Board meetings are where the board discuss strategies to assist their organization in growing. It is vital that each board member feels that their time and expertise are respected, and that the conversation stays focused on the issues that are most relevant to their involvement. To ensure that discussions are focused, it’s beneficial to have a few basic practices in place that can make the meeting more efficient.
Distribute the agenda to all attendees prior the meeting. Sending the agenda to all attendees before the board meeting gives them a chance to familiarize themselves and prepare for the discussion. This allows them to review the documents and share their thoughts in advance.
It is essential to set specific goals for each Website topic and be specific about the desired outcome of each discussion. This will prevent the board from spending time. The board may be aiming to discuss future strategies in a meeting. However, if that goal is not clear the board may continue to discuss past and current strategies, and unnecessarily prolong the process of making decisions.
When discussing strategies it is crucial to establish KPIs (key performance indicators) that will indicate whether or not your strategies are successful. KPIs may vary, but some common examples are retention of donors or clients, staff turnover rate and the revenue that you earn. Having concrete metrics like these will allow the board to quickly and efficiently make decisions during the meeting.