Board Meeting Facts

Contrary to popular belief boards of directors don't take the majority of business decisions. Although they are in charge of some high-impact areas (in a venture-backed company and many of the decisions are made in the governing and investment documents) most important issues are taken up by committees or the management team of the CEO with the input of the board.

Board meetings tend to focus on policy, planning and oversight tasks instead of business operations. However, the decisions made by a board can have a huge impact on the company. Therefore, it's important to plan and run board meetings in a https://boardroomideas.info way that encourages a constructive discussions and produces positive results.

The first step is to make sure that all board members are well-informed. In order to facilitate productive discussions be sure to distribute the materials to board members in advance, so that attendees are able to get familiar with them prior to the meeting. Ideally, these documents should be concise and clear enough that they don't need more than an hour to review.

Then, schedule time for the board to discuss. You might want to give attendees the chance to ask questions and make brief remarks in an open forum. Also, set aside time for presentations by external stakeholders. Finally, set aside time for a consent agenda -that is, a section of the meeting where routine or non-controversial topics can be approved with the simple motion and vote.

Lastly, communicate the process of making decisions during board meetings. Determine whether the objective is to reach a consensus or employ an official voting procedure, and establish specific criteria for evaluating new ideas. This will help everyone to be aware of their roles and the possible consequences of a bad decision.