A well-written agenda for your board meetings will result in productive, lively discussions with a clear strategy to address the most important issues. Regardless of whether your meetings are held in person or on the web, an effective agenda allows participants to remain engaged throughout the entire time.

An effective agenda begins with an unambiguous and concise calling to order, which signals the beginning of the meeting or any related proceedings. This could include the name of the chairperson as well as a brief statement of the meeting’s purpose.

Next, your agenda for your board meetings should include a brief report or presentation by the executive director or CEO on the company’s current performance and key initiatives. It is also beneficial to include a section for committee reports from the finance, governance, and nominating committees as necessary.

If your organization has guest presentations or open forum discussions, set aside time for those. Also, you should leave room for announcements of special events or other recognition, such as congratulations, or http://boardmanagementtool.com announcements. You should also allow room for future business issues that require to be discussed or followed up on.

It is common for people to be distracted by the new topics of discussion, which can cause your group to lose momentum. Make sure you include parking spaces at the end of your agenda, where you can bring up ideas that are new for discussion. Include a rough estimation of the time each topic will take to debate. This will allow you to avoid overrunning the agenda for board meetings. To ensure that your agenda stays on the right track, if you are unable to resolve an issue at the board meeting, you can move it to the next.