Effective Board Meetings promote the strategic vision and the governance of an organisation. Meeting structure, length and design agenda, as well as the preparation of board members are all crucial factors in maximizing the effectiveness of board meetings. Minutes of meetings as well as action item implementation and the implementation of decisions are important in documenting institutional memory.
A regular schedule of board meetings will provide an opportunity for the board discuss and deliberate key strategic issues which are essential for the organization’s success in the long-term. A well-planned agenda for board meetings that is streamlined in its distribution is the base of productive sessions. It is crucial that all board members are provided with the meeting materials well ahead of time to give them sufficient time to review them and to prepare for discussion.
The first item to be discussed at any board meeting should be brief overview and status report on the organization’s performance since the last meeting. This is a great chance to highlight important achievements and milestones, and to discuss areas to improve.
The board should then consider strategies and come up with an implementation plan to move forward. The board should also come up with concrete metrics to assess the success of these strategies, for instance, key performance indicators that are quantifiable and moved here about what makes a board meeting effective aligned with the goals of the organization.