top two priorities of the meeting. This will keep you from being distracted, and waste time in the meeting. Focusing discussions on the most important issues maximizes the value of every minute of the board meeting.