Planning a board-level meeting is a big task. You need to set a clear agenda and distribute all materials ahead of time, and ensure that everyone attends the meeting. Keeping the meeting focused is essential but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it enjoyable. In fact, the best method to encourage high participation is to tap into the special skills of your board members.
Notifying the board of expectations of attendance is a good thing to do prior to the board meeting. This will avoid cancellations due to last-minute circumstances and ensure that all participants are informed to be productive during the meeting.
Examining the minutes of previous board meetings is a crucial part of preparation. This will allow the board to comprehend what was discussed during previous meetings, and enable them to shape their discussion topics in line with this.
The most frequent board meeting topic is an assessment of the company’s performance since the last meeting. This may include discussions of sales figures as well as marketing traffic and other relevant metrics. It is important to highlight any milestones or successes, but also look for areas for improvement like missed targets or increased costs.
It’s also important to consider legal and compliance matters in order to ensure compliance to laws and ethical standards. It is in this field that a designated recordkeeper could be very beneficial. They can capture the decisions and discussions to help future meetings.