Creating a Culture of Openness and Transparency at Board Meetings

Board meetings are a great way to generate energy and allow members with different backgrounds to share their creative ideas. Maintaining https://www.boardroomcommunity.com/ momentum requires more than just getting everyone in the same room.

Board members need to believe they can trust one another enough to be honest and ask tough questions. This is only possible through an atmosphere of transparency and openness. This is why it’s important to create a board environment that is committed to the importance of board meetings and strives to make them as productive as possible.

The agenda of the board should provide directors with a clear understanding of what they have to do in order to meet their goals. It should also be able to accommodate unexpected items or the need to change the order of items if needed. The board should also be given the chance to discuss any new business issues.

A good board chair does not give reports when discussing new business. Instead, they encourage discussion among the entire group. This will not only help save time, but will also help create a positive environment in which the board can ask tough questions of the management.

Another way to stimulate discussion is to include a parking area on the agenda, which allows for small, unrelated subjects to be discussed but won’t distract from the more important issues to be addressed. Distractions can eat up precious time during meetings and deter the board from taking actions.