The board of directors is responsible for helping your startup navigate through the most challenging phases of growth. They then need to come up with strategies and approve plans that will guarantee success for the company. It is for this reason that effective and efficient meetings of the board are important. To achieve this, it is important that certain rules are followed during the meeting.
The first requirement is that you should always give attendees proper notice of the meeting. This will vary based on the size of your company but five to seven days is generally considered to be a acceptable amount of time. This allows participants to read the board’s agenda and attend the meeting in person or via video and engage in a productive discussion.
In the board meeting itself you must have an agenda that clearly outlines precise objectives and sets strict time limits for each item. This will keep the meeting focused on the important issues at hand and ensure that all board members are able to contribute effectively. The agenda should contain a list of any documents that require to be approved or discussed. This helps instill in members a sense of security that the board has taken into consideration crucial aspects of the company’s growth and is not rushing through the process.
It’s an ideal practice to avoid discussing irrelevant issues in board meetings, however it’s not always feasible. To reduce this problem you should try to foster discussions in a way that all opinions are accepted and valued. This can be accomplished by incorporating tools such as decision matrices into your board meetings.