Board meetings are a significant responsibility that requires careful planning, a steady pace, and a sharp awareness of the time devoted by board members. Tools for managing board meetings, such as portals, can assist in this regard by facilitating the preparation of agendas and materials for meetings before the meeting date. This will increase the number of participants view and let board members review decisions and directives prior to the meeting.

The first step is to clearly communicate the process of making decisions to the board. It is important to clearly define whether your board is likely to reach consensus, adopt voting or a different method for making decisions ensures everyone understands what is expected of them during the meeting. This will help avoid confusion, for instance, if director brings up an issue that was already addressed at a previous meeting.

After the resolution of old business, board will then move to new items on the agenda. As with all discussions it is crucial to respect the rights of the other board members to speak. The chair should only allow one director to speak at any given time. The chair also has to steer the discussion by encouraging conversations and ensuring that the entire board is involved.

The board will then vote on any new business item and records the results in the official minutes of the meeting. If a member isn’t happy with the outcome of the vote they can request that it be reconsidered or the matter be referred to committee for further investigation.