Statistics say the corporate boards meet approximately 10 times a year. Effective board meetings require immense planning and effort to obtain desired results.
However, with so much on their plates, meeting organizers often find meeting management and participation together. Added workload leads to decreased performance, affecting the overall meeting outcome.
This guide will discuss running efficient board meetings and how high-end board portal software, such as Ideals Boards, can help.
Fundamental steps to running effective board meetings
Following the fundamentals of board meetings is the first step to ensure maximum efficiency. Here are some of them.
1. Right board meeting structure
The board meetings’ structure may vary, but here is a standard one.
- Call to Order
- Attendance Roll Call
- ·Agenda and Previous Minutes Approval
- Officer and Committee Reports
- ·Old Business
- ·New Business
- ·Adjournment
2. Commencement of board meeting
The board chair generally starts the meeting with a welcome note and acknowledges meeting participants. The board chair can lift the mood by discussing recent successes at the beginning. It is important to note that the meeting only commences once the quorum is met.
3. Important topics of discussion
A board meeting usually discusses
· Organizational performance includes reviewing progress and achievements since the last meeting.
· Future strategies: what can be done to improve performance and achieve organizational goals
· Key performance indicators: define measurable targets to monitor success.
Best practices for running efficient board meetings
a.Develop a clear meeting agenda
A well-planned meeting agenda is indeed the backbone of any successful board meeting. Planners must ensure that the meeting agenda is designed to ensure focused meetings. Each agenda item should be intended to inform, collect information, or make decisions.
It is better to add engaging items at the beginning of the agenda and ensure everyone has access to it well before the meeting. Meeting planners can save time by using built-in agenda templates in board software and sharing them with all users in the board portal.
b. Manage board materials effectively
Managing board materials effectively is important for smooth board meetings; this responsibility lies with the corporate secretary. The secretary needs to ensure that the latest versions of all the board materials are available at the meetings.
Thankfully, board of directors software has made it easy to streamline board document management. For example, the corporate secretary can use meeting minutes software for easier meeting minutes preparation.
The board portal or meeting software allows users to access, share, download, and edit documents to better prepare meetings.
c. Know your board members better
The meeting organizers must understand the board members’ preferences, strengths, and discussion styles. For example, one participant may be highly vocal, but someone may need encouragement to participate better. Knowing who can do what will help facilitate more balanced discussions.
Organizers can promote informal interactions between board members to build a better understanding. Board meeting management software provides private communication routes, which can help members get to know each other better.
d. Minimize routine discussions
Routine reports should be kept short to prevent them from taking over the meeting. Encourage concise updates, and consider using a consent agenda to approve non-controversial items quickly without detailed discussion.
e. Ask thoughtful questions
Meeting participants’ engagement is necessary to keep things on track; open-ended questions can help. For instance, questions like “What do you think about it?” or “Can you please elaborate on it?” will encourage detailed responses and bring out diverse viewpoints.
f. Follow up on action items
It is necessary to immediately send the meeting minutes to all participants as soon as it concludes. This ensures that everyone has access to the tasks assigned to them. Digital board meeting portal software can help share meeting minutes and assign and monitor tasks.
Why use Ideals board portal software for board meetings?
As mentioned above, corporate boards can use board meeting minutes software to create, share, and archive meeting minutes. They can use the portal for document sharing and agenda building. Here are some other reasons why board portals are helpful in board meetings.
1. Easy to invite board members
Board portals allow you to invite board members to online meetings and give them instant access. The bulk invite feature speeds up the process.
2. Easy integration with communication tools
Board software usually has built-in communication and videoconferencing tools or it allows smooth integration with third-party tools like Zoom or Slack.
3. Easy to cast votes
A voting tool is one of the best features in board portal solutions. Meeting participants can easily cast votes in favor of or against a motion.
4. Easy to sign documents
Board members can sign agreements or contracts using online board software. The electronic signature feature ensures meeting organizers don’t have to send separate copies to all participants.
Choose the right boardroom software.
The selection of the right board portal is as important as the software itself. Here are some pointers to remember.
· Always use secure board portal software that meets security standards set by ISO, GDPR, and similar regulatory bodies.
· Customization and ease of use are key features of board software.
· Conduct a thorough board portal software comparison to assess which vendor offers the most suitable package for your needs.
· Read online board software reviews to evaluate a vendor’s credibility and reputation in the market.
· Ask for a free trial to get practical experience.
Not many board portal solutions can compete with Ideal Boards in terms of security and ease of use. In addition to premium security and other advanced meeting management features, Ideals is renowned for its 24/7 customer support service.
