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Hosting a board meeting that’s lively and productive requires planning. You must get the right participants in the room at the proper time, distribute agendas and other material promptly and allocate a reasonable amount of time for meetings, and ensure that everyone has access the resources needed.

In order to achieve these goals, you need the use of a lot of planning, including selecting the right date and time that suits enough members to form a quorum and their calendars. You’ll need to send a formal invitation for the meeting along with a board book, which has all the details and reports required by your members for each item. The board book should be sent at least a few days before the meeting so that everyone has time to read it and be at ease for the discussion.

In the ideal scenario, you should limit your meeting to two and one-half hours. This will demonstrate to your board members that you respect their time and prioritize effective discussion that is impactful. It also helps keep them motivated throughout the meeting which can be challenging when topics take longer than anticipated or when the board is discussing unplanned issues.

Another way to keep people engaged in the meeting is sticking to the agenda as closely as is possible. It can be a frustrating experience for everyone involved if they prepare the meeting only to see it diverge from the subject. This could be due to poor planning, off topic conversations or a dominant personality.

https://urbanboardroom.com/ten-governing-documents-every-board-member-needs/