A well-planned agenda for your board sets the tone for your meetings. It ensures that your members are engaged in productive discussions and decision-making. It also facilitates the sharing of new perspectives and insights. The secret to a successful agenda for the board is more than a list. It requires a certain amount of expertise, art, and discipline.
When creating your strategic board agenda ensure that you have set time limits for each item. This will help prevent meetings from going over time and help ensure that the most important issues receive the attention they deserve. It’s also important to prioritize and balance the number of strategic plans for the how to run a board meeting long term with reports and old business. It is best to focus on the strategic discussion and move the reports to the end of the agenda, so that the board can concentrate on the most important issues for the business.
Consider inviting a neutral facilitator or board member to assist in the strategic planning process. This person can bring fresh perspectives to the discussion and assist your board adopt a strategic approach to decision-making.
Distribute the agenda, as well as any other relevant documents to your board members prior to the meeting. This will allow them to go through the materials in advance and prepare ideas for the meeting.