Board Meeting Facts can be crucial to a company’s future. A slack board that merely endorses whatever management puts on the agenda isn’t doing its work and could be putting the business at risk.
Board meetings can be long and boring. It’s easy to lose count of the amount of time you spend listening or discussing irrelevant subjects. There are many aspects that impact the effectiveness of a meeting for board members, including how well the agenda is arranged, how much time is spent on important topics and issues, and the rules and procedures used to conduct the meeting.
Rules for meetings can vary between boards however, they must be clear and consistent to ensure transparency and consistency. Certain of these rules could be mandated by the law (e.g. the quorum requirements) however others could be determined by the board’s bylaws or common law.
Meeting minutes should be clearly documented with attendance records and include the percentage of attendees required to constitute a sufficient quorum. It is also important to record who was present, for example, if board members were absent, or in the event that they were present remotely (see our article on Board Participation of Members). It is essential to keep a brief description of every discussion, as well the amount of time spent on each subject. This can help manage the time of future meetings and avoid unnecessary repetition of the same information.