Board meetings are a great opportunity for nonprofit directors to discuss a broad range of issues. They can cover everything from assessing the performance of an organization to discussing future strategies. Nonprofits frequently rely on advice of board members with diverse backgrounds and experience to steer the organization to success.
For a productive meeting of the board, it is important that everyone is prepared and have read all relevant documentation before hand. The agenda should be drafted together and shared prior to the meeting to allow participants time to study the materials and prepare for discussions. Nothing renders a meeting ineffective like having people scramble to comprehend the key points at the same time, so it is crucial that meeting agendas include sufficient information for participants to fully participate.
Making clear the criteria for decision-making and communicating them to all members helps the board align discussions toward a common goal. This can prevent irrelevant discussions that consume precious meeting time and also prevents the board from coming to a an agreement or deciding on important issues. Technology tools that enable real-time collaboration make a lot easier for board members to communicate with each with each other and share documents even if they’re geographically separated.
The right mix of board members can help energize meetings and result in more productive discussions. It is important to select the right mix of optimism and pessimism. You should also https://buildingbettertrustboards.org/how-board-portals-can-help-you-to-reach-your-goals/ select an amalgamation of both experience and youth. Also, changing the location of meetings or the time of day may bring discussion to life by energizing the participants and taking them out of their routines. Also, assessing the quality of meetings at least once per year is critical to making improvements. Each board member should be given two sticky notes and ask them to rate the overall satisfaction of the meetings from + (what is working well) to – (what requires improvement).