The board meeting is an important occasion for your business to gain insight from the experience and perspective that Important People on your board bring. If you let them be occupied with reading reports, completing formalities or discussing procedural issues, your board will leave the meeting with less than they could have.

The most effective board meetings have productive discussions and action items that are concrete. To ensure that your meetings are as efficient as you can be sure to follow these guidelines:

Be aware of the schedules digital board portals of your board members before your meeting. Start by using a tool like Doodle to locate common open dates on your board member's calendars. Once you've identified the most suitable time, reach out to those who manage their own schedules directly and ask for a final confirmation of their availability.

Begin the meeting by giving brief information on the key issues and inputs that are sought. This will likely include recapping highlights from the calls prior to the meeting and the board's report.

Give your department heads and committees the time and space they need to share important reports and updates. This will allow the board to remain up-to-date. Be aware that the board may require a revisit or discussion of the issues that were not resolved at the previous meeting. It is helpful to designate a point person within your team to ensure these issues are addressed following the meeting. Finally, the board must decide on any critical next steps. The decision should be clearly outlined on the minutes with the date and timeframe for each item.