Effective meetings

Board meetings should be organised to help trustees concentrate on their governance role. This applies even in small charities where the board may also be heavily involved in day to day issues.

If meetings focus too much on trivial or day to day issues, or if trustees are not prepared for meetings, the board may risk losing sight of its overall responsibilities. For example:

• a board that spends a long time reviewing reports that are ‘for information’ or routine committee reports may not have enough time to discuss a substantive issue like a business or fundraising plan
• trustees that do not read papers circulated in advance may ask questions at meetings that have already been explored in background work, taking up valuable time.

Boards should pay attention to:

• the frequency of meetings and attendance – are meetings held as required by the governing document and do all trustees attend unless genuinely unable to do so?
• the agenda – is it clear which items are for decision and which are for information? Do the main agenda items cover issues relevant to the board’s governance role?
• the preparation and distribution of advance papers – do these help the board prepare for the meeting? Are they circulated in good time so that trustees have a chance to read before the meeting?
• the format of discussions at the meeting – is the meeting organised in such a way to help the board have thorough discussions about governance issues – for example, future plans to raise funds or long term plans for delivering services rather than on routine matters?

Many guides exist to help trustees improve the effectiveness of their meetings.