Your board meeting agenda is the roadmap that drives productive meetings and assists your company to reach its goals. It sets the tone for the meeting, defines the topics to be discussed and ensures that everyone has the same opportunity to be a part of the discussion.
Sending out the agenda in advance https://www.boardroomadventures.com/big-meeting-planning-checklist/ will allow attendees to be prepared and ready for participation. This allows attendees to inquire about their concerns or offer feedback before the meeting. It is best to have an individual with a complete understanding of your organization’s mission, compliance requirements, and the current business environment direction in drafting a well-structured board meeting agenda. Generally, this will be the founder of the business or the board chairperson.
The meeting should begin with the call to order and review of the previous meeting minutes. Then, include a section for reports from department chairs or committees (eg. the governance committee report, reports and finance committee reports). Include an area for older items (follow-ups, ongoing projects or proposals) and new items (strategic initiatives or proposals).
Each item on the agenda an appropriate amount of time, but don’t exceed it. Too much information could overburden participants and prevent a the discussion from being meaningful. It is better to put more detail into an additional document which can be distributed to attendees who are interested later on, rather instead of cramming the agenda with unnecessarily detailed or lengthy reports. After all issues open and new business are discussed, the chairperson of the board or meeting facilitator will formally end the board meeting and adjourn it.
