Board meetings are a great way to generate energy and allow members with diverse backgrounds to more tips here share their creative ideas. However, keeping up the momentum requires more than simply getting people in the same room.

Board members must feel that they can trust one another enough to be honest and ask tough questions. This can only be achieved when there is an atmosphere of transparency and openness. This is the reason it’s so important to create a board culture that values the importance of board meetings and works to make them as productive as is possible.

The agenda of the board must clearly communicate to directors what they have to do to reach their goals. The agenda should be flexible enough to accommodate any unexpected issues or the necessity to reorder items. The board should also be given the chance to discuss any new business-related items.

A good chairperson for the board does not give reports when discussing new business. Instead, they should encourage discussion with the whole group. This will not only save time, but will also help create a positive and supportive environment which the board will be able ask difficult questions to management.

Another way to encourage discussion is to include a parking lot on the agenda, which will allow small, random issues to be discussed however, it won’t distract from more important issues in the room. Distractions can eat up valuable time at meetings and stop the board from taking actions.