Board of directors meetings are when the most important decision-makers in a company come together to make decisions and review the situation. They also determine the direction of how an company will develop. These decisions can have a massive impact on the business including determining the management team composition to setting company policy and even the approval of stock option grants. This is an important time for the business and the collective wisdom of the most influential leaders will be required to guide the company through the complex decisions.
The first step is deciding on an appointment time that allows a sufficient number of members to constitute an quorum. It is also essential to avoid conflicts with members with unique perspectives on upcoming issues. It is then time to put together the board’s package that contains all relevant financial information, statistics and projections. Boards can utilize online tools such as Google Docs to create their package, which is collaborative and include a voting system to make quick decisions.
The board reads the minutes of the last meeting at the actual meeting and discusses anything new that has come up. Any directors with potential conflicts of interest are required to disclose these conflicts and disengage themselves from the discussion. Once the main topics are discussed, the board is able to suspend the meeting if any other procedural matters are solved.
It’s easy to forget that your fellow board members, though powerful, are also human beings. They’ll have their own opinions of strengths and weaknesses. They may not be as intelligent or as thoughtful as you believe, they might get confused and annoyed, and just like others, they’ll also be more likely to whine (even the best ones! ).