A well-run board directors meeting enables your board to make informed and ethical decisions. The board must be able review documents, hold discussions and reach consensus on complex issues. Documentation is essential for future reference and compliance. The process can be challenging to navigate but it is essential that the board makes the most of their time and resources.

Board work can be both exciting and exhausting. To keep meetings productive, it’s important to avoid these common pitfalls.

1. Reiteration of discussion points from previous meetings

Reliving discussions from the previous board meeting will consume time, and will distract from the most pressing agenda items. Getting sidetracked by new topics for discussion will hinder your progress towards the goals of the board for the meeting. If you are required to discuss a topic that wasn’t originally scheduled for discussion with the group, agree to continue the discussion until end. The group can then revisit the topic and decide whether to include it on the next agenda item, delegate the task, or investigate the topic further.

2. Information sharing can be too much

Board members must be well-informed, but the board package should be designed in a way that allows for constructive discussions and prompt questions, not act as an exhaustive overview of every piece of information available to the board’s review. It may sound a bit like playing pre-school teacher, however it allows the board to focus on the most crucial decisions, and also ensures that they are tackling the issues at a time when their decision-making abilities are at their most powerful.

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