“It’s that time again to plan this month’s board meeting agenda.”
If you are an Executive Director, you know that this task comes up at least once a month.
What happens?
We usually pull out last month’s agenda, see what is needed to be added or deleted, and send it out. Some ED’s don’t change anything, not the introductions, minutes, ED report, committee reports, or adjournment. Some committee reports are maybe substituted for others.
If this is what you do, you’re lucky that anyone is still coming to your board meeting. People won’t put up with this anymore. It sounds sad, but this is how many nonprofits still create their agendas.
Very little intellectual energy is put into the planning. It’s often a last minute telephone conversation with the President.
I’d like to suggest a better course of action.
1. Consent Agenda:
My first premise is that people will read reports sent to them in advance if they know that they won’t have to hear them again at the meeting. No more committee updates! Send them out one week in advance and pass them in a Consent Agenda.
2. Strategic Board meetings:
We need to focus the Board’s attention on strategic issues. These are usually outlined in the Strategic Plan, but often need more discussion. By using the Strategic Plan as the foundation, always find at least one issue that has not as yet been resolved or that a particular committee has been hung-up on. Outline the recommendation, state all the options, and work on solving it. Let board members have input so that the committee can go back to work with a sense of a consensus on the Board.
3. Need to Know:
What information do the board members need in order to do a better job? Is it learning how to understand the monthly financials? Is it how to make their committee work more effectively? Is it the type of people you are looking for to recruit for the Board? Is it how to resolve conflicting opinions? Is it the role of staff and Board? All these discussions will help your Board members grow into better leaders.
4. Celebrate:
What’s exciting in the agency that we should share with the Board? Is it a success story from one of our clients? Is it a program that is doing exceptionally well? Is it a committee whose work has resulted in amazing results? We want board members to leave the meeting really proud of the agency and their board.
5. Annual Agenda:
Finally, there’s the annual agenda. These are items that must be discussed sometime during the year. Is it time for the budget or audit review? Is it a report from a funder? Is it the ED’s annual evaluation? Is it staff salaries and benefits? A review of the By-laws or Conflict of Interest statement? All these items can be calendared at the beginning of the year and slated for at the appropriate meeting.
Try asking some fundamental questions as you put together each agenda. Executive Committee or Board Development Committee should be the ones addressing these questions before each meeting.
Example Questions:
1. Why do we want people to come to this meeting?
2. What do we want them to take away from the meeting?
3. How can we help them be better Board members, either by developing new skills or learning more about the agency?
All this can be done on the phone or at regularly scheduled meetings. If we are going to invite really talented people to give up their valuable time, we must make it WORTH their time.
Remember, If board members are not coming to meetings, it’s probably our fault.
What can we do to improve our meetings? Let me know what works for you.
Tags: Barrie, board agenda, Board meeting