The board meeting agenda template comes in handy when you want to discuss the company’s state of affairs. Board meetings require more time so to keep this meeting structured and to save time, the best way is to create a focused board meeting agenda. This helps in maximizing efficiency, productivity, and accuracy.
Structure of the agenda:
You have to include the following in order to create the structure of the board meeting agenda;
Heading:
In this section, you have to state the company’s name, business, the time, date, and venue of the meeting.
Call to order:
In a board meeting, the board chair’s announcement of the call to order and the time is the 1st order of business. The secretary has to write down this information in the minutes of the meeting. The board chair can start the meeting after the call to order.
Changes in the Agenda:
For the board chair, the 2nd order of business is to ask if there are any modifications in the agenda. If there are any changes then you will create deletions or additions to the board of directors meeting agenda at this time. In case, there are no changes then agenda can move to approve the minutes of last meeting.
Approval of Minutes:
Approval of minutes is the 3rd item on the agenda and it includes the date of the last meeting. The members of the board must keep their own copy of the minutes of the most recent board meeting.
Reports:
The 4th order of business on the agenda is reports. The executive director should issue the report and include a review of projects and operations. By involving negative and positive trends, business updates, major initiatives, and other significant aspects, it is Executive Director’s responsibility to provide an overview of the company’s business outlook.
Old business:
In this section, you can include the previous business items that you haven’t resolved, require a board vote, or need further discussion. For more discussion, you can whether write these items or refer them to a committee.
New business:
Here, you have to discuss about new business items and plans of action. The plan may contain tabling the items, delaying tasks, or referring the items to a committee.
Comments, announcements, and other Business:
This is the place where you and other board members make special announcements such as offering condolences, congratulatory messages, or other significant announcements.
Adjournment:
Adjournment includes the formal end of the meeting announced by the board chair. The board chair should include the time that the meetings ended in order to allow the secretary he/she can include add information in the minutes. You should include the date of the next meeting after the adjournment. You may also like Meeting Minutes Template.
What to include in a board meeting agenda?
A typical board meeting agenda includes the following;
- Declaration by directors
- Minutes from the last meeting
- A strategic update that includes an update on trading conditions and progress against goals.
- A financial update that involves management accounts, financial reporting, and key performance indicators
- An operational update from the executives involving high-level information on the performance of products and other important information
- Updates on any current projects and description of any upcoming projects
- Legal or regulatory updates
- On the board meeting agenda, involve risk as a standing item so that you can monitor potential threats to your company and review these on daily basis. Moreover, this makes you able to put measures are in place to deal with such risks.
However, there are a number of topics reserved for a board meeting agenda. This allows you to outline in your company’s articles of association and memorandum. Generally, this involves the following;
- Strategy and management
- Financial reporting and controls
- Internal controls
- Board membership and appointments
- Executive remuneration
- Evaluation of performance
- Delegation of authority
- Corporate governance matters
How to write an agenda for a board meeting?
You should include the following steps in order to create a powerful and effective board meeting agenda;
- At first, you should organize the information logically. This way, you can create board meetings that are much more engaging. For the chair, think of the agenda as roadmap, this serves as the driving force in your meetings. After addressing all business items, the agenda will assist you in moving from one subject to the next. In committee meetings, it also protects you from taking too much time with certain issues that can be better dealt.
- There is no need to create too many reports or too much information in your agendas. The board members need information to function efficiently and you can’t inundate them with unnecessary tasks.
- Most importantly, you should include all of the items in your agenda that have strong content and will invite collaboration. Your agenda is useless if it does not have actionable agenda items. The thing that a matter is what your agenda plans to cover. You can do it in an effective way by planning the meeting first and think about the best way to communicate your plan later.
- You can consider asking the board members for input for a more dynamic and effective agenda. The collection of input from the members can spark enthusiasm. This will also make sure that you are not missing any important points of discussion.
- You send the board members the agenda ahead of time if you want them to come prepared for the meeting. You can share your key decision-making items and actionable discussion points with the board members when you have completed the agenda.
How to plan your next meeting with board meeting agenda template?
Often, board members serve on the board along with working full-time jobs. So, the time the board has to discuss important issues get affected by spending extra time in organizing a board meeting, coordinating through email, or rooting through spreadsheets. You can plan more meetings effectively and make action items clear by using board meeting agenda template. It saves time of board of directors and makes them able to do the work that really matters.
Here are some other benefits of using board meeting agenda template;
- You have an organized structure by using board meeting agenda template. Also, you can easily share it and add agenda items to.
- This document makes your board of directors accountable and helps them in tracking who requires to do what by when.
- You can store important details in the board meeting agenda template like reference docs, past meeting minutes, bylaws, and more.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, a board meeting agenda template is the best tool to discuss the company’s state of affairs. It includes a heading with identifying information. Additionally, you should include the accurate minutes of all your board meetings and then put them into a minute book.
Faqs (Frequently Asked Questions)
The 5 most important elements to include in a meeting agenda are;
1- The date and time of meeting
2- Attendance records
3- Action items from the past meeting
4- Segment titles
5- The assigned time for every segment
