Board members are some of our most valuable volunteers. They donate time, money and expertise while taking on the solemn responsibility of governance. Why, then, do we force so many of them to sit through long, unproductive board meetings?
It doesn’t have to be this way. Whether you lead a board or support one, here are five tips for more engaging and productive meetings. I’ll be exploring each step more in the next several weeks. Ready?
1. Create an action-oriented agenda.
No matter how frequently a board meets, there always seem to be too many items for one agenda. Worse, precious time often gets wasted as committees and others “report out” on their activities. When you create your agenda of “action items” for the meeting, they should truly be actionable. Rule of thumb: if the board doesn’t need to be together to attend to an item, take it off the agenda.
2. Have a clear decision-making process.
A common problem I see with boards is that decisions don’t stick. Past decisions will be constantly revisited. Or there will be endless discussion about an issue, sometimes across multiple meetings, but no actual decision made. You can avoid these problems with a clear decision-making process that everyone agrees on. Discuss, decide, and move on.
3. Set aside time for team building.
Your board is a team and it’s up to you whether or not that team is a productive well-oiled machine or a den of dysfunction. High-functioning teams don’t just happen. There needs to be trust and respect among team members for true success. Your annual board retreat is not enough to accomplish this, so you need relationship-building activities during your board meetings. This can be as simple as a fun “icebreaker” at the start of the meeting or opening the meeting early for socializing, but don’t leave out this important activity.
4. Enlist your board members and management in the change.
None of the above will help unless you enlist your board and leadership to try your new meeting norms. They will need to agree to post their reports in advance, read those reports in advance, and come prepared to work. They will also need to agree on how decisions will be made and/or to abide by decisions that have been made. This might be easy for your group or it might take a few “false starts”. However, creating a shared responsibility for success will help your changes succeed.
5. Make sure your agenda is achievable.
As a practical matter, many meetings go off the rails when the timing of the agenda is wrong. We’ve all been there. You may have adopted all the changes in items 1-4, but if your agenda is overly ambitious then you will not be successful. You know your group best, so be honest with yourself when you schedule the amount of time the group will need for each item. Your board members will appreciate it.
These five steps won’t solve all your meeting challenges, but they will help to make your meetings better and more productive.
For questions about these steps or for a free consultation, contact us!