7 Ideas for Improving Board Member Meeting Preparation

"Cathy! I can't get these people to read their email!"

?So blurted a clearly exasperated nonprofit board president sitting front and center at a presentation I was recently giving on Board Roles and Responsibilities. My suggestion that board members should be expected to read the materials before the meeting was too much for him.

I get it. I really do.

We'd been talking about the Duty of Care, and how it requires board members to be familiar with the issues in front of them in the boardroom, to be prepared to discuss and decide matters prudently. I believe the Duty of Care also obligates board leaders to get the documents to their colleagues in advance of the meeting, to make sure everyone has ample time to review everything.

I am confident this particular board president was living up to his responsibilities and getting the board packets out in a timely way.? But – as with too many other board presidents and executive directors like him - his efforts were not being met with the respect and appreciation they deserve. Board members were not doing their part.

So, I have given this some thought and I’ve come up with these seven ideas for engaging more board members in preparing for meetings:

1)??? Reduce the amount of email board members receive. One of my friends recently complained in a Facebook post about having 4,709 unread emails in her inbox. Comments from people commiserating with her included inbox totals of 14,476, 26,299 and 94,000. Imagine combing through all of that to find the agenda, minutes, financial reports, committee reports, staff reports, etc. etc. for an upcoming board meeting. It’s too much! If you must use email, send just one with all attachments or a link to a shared file.

?2)??? Centralize documents in one location. There are many easy-to-use systems for document sharing such as Google Drive and DropBox. Paired with a free project management system like Trello, Slack or Asana, these files can be made easily available to all. The treasurer uploads the financials, the secretary uploads the minutes, and so forth. Board members can log in to the portal when they are ready to do their meeting preparation. No need to track down all that email.

3)??? Recruit board members for their interest in doing governance work. Too often people are recruited to a board of directors because of their commitment to the mission of the organization or their reliability as a program volunteer, but that does not mean they are necessarily the kind of people who enjoy reading reports, reviewing financial documents, and the like. Reviewing, amending and approving documents are the fundamental tasks of governance. Believe it or not, some people really enjoy that kind of work. When recruiting, make sure to choose people who are all in on meeting their governance responsibilities… and be sure to orient and train them properly so they understand what they are looking at.

4)??? Make sure board meetings are about important matters. I am one who really enjoys meetings, but even I will wear out quickly when the topic of conversation is trivial, belongs in a committee, or could have been decided by staff or volunteers without board involvement. I’m also not a big fan of ratifying decisions that have clearly already been made, such as by an Executive Committee. Making sure the board meetings are about juicy governance-related topics goes a long way toward making board members feel that their time – both in meetings and in the preparation for them – is valued by the group

5)??? Resist temptation to print documents for the board meeting. I wish I had a nickel for every stressed-out executive director or board president I have seen racing around before a meeting to print out copies of documents that have already been sent out. This actually creates a disincentive to advanced preparation. Announce at your next meeting that you plan to stop printing everything out and then stick to it. Quit spoiling your board members and give them a chance to rise to the occasion. They might surprise you.

6)??? Decline to repeat information in a meeting that was distributed in advance. How many meetings have we all attended where we are given some time to review the minutes before adopting them or a staff member walks us bullet by bullet through their report? When officer, committee, and staff reports are submitted in advance, there is no need to spend precious meeting time going over them again. If there is an issue within a report that requires discussion or decision, let’s do that. If there are questions, let’s entertain them. But presenting informational reports verbally in the meeting reduces the incentive to read them beforehand.

7)??? Be prepared to have difficult conversations with people. Every board needs at least one leader who has sufficient EQ to engage a colleague in a difficult conversation. Maybe it’s the board president, or vice president, or governance chair but someone has to be able to say, “John, I noticed that you did not seem to have read the board packet before the meeting. Please remember that this is an expectation of service on this board. The rest of us cannot be expected to stop to catch you up.” Yes, it can be tricky – but most people are actually grateful for such feedback. (Note, this is not a job for a paid staff person; conversations like this must be board member to board member.)

I am not suggesting that making these changes will be like flipping a switch and all will be well instantly, but this is definitely the direction to go if you want to start seeing improvement. Make the expectations clear and don’t give in. Invest time in training for those who are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with shared file systems or other technology. Over time, people will catch on and start pulling their weight a little better. Some will adjust more quickly than others, but that is true with every change. Best wishes for a smooth transition – would love to hear how it goes for you!

Have a question and want to pick my brain? Try booking an Office Visit. Just $99 for the hour. Let's talk it through!