Creating a Well-Orchestrated Board Meeting Agenda

The agenda for your board meeting is the guideline that guides productive meetings and assists your company to reach its goals. It establishes the tone for the meeting, defines the topics to be discussed and ensures that everyone has equal opportunity to be a part of the discussion.

The distribution of the agenda in advance will help participants be prepared and ready for participation. This allows participants to ask questions or give feedback before the meeting. It is recommended that someone with a thorough understanding of the goals of the organization and compliance requirements. Moreover, in the current business conditions, take the lead on the agenda that is well-organized for board meetings. This could be the person who founded the company or the board chairperson.

Start the meeting by introducing an announcement of the time and an overview of the last meeting minutes. Then, add a section for reports from department heads or committees (eg. the governance committee report, report and finance committee report). Include sections for old items (follow-ups, ongoing projects or proposals) and for new items (strategic initiatives or proposals).

Don’t go overboard. A lot of information can be overwhelming for participants and derail meaningful discussions. It is better to place more details in a separate document that can be handed out to those who are interested afterward instead of filling the agenda with unnecessary detail or lengthy reports. The board chairperson will officially end the meeting once all issues that are open and any new business has been discussed.

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