Preparing a board-level meeting can be a stressful process that involves a myriad of parties to manage and timelines to adhere to. By adhering to a pre-defined structure and using the right tools along with it, you can reduce the stress on everyone involved and enhance the experience.

Plan your board https://board-management.blog/ meeting agenda to maximize the amount of discussion and decision making time you have available. Each item on the agenda should have an allotted time frame and a clear objective of either informing or seeking information or obtaining a decision. When discussions diverge take care to guide conversations back to the topic of the agenda and make sure the designated person is taking notes to capture key decisions and outcomes.

Make sure that all attendees are aware of the meeting date and time, as well as the location. This can be accomplished by using a board portal that can automate the process of dispersing materials.

Introduce everyone present at the meeting including special guests and visitors. Do a roll call to determine if there is a an adequate quorum at the time of the meeting. Go over any unresolved business from the previous meeting. Then, approve the minutes.

You can utilize the remaining time to discuss any new business or other items that require discussion prior to the meeting’s end. It’s also a good time to eliminate all notices of public meetings and replace them with the date for the next meeting, time and location.