Maximising Board Meetings | Ep. 41

When you get talking to board members you will very quickly discover that they all share a set of common frustrations. These usually centre around unequal workload distribution, under or no meeting preparation (i.e. haven’t read the board papers), receiving too much or too little information, receiving papers too close to the meeting time, and taking too long or not long enough on the important decisions of the board.

These are such common frustrations across boards and board members of all industries, for-profit and NFP organisations, and all sizes and shapes of boards.

And I’m not surprised. From my own experience it feels like we assume that because you’re capable of sitting on a board that somehow you instantly and inherently know how to do that: how to be part of a team, how to prepare for meetings, how to BE a board member on this board, without anyone telling you or showing you how. And no one talks about it. You’re just expected to integrate seamlessly. It’s no wonder all of these frustrations arise: no one has taken the time to discuss and agree on a set of guiding principles around HOW the board will work and WHAT expectations the board and board members have and agree to work to. We’re all just thrown together and expected to work it all out and have efficient and effective board meetings at the end of the day.

So, to help you help your board, I’m sharing some ideas around what to do before, during, after, and in between board meetings to help you and your board be efficient and effective. I encourage you to take these ideas, and some of your own, to your board and develop as a team your rules of engagement to ensure you’re all on the same page and all operating from the same rule book.