Energize Your Board Meeting and Get More Done!

 As a consultant and board member of a number of nonprofit organizations, I have sat through my share of board meetings.  Some board meetings have been painful to sit through for a number of reasons. On one occasion, my presentation was the second item on the agenda.  The first 30 minutes of the meeting was "waiting until everyone arrives" and I watched the executive director running around making copies.  The next 20 minutes was spent reviewing the wrong and then the correct meeting minutes.  After 90 minutes, I was able to make my presentation!  They still had 9 more agenda items to go!! 

Here are some tips on how to make sure your board meeting is one where things get done:

Honor start and end times.  There should be no reason why a board meeting cannot start and/or end on time. Your board members are volunteers and you should honor their time. 

Prepare your materials.  Unlike my example, give meeting participants agendas -- and any additional information -- at least 48 hours before the board meeting.  With email, fax, smart phones, etc., there is no reason why the board members shouldn't have the board meeting agenda before the meeting. 

Organize the agenda.  The agenda should be organized according to time and timing.  If you know certain items will take more discussion time then allow for it on the agenda.  Don't start with this item as you will most likely not move onto other items on the agenda. I suggest that you spend the last part of the agenda reviewing the list of action items and those responsible for completing them.  These items will be on your next meeting agenda. 

The Board Chair and Executive Director should make sure that those making presentations are ready to present. 

Adopt a consent agenda.  Leave more time for real discussion with the adoption of a consent agenda.  These are items that are for information only for board members and do not require discussion.  A consent agenda means that board members must read and review their board packet before the meeting.  A consent agenda can be reviewed and approved in 5-10 minutes and leaves much more time for real issues. 

Limit discussion.  When discussions threaten to go out of control, the chair (or the person facilitating the meeting)  must gently and politely take control.  I have seen skillful facilitators thank the group for feedback and say, " given the time constraints, we can't go into that much detail."  Good preparation of presentations will keep people from asking irrelevant questions. 

I'd like to add that a meeting facilitator will also not allow that one person or only a small group of the members dominate the discussion.

Leave time for Generative Discussions.  With the adoption of the consent agenda, your time is freed for generative discussions.  These discussion topics are wonderful for planning.  "What if we buy our own building," was a generative discussion question in a board meeting I facilitated recently.  The board had 20 minutes to go through the pros and cons of buying a building in today's low prices.   

These discussions allow your board members to explore new options for the direction of the organization. 

I hope these tips invigorate your board meetings. I'd love to hear from you about other strategies you have tried to energize your meetings.

Now for the giveaway. Do all of this and your name will be entered into a drawing for 

one hour of free fund development consultation from me.  This can be done in person or via telephone. To be eligible, you must:

1) Leave a comment on today's blog post. 

2) Be a follower on my blog. 

3) Suggest a future topic in the comment section. 

Good luck!