Board meetings
Once your business reaches a certain size it's important to
start having formalised, regular board meetings. These are used for
compliance purposes as well as to discuss and improve current and
future business strategy. Find out how frequently board meetings
should be held, who should attend, what should be discussed and how
to assess progress.
- Holding board meetings
- What to discuss
- Assessing progress
Holding board meetings
The right mix of people is crucial to the success of board
meetings. You'll need members who can work well as part of a team
and who can offer opinions beyond their main areas of expertise. If
you have a limited company, board meetings must be held if any
company director asks for one or if 10 per cent of members want
one. Create an agenda and send a meeting notice including the date,
time and location to other directors. For small businesses,
meetings are normally held on a quarterly basis. A company
secretary is responsible for organising meetings and keeping
accurate records, while a chairperson runs the board. Non-executive
directors bring an objective view to board meetings so it's
important to that they give honest and informative opinions.
- Ensure a mix of personalities and expertise at board
meetings
- Hold meetings on a quarterly basis initially
What to discuss
Board meetings are an opportunity to discuss issues such as your
business' financial performance, current operations and future
requirements. Ensure that all directors are fully briefed before
each meeting and that there is adequate time allocated - any
paperwork circulated before the meeting shouldn't take more than an
hour to look through. It's important to outline specific
items to discuss, rather than a list of general issues, in order
for the meeting to be as productive as possible.
- Ensure there are specific items to discuss, rather than talking
about general issues
- Circulate any paperwork prior to the meeting
Assessing progress
Every board meeting should be followed up with a series of
minutes, detailing what was discussed, actions agreed and decisions
made. Distribute these to the relevant parties as soon as possible.
This will help you to assess how the meetings are progressing,
whether they are being run in an efficient manner and what changes
you need to make. This will help you to identify any training that
might be necessary, for example, do some members of the board lack
the necessary experience? It's particularly important to assess the
skills of the chairperson as they hold the most influence at
meetings. Give them regular feedback on their performance.
- Follow up every meeting with a written record of minutes
- Consider training to improve the contribution of board
members
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