Meetings play a central role in how board members stay up-to-date on all of the various factors that affect the NFP and its ability to fulfil its mission. In addition to being a venue for providing information, meetings are an important activity for planning and budgeting concerns. Meetings are also integral to the voting process, and how boards can take action on policies that affect the nonprofit.

When groups of people gather together, it can be difficult to keep everyone focused on the task at hand. The following is a brief list of ways that you can help your board members to stay on track and get more accomplished during meetings.

Catch Up Before the Meeting

If you want your board meetings to go smoothly, it’s important that everyone is up-to-date before the meeting actually occurs. Take the time to make certain that you’ve completed reports and sent out copies to everyone well in advance of the meeting. This way, everyone should have time to look over their materials and prepare for the meeting before it actually occurs.

Create an Agenda

One reason why nonprofit meetings can seem to meander on and on is that they lack direction. Create a realistic agenda, that lists the items of old and new business that your board needs to get through during the meeting. Be careful to not overload the agenda with too many items, and remember to schedule a few breaks for meetings that will cover subjects that are time consuming.

Mind the Minutes

It’s important to ensure that someone takes detailed notes about what occurs at the meeting. This way, your board has a record of what business it has, and has not, finished. These notes are also known as the minutes, and should include a list of present and absent members, notable guests, highlights about the topics that were covered, any votes that were held, and any items that were “tabled” or held over for further discussion.

Encourage Engagement and Team Building

Engagement and cooperation are just as important for nonprofit board meetings as it is in the for-profit work space. Board members that are more engaged in their work are more likely to come up with the creative plans that are needed to help their NFPs be able to innovate and grow.

You can encourage collaboration and camaraderie by allowing your members a few minutes to socialise, and get caught up with one another as people prior to the start of the meeting, as well as during any breaks. Serving light refreshments can help give members energy to get through a long agenda, and can put everyone in a better mood to discuss and take action on difficult topics.

Throughout the meetings, take time to solicit input, and ask others for their opinions. Encourage networking and urge members to participate in shared social activities outside of the NFP to facilitate mutual respect between members.