The recipe for successful charity board meetings
Effective governance depends on successful board meetings. As the main forum for strategic decision making and performance management, meetings play a critical role in ensuring good governance which in turn enables the charity to maximise impact for beneficiaries.
But meetings are sometimes sadly seen as a necessary evil that eat up time, rather than an exhilarating, well run and productive event that adds value.
A well organised and effective meeting leaves everyone involved inspired and energised, clear about their contribution and what will happen next. An over long, poorly run meeting will leave them disengaged and potentially disenchanted, wondering what they are doing on the board.
Running an effective meeting is an art form and it is by no means easy. However, with careful planning, good chairing skills and robust processes, there’s no reason why every meeting can’t be a fruitful and highly rewarding experience that makes a tangible difference to a charity's organisational health and its beneficiaries.
Having an effective board meeting
We all know when we’ve been a good meeting. Participants were well prepared, they contributed their ideas when appropriate, they listened to each other and engaged in debate, the agenda was followed and everyone left with certainty about what is needed for progress.
A good board meeting will leave all involved in no doubt about the charity’s strategy, how well it’s performing and whether it is meeting its objectives.
People will be held to account and work done well praised and recognised. Work will be delegated and trustees will know how decisions from previous meetings have been executed.
Key challenges and drivers in the external environment will be debated and issues around regulation, compliance, governance and risk discussed.
But not all meetings are effective; how can we improve our meetings in 2015?
Steps towards effective meetings
Planning is vital. Dates should be planned annually in advance with an annual calendar reflecting priorities for attention through the year.
Preparation is important. The chair and chief executive should plan an agenda together in advance that reflects the charity’s priorities. The agenda should be structured around key governance tasks and strategic priorities, rather than around routine reports from senior management that could draw trustees into operational matters.
Balanced agendas will help to ensure the board is spending enough time looking forwards and outwards rather than inwards and to the past.
Timings should be kept to. Meetings should start and finish on time, with space built in for dialogue, discussion and debate (rather than a series of presentations), enabling all trustees to make a contribution and add value.
Board papers and presentation generally should be of a good standard. The quality of papers impacts the effectiveness of meetings. It helps to have an agreed format for board papers that is clear and succinct and easy to follow. A summary sheet outlining what’s required is also helpful; for the summary think about summarising the What (the facts), So what (the implications), Now what (the options).
Any presentations made during the meeting should not reiterate the content of the papers, but allow new ideas and conclusions to be generated and debated.
The meeting room itself is important. It should be welcoming and conducive to good teamwork, and big enough to accommodate everyone comfortably. Square and oval tables encourage good contributions because everyone can see and hear each other.
Behaviours and tone are highly relevant. The aim is for constructive and focused discussions that allow a range of views to be heard, with clear outcomes. Chairs will facilitate the discussions, but should not dominate, and helpful behaviours include clarifying and summarising, and ensuring a timely close.
The performance of the chair is fundamental. They set expectations. Their role is to keep the focus, create an environment where people feel comfortable contributing, challenging issues or saying they don’t understand certain points. The chair needs to bring out the best in the room to ensure high quality decision making.
The meeting agenda should do its job. Good meetings follow the agenda and ensure that any interests relevant to the meeting are declared at the beginning.
The needs of beneficiaries should always be considered throughout the agenda. Sometimes it is helpful for trustees to consider an issue from the perspective of each of their stakeholders.
Reporting needs to be good. The minutes are the legal record of the board’s decisions and should be an accurate summary of key decisions, debates and actions. All action points should be clearly recorded in a table at the end, with names of those responsible and due dates, to make sure they are carried out as agreed. The minutes should always be approved at the next meeting, signed by the chair and kept in a safe place.
There should be proper review and follow-up. It is important to regularly review meeting practice. This can range from a simple feedback session at the end asking what worked well and what could be improved, to more complex reviews with an external observer.
Pitfalls to avoid
Over dominant characters should be controlled. They can derail a meeting and stifle debate. If someone is dominating they must be encouraged to be more thoughtful; this takes courage but is vital. Equally, if someone is failing to contribute, they need to be coached and encouraged to participate fully. Straight talking to the person is often the best way!
Insufficient attention to risk is breach of an essential governance requirement. Risk needs to be on every agenda as it is a key part of regular board conversation and strategic decision making. Consideration of risk is an important part of SORP for charities.
Matters brought for sign off should have been adequately discussed. Trustees must ensure they are involved early enough in the cycle of development of a strategic option or idea. The worst scenario is trustees’ rubber stamping decisions. The best case is where senior management want to involve the board early on to get the best input from the brains around the table.
Beware of complacence. Trustees who rest on their laurels and become complacent can stifle the effectiveness of any board. Boards need to challenge themselves continuously and ensure critical thinking is applied to all decisions. Trustees can’t rely on the 'resident expert' (accountant, lawyer, doctor etc.) to make decisions for them.
Disrespectfulness should be avoided. Trustees must be professional and there can be no tolerance of people who antagonise or undermine fellow board members. Not turning up is also disrespectful.
Beware of getting stuck in operational matters. Good board meetings stay tightly focused on the strategic agenda however much some trustees or employees want to get into the minutiae.
Avoid big, dense reports and papers. These link directly to ineffective governance. Papers need to have a purpose, be clear and succinct, and enable trustees to see the information they need easily.
Don't merely see the board meeting as just a meeting. It should be seen as a great opportunity to build the board as a team. Build social activities around the meeting to enable people to get to know and develop trust in each other.
Not preparing is really bad. If trustees don’t read the papers in advance they won’t be able to make their best contribution. There should be reading to understand and raise queries, but also deep reading to build on the ideas and generate new ones. And of course all the papers need to be sent at least a week in advance.
Don't rely on the chair to do everything. All trustees need to be ready and willing to support and challenge each other, including the chair. Don’t leave difficult things to the chair to sort out.
Key attributes for a chair
Here are some suggestions as to key attributes and what constitutes them:
There needs to be commitment. The good chair prepares, attends, participates, follows up, actions; focuses on what is best for the beneficiary and the change the charity seeks to bring about; has a positive and appreciative intent
The chair needs to be contemporary. They should be actively knowledgeable about what’s going on within the charity; and be Informed and articulate about current events beyond the charity.
The chair needs to have courage. They will have to be prepared to face up and deal with difficult topics; encourage change; and speak out for the beneficiary.
Having a quiet life and automatically accepting the status quo can't be on the agenda. The chair must be prepared to challenge and stimulate others to challenge; they must be willing and open to being challenged.
Curiosity is an essential requirement. The chair should be interested in everything the charity does (not just their area of expertise); they have to accept that they will often have something to learn and not always to give; they have to bring something more than just wanting to do good. The chair should also actively value diversity; bring in new perspectives and mind-sets.
Treating the board as a team is a key starting point. The chair should be aware of the whole team – and get members of the team to respect each other's roles and moderate each others’ behaviour; and be keen to participate in assessing board performance.
To ensure effective governance charities need board meetings with trustees who are committed and contemporary, with curiosity and courage to confidently challenge to get the right impact for beneficiaries.
