Creating a Strategic Board Agenda

Preparing for board meeting preparation can be a labor-intensive task that requires coordination of the dates of meetings with everyone, sharing important details and, perhaps more crucially, creating a spirited strategic agenda for the board prior to the meeting. The right board agenda can help ensure productive discussions that lead to effective decisions and help you reach the objectives of your company. A bad agenda can result in a dog’s breakfast of multiple items crammed together and leave little time for discussion and progress on important issues.

Boards should arrange their agendas to start with planning for the future and finish with more practical topics such as procedures and policies. This will prevent the pressures of urgent matters from overburdening and distracting board members and keeps them focused on what is achievable within the scope of a single meeting.

It is recommended that you allocate an exact amount of time for each item on your agenda for your board meeting. This will prevent your meeting from running over and ensure that each subject gets the right amount of discussion to reach an agreed-upon conclusion.

It is also beneficial to include a ‚Nil‘ heading on your agenda for board meetings for all items that aren’t strategically relevant or require further clarification. This will encourage other directors to bring up new strategic questions. It can also help to remind board members of ‚why‘ they are serving the organization (i.e. its purpose) as a way to reorient their attention to the larger goals.

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