Board meeting preparation involves a lot of reading, taking notes, thinking/contemplating, and seeking out and asking for additional information. This increases the efficiency of the board and allows them to spend more time focusing on the strategy, and less time on procedural issues. This also lessens the amount of frustration that directors feel during board meetings that are long and contain lots of information, but don’t offer clear action steps.

The best way to prepare for a meeting of the board of directors is to study the agenda thoroughly in advance and pay particular attention to important items. Review the agenda and classify each item according to its importance, urgency, and alignment with your company’s strategic goals. Request input from the chair of the board or CEO to refine and decide on the top priorities. Then, plan the agenda so that critical issues are addressed first and then debated in depth. This allows the board to come away from the click now meeting with a clear understanding of the important decisions that need to be made.

Also, be sure to include any information regarding the actions tasks that were assigned at previous board meetings and verify that all necessary information was given by the presenters. It’s also crucial to confirm that all participants can access the meeting via phone, video or other online platforms. Once the board packet and agenda are in place, send them out to all participants. This must be done at least one week prior to the meeting in order to allow participants time to read it and make any changes that are required.