Crafting effective meeting agendas
Excerpted from Diligent Institute's Developing a Board Meeting Agenda course.
A board meeting agenda is a carefully crafted document that outlines the topics and issues to be discussed during a board meeting. It serves as a roadmap for the meeting, ensuring that all pertinent subjects are addressed in an organized and efficient manner.
The purpose of a board meeting agenda is to ensure the board has adequate time to conduct routine business, discuss strategic issues and address new business and urgent matters.
Agendas are designed to be flexible. For example, a small start-up company may only need an hour or two for a board meeting, whereas large corporations may meet for one to three days. A well-developed agenda will accommodate the unique needs of the organization, while ensuring the board meeting is effective and productive.
Who are the key stakeholders?
In practice, the company secretary usually drafts the agenda in consultation with the board chair and the CEO, with input from committee chairs and key executives such as the CFO and general counsel (if the general counsel is not also the company secretary).
This collaborative approach helps to ensure that the agenda reflects the priorities and needs of the organization and that all relevant stakeholders are involved in the meeting’s preparation.
Stakeholders involved in setting the board meeting agenda include:
- Board chair: Works closely with the secretary to finalize the agenda, set priorities and often has the final say on what items are included. The board chair guides the agenda’s focus and ensures it serves the board’s governance role.
- Company secretary: Primarily responsible for drafting the agenda. They coordinate with other stakeholders, compile necessary documents and ensure the agenda aligns with the organization’s strategic goals.
- Chief Financial Officer (CFO): Supplies financial reports and insights that are crucial for informed decision-making during the meeting. The CFO and other executives provide the necessary data and reports for informed discussions.
- Legal counsel: Advises on compliance, regulatory matters and any legal implications of the topics to be discussed. The legal counsel ensures that the board’s decisions are within legal frameworks.
- Committee chairs: Offer updates and insights from their specific committees, which may include audit, compensation, governance, or risk management. Committee chairs bring in detailed reports and action items from their committees.
- CEO: Provides input on strategic matters and operational updates that need to be discussed at the board level. The CEO ensures that the board is informed about the company’s performance and strategic direction.
Improving the board agenda
Boards that struggle with developing their agendas or meetings that run significantly over the allotted time might consider ending their meetings with a Plus Delta evaluation.
A Plus Delta is a process for boards to assess what they are doing well and where they need to make improvements. A Plus Delta evaluation frames questions from a positive perspective to incite collaboration and group problem-solving about how to streamline and improve board meetings.
It’s usually a simple tool comprised of a few short questions, such as:
- Did you have enough time for discussion on each agenda item?
- Did you receive your board pack early enough to review it?
- Did the board chair allow discussion from many perspectives?
- Did the meeting flow smoothly from one item to another?
- Did the board chair manage the meeting time well?
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