A well-run board www.americanboardroom.com/how-to-run-a-board-meeting/ directors ‘ meeting allows your board to make informed and ethical decisions. The board needs to be able to review documents, discuss discussions and reach a common understanding on difficult issues. Documentation is essential to allow future reference and also to ensure compliance. The process can be challenging to navigate, but making sure that the board is making the most of its time and resources is crucial to the success of your business.

Board work can be both thrilling and exhausting. Avoid these common mistakes to ensure that meetings productive.

1. Re-reading of discussion points arising from previous meetings

Rehashing the discussions from the previous board meeting will occupy your time and distract you from the most important agenda items. Being distracted by new discussion topics could hinder you from meeting the objectives of the board’s meeting. If you have to discuss a topic that wasn’t originally on the agenda, have the group agree to push it to the end of the meeting with the agreement to reevaluate the issue and decide if the subject needs to be investigated further or added to the following agenda, or delegated as an item to be discussed later.

2. Information sharing is too much

Board members should be well-informed. However the information they receive from them should not be a complete list of all the data available. Instead it should be a comprehensive set of documents that encourages constructive discussion and asking questions. It may sound a bit like playing a pre-school teacher however it lets the board focus on the most important decisions and ensures that they are tackling these issues when their decision-making powers are at their peak.