The agenda for your board meeting will help you achieve your goals and make meetings more productive. It sets the tone boardroomadventures.com/big-meeting-planning-checklist/ for the entire meeting, outlines the topics to be discussed, and ensures that everyone has the same opportunity to participate.
The distribution of the agenda in advance will allow attendees to be prepared and ready to participate. It also gives your attendees the ability to ask questions and give feedback prior to the actual meeting. It is recommended that someone who has a thorough knowledge of the company’s objectives, compliance requirements, and current business trends As the leader, you should be developing a well-organized agenda for board meetings. This is usually the founder of the company or the chairman of the board.
The meeting should begin by calling the meeting to order, and then reading the minutes of the previous meeting. Include a section with reports from key department or committee leaders (e.g. Governance Committee report and Finance Committee report). It’s also an excellent idea to include an area for older business items (follow-ups or ongoing projects) and for new business items (proposals or strategic initiatives).
Don’t go overboard. Too much information can bog down participants and derail the flow of discussions. It is preferential to include more detail in an individual document that can be handed out to attendees who are interested in the discussion afterward, rather instead of filling the agenda with unnecessary details or long reports. After all issues open and new business has been discussed, the chairperson of the board or meeting facilitator will formal close the board meeting and adjourn it.