Effective Board Meetings: How to Conduct Effective and efficient meetings

Your company depends on the board for relaying crucial information to internal team members and ensuring board election that everyone is focused on achieving the overall goals. If your board meetings fail to deliver or unproductive, this could cause a decline in productivity and a lack of communication between the management and team.

Understanding the roles of each member and the different styles of discussion within your board are crucial for creating productive meetings. For instance, certain members may be more vocal and inclined to talk first, whereas others will think before speaking. The board chair or executive director CEO should spend time outside of the boardroom to get to know each individual member’s interests, discussion styles and preferences, to be able to in promoting engagement.

In the opening session of your board meetings, begin by ensuring that quorum is present (a minimum number of members needed to legally conduct business). The chair should then summarise the highlights of the board’s package and the pre-meeting conference, and set expectations for rest of the meeting.

The board meeting should be primarily focused on discussing ways to overcome roadblocks and strategies to make progress. The board could use this time to introduce new perspectives and inspire new ideas. It’s also beneficial to have an area of the agenda to legal and compliance matters to ensure that your board remains in compliance with regulations, laws, and ethical standards.