Board meetings are where a group of key stakeholders — often investors, employees and community members — share responsibility for the organization. This includes determining the direction of the organization and making decisions. To accomplish these goals the board must be engaged and informed. Board meetings are one of the most important parts of a company’s organizational governance structure.
Board members are chosen by shareholders to represent their interests, and they make decisions by consensus. They need to be well-informed to make informed decisions. But they also need be able to communicate clearly to each other and the other members of the group. Effective board meetings are based on the best practices to promote involvement, efficiency, and decision-making.
Setting clear roles and responsibilities prior the board meeting is vital to ensure that all participants understand their role in the meeting. This includes educating yourself on the expertise, interests, and expectations of each board member to allow you to adapt your meeting’s content to their requirements.
To encourage participation it is crucial to ensure that everyone feels at ease in expressing their opinions. This can be achieved through various facilitation techniques, for example, small group breakout sessions, as well as round-robin discussions.
A majority of board meetings have a public comment period where anyone can speak to the board. This allows parents with concerns that the school is unable or unwilling to address or resolve, as well as other members of the community to have their voices heard. The time allotted to each speaker may vary from one meeting to the next and, in general, speakers are allocated a few minutes.
