The manner in which board meetings are run can have a significant impact on the quality of the discussion and how productive they are. It is essential to have clear expectations about how meetings should function and how they will be conducted.
In general, board meetings shouldn’t be overrun by reading reports. Instead committee chairs should look over their reports prior to the time of the meeting and present them during the meeting. The board will then be able to discuss each report and the information contained in it in the context of the larger company goals.
Board members must be able to communicate openly and freely to have productive conversations. This means that board members must respect other members their right to speak. Interrupting other board members, though there are exceptions, is generally thought to be bad form.
It is a common error to bring the subject to discuss without a clear suggestion of what the board should be doing. This can cause the conversation to feel stale and long. Start with a general idea and let everyone consider the pros and cons.
It is essential to ensure that important information is not lost by having a board secretary, or an experienced individual taking notes at the meeting. It is important to be clear about how the board will make its decisions, whether by consensus or voting and who is accountable for the preparation of minutes.