A well-designed board meeting agenda is a crucial tool for effective meetings. A well-planned agenda doesn’t guarantee productive meetings or the decisions made. To get the desired results, board leaders should be aware of common mistakes that impede the effectiveness of meetings and act to avoid them.
The inclusion of too many issues on the agenda can lead to rushed discussions and insufficient time to discuss each item. Prioritize your agenda according to urgency and importance. You may also think about the possibility of deferring certain topics to later meetings of the board or committee to allow for more detailed discussion.
Set time limits for each item on the agenda. This will ensure that your board remains on track and that all issues are considered. Be realistic in your time estimates and look at your past experiences with meetings that ran on schedule to determine what’s feasible in a single meeting.
The agenda for the board meeting a couple of days or at least 24 hours prior to the meeting. This gives board members the opportunity to go through relevant documents prior to a meeting. Some organizations also have a sign-in sheet that confirms the attendance of every attendee.
Determine clearly how decisions should be made for each item on the agenda, for example using consensus or voting. This will prevent confusion and miscommunication during the discussion. If an issue is controversial or a hot topic, make it clear that the board will vote in unison instead of splitting votes.
