Your agenda for board meetings will assist you in achieving your goals and help make meetings more productive. It sets the tone for the entire meeting, outlines the topics to be discussed, and ensures that everyone is given the same chance to be involved.
In sending out the agenda in advance will help participants be well-prepared and ready to participate. Also, it gives participants the chance to ask questions and provide feedback in advance of the actual meeting. It is best to have someone who has a thorough understanding of your company’s goals, compliance requirements, and the current business environment direction in drafting a well-structured agenda for your board meeting. This could be the founder of the business or the board chairperson.
Start the meeting by calling the meeting to order, and then reading the minutes of the previous meeting. Then, add a section for reports from department chairs or committees (eg. governance committee report and finance committee report). Include sections for old items (follow-ups, ongoing projects or proposals) and new items (strategic initiatives or proposals).
Don’t overdo it. A lot of details can overwhelm attendees and derail the flow of discussions. It is better to put more details in an additional document and distribute it to the attendees who are interested, than to overburden the agenda with unnecessarily long or detailed reports. The chairperson of the board is expected to officially end the meeting once all open issues and any new business have been dealt with.