Tip for making board meetings more efficient
Debbie Hancock ACMA
![Debbie Hancock ACMA]()
Debbie Hancock ACMA
Financial Empowerment and Confidence. Helping you to create the life you started your Business for | Educating and supporting Business owners with Financial Strategy and Money Mindset | Workshops and 1:1
Whether you are running a start-up or a large business, all companies must hold board meetings and here are a few tips to make them more efficient.
With board meetings sometimes being deemed a waste of precious time, it is important that directors turn up prepared and don’t just see it as “another meeting”. The chair must guide the meeting and welcome directors to challenge the thoughts and opinions being presented.
Tips for having an efficient meeting -
- Actions – re-send actions a few days before the meeting to ensure everyone has time to action if they have not done so already.
- Have an agenda – you will need to cover topics such as health and safety, marketing, HR, finance, legal etc.
- No surprises - send out materials beforehand so that all directors have a chance to read and absorb the information.
- Minutes - at the beginning of the meeting ask if everyone has read the previous minutes and record this. Ensure someone is recording the minutes and assigning actions.
- Don’t go off tangent too much - a secretary can help to restore order and stop board members going off on a tangent.
- Ensure technology is working, if you are conducting the meeting via software such as Zoom make sure everyone has the details and can dial in.
- Have regular meetings to ensure actions are being completed, this could mean shorter but more regular meetings.
- Meetings do not have to last 30 minutes/60 minutes/90 minutes. If 45 minutes will do, then only book in meeting for this time.
- Evaluate at the end, has the meeting been efficient and effective? Do the members have any suggestions as to how it could be improved.
Statutory Auditor | Not for Profit Specialist | Helping Charities Improve the Management of their Finances | Audit | Assurance | Controls Systems
5 年I completely agree, especially about having an agenda for a meeting. For me this is the most important thing; having an agenda can really help to give meetings structure and purpose.
Freelance FD - bespoke support to help business owners make more profits and generate more cash
5 年This is great advice Debbie; in my experience most small businesses don’t have regular board meetings but the power of spending an hour (or so) once a month discussing the bigger picture is huge. I particularly like your recommendation to de-brief at the end too, making sure you are reflecting on the potential to improve in future.