Effective Board Meetings

Effective Board Meetings – we all know they are necessary, but it can be hard to define ‘effective’.

At the board meeting members of the board obtain and exchange information from each other and from the executive team, establish objectives, take decisions on courses of action and investments, delegate authority, and jointly develop new ideas for strategy and value creation.

Bord members have only three sources of information: their own personal inquiries, the reports and papers provided to them by the organisation and its contractors, and the information that they gather from the discussion and debate at their meetings. Only the last of these three sources is fully shared between all board members. It is a powerful input to board decision-making.

It is very important that the board meeting allows effective communication and collective action and leaves everyone feeling positive, motivated, and productive.

After a decision has been taken at a board meeting it is imperative that the board presents a sound consensus in all external forums. Any questions or disagreements that may have come up during the discussion leading up to the decision must stay within the boardroom and must be treated as confidential. Some boards may find this a difficult task. In those circumstances it is a good idea for board members to agree on a charter or a set of operating procedures to which they can all adhere. Other boards may find that they manage this behaviour without a requirement for such formal documents.

To ensure that the board meeting is productive the Chairman, assisted by the CEO, must plan thoroughly for each meeting, manage the meeting productively, and always see that all members participate as far as possible.

Each board must develop policies to cover the meeting processes. These policies should set out the time, place, and members of the board and executive who will attend the meetings. They should also list any external government or community advisers who may attend meetings, and the terms upon which they do so. The policy may also set out the frequency of meetings.

Some board members find it helpful to hold their meetings at different venues. This allows the board to develop a better appreciation of geographically diverse operations, or to develop stronger relationships with other stakeholder groups in whose offices they may choose to meet.

Each meeting should have an agenda designed to assist the flow of information and to support creative discussion by the board, covering issues of strategy, performance and compliance. The agendas should be circulated before the meeting, and board members should from time to time be invited to suggest agenda items that they believe would add value. It is normal for the agenda to be circulated with a large amount of pre-reading so that the board members can prepare for an informed discussion.

Some boards like to have strategic and open-ended discussions early in the agenda, so they are not cut short by time constraints. Others prefer to run through compliance and regular reporting before devoting time and analysis to open-ended questions. Other considerations include the timing of presentations or “guest appearances” of non-board members who may have been invited to attend for one agenda item only. In the sample agenda above these guest appearances have been scheduled at the beginning or at the end of the meeting. In a full day meeting these may well be scheduled to coincide with a break or to allow conversation to take place informally over lunch.

By including a category titled “any other business” the board can discuss any items that are urgent or any matters that require a decision that cannot be scheduled to the next meeting and that came to the notice of the board or to the person preparing the agenda after the agenda had been finalised and issued.

And then you need directors who abide by the rules, contribute, and respect the contributions of others. They are not always easy to find.

Julie Garland McLellan works with boards and directors to help them achieve optimal performance.