Are your Board meetings painful? Do you struggle with:
- Reaching a quorum?
- Unprepared Board members?
- Your Board continually putting off making decisions?
Board meetings which are engaging, and impactful require three things:
- All members are prepared.
- Everyone is clear of their role and what is expected.
- The meeting provides an opportunity for everyone to make meaningful contributions.
As the Executive Director, you are responsible for creating the conditions for an impactful Board meeting. You want them to see the meetings as a productive use of their time resulting in tangible support for your organization.
1. Prepared Board Committees
Board committees should be active in between full Board meetings. Committees should be working on their projects and preparing recommendations for Board action.
As the Executive Director you should check in with each Committee Chair to make sure they are doing what they committed to. Taking this proactive step prior to Board meetings keeps everyone on task and ensures there will be action items for the full Board meeting.
2. Set Meeting Goals with Your Board Chair
It is crucial to meet with the Board chair prior to all Board meetings to jointly develop meeting goals and outcomes.
No one wants to meet just to meet, time is too precious. The Executive Director and Board chair need a clear plan about what needs to be accomplished at the Board meeting.
The time with the Board chair is spent identifying the decisions to be made and the information needed for informed deliberation. Focusing on outcomes is an effective strategy to make sure the Board meetings have impact. The planning sessions are a powerful way to keep your Board Chair updated on Committee progress and where they may need to intervene to move projects along.
3. Create a Targeted Meeting Agenda
Develop an agenda with your Board Chair that prioritizes discussion and decision-making. You want to create an environment which prompts Board members to interact.
Do not bog down the agenda with information they can read on their own. Quarterly budget reports and other updates requiring no action can be provided in preparatory material allowing the meeting to be devoted to discussion and action.
Experiment with building an agenda with only items that lead to discussion and decision-making.
A decision-based agenda creates a norm for Board members to take responsibility for reading the material and being ready to ask questions or raise concerns. This creates the expectation that the Board is participatory and active.
Engaged Board members are passionate about your organization’s mission. Highlight a case study or share a video of your latest social media campaign or have a partner organization present on a joint initiative. Highlighting agency work is also allows you to expose the Board to key agency staff.
4. Deliver a Compelling Executive Director Report
Your Executive Director’s report should inspire spirited Board discussion about agency accomplishments and challenges. Instead of simply repeating data, use the report to stimulate discussion on trends, challenges, and organizational direction.
Have you made a fancy PowerPoint presentation only to conclude your report to total Board silence? Your presentation may not answer the questions they think is important, or they did not understand the data you provide.
Guide your Board in identifying key data points they want to be informed of on a monthly or quarterly basis-. Develop a data dashboard to capture key metrics and explain the broader context behind the data.
These four steps will elevate the quality and quantity of discussion at Board meetings and help keep your members engaged.
If you need some support in amping up your Board agenda, schedule a 90-minute strategy session guaranteed to improve the energy-level of your Board meetings.